ONTARIO — The Warriors are headed for more recognizable terrain.
After spending the past two years in Division III, Ontario will drop back down to Division IV for the upcoming football season.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association unveiled divisional breakdowns and regional alignments for the 2024 football season Thursday afternoon.
The OHSAA uses enrollment data provided by the Ohio Department of Education to determine how many schools will be in each of the seven enrollment divisions for football, then assigns schools to one of 28 geographical regions (four per enrollment division).
The biggest 70 schools are placed in Division I. The remaining schools are split up evenly among the other six divisions.
Ontario was among the smallest Division III schools the past two years. The Warriors qualified for the postseason both seasons, but lost in the opening round of the Region 10 playoffs each year.
The Warriors will be in Region 14 along with Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference rivals Shelby, Clear Fork and Galion.
Ontario isn’t the only former Region 10 member on the move. Ashland will bump up to Division II and will compete in Region 7 along with Ohio Cardinal Conference foes Wooster and Mount Vernon.
Crawford County schools Colonel Crawford, Bucyrus and Wynford will all change regions in Division VI. All three will move to Region 23 after competing in Region 22 last year.
Loudonville, which was in Division VI, Region 23 last fall, will drop to Division VII this year. The Redbirds will be assigned to Region 27, which encompasses southeastern Ohio.
Richland County’s three biggest high schools, Mansfield Senior, Madison and Lexington, will remain in Division III, Region 10. The region includes reigning state champ Toledo Central Catholic.
Senior High fell to TCC in the regional semifinals last fall.