By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The number 100 takes center stage for two communities on Friday night for the fifth week of the high school football season.

In Streetsboro, head coach Pete Thompson is sitting on 99 career wins.

PETE THOMPSON

The veteran coach is in his 13th season, with his stint with the Rockets as his third stop of his coaching career.

Thompson was a longtime assistant at Kenston, spending 16 years on the staff, before leading the program for one season, in 2011, as the head coach. The team went 6-4 that year.

He was hired as the head coach at Crestwood in 2013, spending five seasons with the Red Devils (2013-2017) and amassing 37 wins and three playoff berths.

Thompson was hired at Streetsboro in 2017 and has been the leader of the Rockets ever since. In his time and the Streetsboro coach, Thompson has collected 56 career wins.

Streetsboro plays at Springfield tonight.

The Rockets are 4-0 and after a tight win in Week 1 (29-21 over CVCA), they have dominated their opposition.

Wins have come over Normandy in Week 2 (58-0), Alliance in Week 3 (56-6) and Coventry in  Week 4 (77-0), outscoring opponents 191-6 along the way.

In Brimfield, where the Falcons will host the Norton Panthers in a key Metro Athletic Conference showdown, the No. 100 will also be celebrated.

A large number of alumni of Suffield Elementary will be at the game to “reconnect with friends and visit with retired teachers and staff” to celebrate the school’s 100th anniversary.

The school was rebuilt in 2007, but remains at its original location on Waterloo Road in Suffield Township, where the first school has stood since 1924.

A picture of Suffield Elementary shortly after the construction to build it was completed. The school opened its doors in 1924.

TONIGHT’S WEATHER

Football will be played under another beautiful fall night sky.

Temperatures will hover in the 70s throughout tonight’s games.

No rain is in the forecast, clear skies and very little wind.

As we move into the heart of the fall, it is always questionable how many more nights like tonight we will get.

So enjoy it!

TONIGHT’S GAMES

Aurora at Copley

Barberton at Kent Roosevelt

Ravenna at Woodridge

Mogadore at Ellet

Norton at Field

Streetsboro at Springfield

Akron North at Rootstown

Crestwood at Brooklyn

Garfield at Champion

Crestview at Southeast

Windham at Grand Valley

Mineral Ridge at Waterloo

ASSOCIATED PRESS STATE POLL

This week’s poll can be found here.

PLAYOFF RANKINGS

For the complete listing of playoff rankings, throughout the entire state of Ohio, look here.

Locally, here are how area teams are ranked.

DIVISION III, REGION 9

2. Aurora

11. Kent Roosevelt

DIVISION IV, REGION 13

3. Streetsboro

10. Field

13. Norton

18. Ravenna

T22. Coventry

T22. Woodridge

DIVISION IV, REGION 14

7. Cloverleaf

DIVISION V, REGION 17

3. Garfield

12. Crestwood

17. Southeast

DIVISION VI, REGION 21

T19. Rootstown

T21. Mogadore

T23. St. Thomas Aquinas

DIVISION VII, REGION 25

5. Windham

7. Warren JFK

13. Waterloo

PIGSKIN PICKS CHALLENGE

This week’s update can be found here, which includes last week’s records, overall standings and this week’s picks.

2024 ALL-TRENCH TEAM

The annual feature story that was first promoted in last week’s High School Football Central story, was pushed back one week. It was originally going to publish on Sept. 19, but will now be announced on Sept. 26.

LOOK-AHEAD WEEK 6 SCHEDULE

Cuyahoga Falls at Aurora

Copley at Kent Roosevelt

Ravenna at Cloverleaf

Warren JFK at Mogadore

St. Thomas Aquinas at Rootstown

Crestwood at Chagrin Falls

Springfield at Field

Streetsboro at Norton

Mathews at Windham

Waterloo at McDonald

Garfield at Southeast