For the first time in Ohio high school football history, the OHSAA postseason will feature 12 teams per region instead of 16 — and with that change, the top four seeds in each region earn a Week 11 bye.
Three Chagrin Valley Conference programs — Kirtland, Hawken, and Perry — finished among the top four in their respective regions, securing a rare and valuable week off before their playoff runs begin.
While each team is taking a different approach to the downtime, all three coaches agree that the bye presents both opportunity and challenge.
Hawken: Finding Balance Between Rest and Readiness
At 8-2, Hawken earned the third seed in Division III, Region 9, and will host the winner of Akron East and Benedictine in Week 12. Head coach Mark Iammarino said his team is entering uncharted territory but is trying to find the right balance.
“We told our team, you guys deserve this, so you earned this through a tough schedule,” Iammarino said. “We sat down with our staff over the weekend just trying to figure out what’s the best way to allow us to really kind of get some rehab. We have such a small team in number, and most of our guys go both ways, and we had a pretty rigorous schedule. On the same end, we want to make sure that we keep our edge, because this is new territory, none of the kids have experienced a bye.”
To keep players sharp, the Hawks have mixed in film study, skill work, and even pool sessions.
“We’ve used it for film purposes, grading ourselves, and our coaching staff. We went back and kind of looked at ourselves, and we’ll do the same with the players and show them some previous cutups of previous games,” Iammarino said. “Today, we got in the pool and did some rehab work. We lifted, and then we got on the field and we did some skill stuff. We were just taking advantage of the beautiful day. So it’s kind of a happy medium this week, making sure that we’re productive, always working on our fundamentals, all the while not banging heads and allowing their bodies to come back.”
The extra time also allows Hawken’s staff to scout its potential opponent in person.
“The winner comes to Hawken, so we’ll get a chance to see them live, which is always better than film, because you never know what you’re going to get,” he said. “The advantage of film is you get to press rewind a bunch, but you’re at the mercy of what kind of film you get.”
As for the new format, Iammarino sees benefits.
“I really think it kind of leads to getting rid of those uncompetitive games, and now, at least with 12, I like the idea that the top four get the bye, but I guess we’ll see how that works out and how everybody else feels about it,” he said. “I think if you’re not in the top 12, it’s hard to say that you should be advancing to postseason play.”
Kirtland: A Well-Timed Chance to Heal
At 10-0, Kirtland continued its dominant run and locked up the top seed in Division VI, Region 21. The Hornets will face the winner between Wickliffe and Springfield, but head coach Tiger LaVerde said this year’s bye couldn’t have come at a better time.
“In my 20 years, this is the most guys we’ve had out injured. We have about 14 guys that haven’t been dressing, and so for us, it’s just about getting healthy,” LaVerde said. “I really wouldn’t want a bye week, but this year, it’s going to be very helpful to get guys healthy moving forward. We’re going to work on a couple of things. We’re not going to be out as long as normal. We’re going to be in and out and just try to get better at all the little things.”
Practices are shorter and focused.
“We’re still lifting and running. We’ll probably go 90 minutes and be short and sweet, just trying to work on the important details,” LaVerde said.
As usual, the Kirtland staff is focusing on improvement over speculation.
“We watch film every Saturday, and we know the things that we need to improve on on our end, and there are a lot of things we could do a little bit better,” he said. “That’s really what the main focus is going to be this week is the things that we haven’t done well over the over the last 10 games, and the kids know what it is, and they see it, and we kind of are going to zero in on some of those mistakes that we’re making, and hopefully we don’t make them down the road.”
Perry: Keeping Routine, Supporting the Community
Perry, also 8-2, earned the top seed in Division IV, Region 13, and will await the winner of NDCL and Hubbard. Head coach Bob Gecewich said his team’s plan is to stay on schedule — with one meaningful adjustment.
“We’re changing a little bit, but not too much. Football is a routine sport, I think any sport really is, so what we’re doing Monday and Tuesday is regular practice days,” Gecewich said. “We’re actually giving our guys off on Wednesday, but that’s because our volleyball team is pretty far in the playoffs, and we want our guys to go support the volleyball team. They’ll go do that, and then Thursday, we’ll have a light practice, then off Friday. In my mind, I think it’s a bigger problem for adults than it is for kids.”
While some teams use the bye for deep opponent scouting, Gecewich prefers to focus inward.
“We’ll just wait until Friday. What we’re doing is we’re using this week as an opportunity for us to get better,” he said. “Our scout team, we’re actually having our freshmen and our JVs run our stuff against our varsity. We’re not too worried about anything else. We have a general feel for what Hubbard and NDCL do, but we really just want our guys to get reps and get better. That’s how we’re approaching it. It does help us where it’s not like one team is a Wing-T and one’s a spread or anything like that. They both seem like they’re spread, so that helps.”
As for whether the bye will ultimately help, Gecewich kept it simple:
“If we win next Friday, I will. If we don’t, I won’t.”
With the new 12-team format, the OHSAA’s postseason landscape looks a little different this fall — and for the three CVC powers, Week 11 brings both rest and reflection. Whether the bye turns into a blessing or a burden will be decided soon enough, but for now, Kirtland, Hawken, and Perry are all taking advantage of history’s first true playoff pause.
