By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Welcome to Week 6 of the high school football season!

There are some interesting games on the slate tonight.

I will be at Portage Community Bank Stadium’s Harry Gilchrist Field in Ravenna, where the Ravens will host the Field Falcons in a Metro Athletic Conference showdown.

In two league games to date, the Falcons are 1-1 and the Ravens are 0-2.

However, both are not out of the race to challenge for the league title, with five more MAC games scheduled, including tonight.

Ravenna is looking to bounce back after a pair of tough losses to Cloverleaf (42-17) and Streetsboro (45-7).

Field dominated Springfield (49-0) two weeks ago and then challenged Cloverleaf last week before losing (42-28).

The Falcons’ three losses have come by a combined 21 points.

Other key league games tonight include Warren JFK at Mogadore, Streetsboro at Cloverleaf and Tallmadge at Aurora.

Best of luck to all teams!

Enjoy a beautiful night of football!

TODAY’S THEME: SPORTS ARE FUN

The practices, expectations and pressures tend to make us forget that sports are supposed to be fun.

Never forget that.

Every part of the process should be celebrated within that basic principle.

Of course, tough losses are not fun.

The extra conditioning or fitness penalties are typically not viewed as fun.

But they are all part of the opportunity to play a sport that is fun.

Hard work included.

For all of those moments, there are an equal amount of funny memories with teammates from bus rides and team dinners. Or inside jokes that happen for no reason at all.

Or wins that will unify teammates for the rest of their lives. Wins that keep an entire community buzzing for an entire week.

Or the chance to put your team in contention for a championship. Or the possibility to play football at the college level.

Or maybe it is so much fun that it turns into a career in coaching.

Make it fun and everything else becomes easier.

TONIGHT’S FORECAST

Tonight will be the first night that dips under 70 degrees at kickoff, but it will still be a beautiful night in the sense that we avoid any kind of rain again.

The temperature at kickoff is expected to be around 55 degrees — so hoodie season is officially here.

By the fourth quarter, the temperature will dip to the low 50s or high 40s.

Hello, fall football!

TONIGHT’S WEEK 6 SCHEDULE

Tallmadge at Aurora

Kent Roosevelt at Medina Highland

Field at Ravenna

Springfield at Woodridge

Streetsboro at Cloverleaf

Windham at Southeast

St. Thomas Aquinas at Rootstown

Warren JFK at Mogadore

Waterloo at Lowellville

Garfield at Champion

Crestwood at Berkshire

WEEK 5 SCORES

Cloverleaf 42, Field 28

Mogadore 18, Lucas 14

Southeast 44, Minerva 13

Conneaut 33, Rootstown 14

Warren JFK 28, Marlington 7

Windham 39, St. Thomas Aquinas 22

Streetsboro 45, Ravenna 7

Woodridge 28, Norton 21 (OT)

Coventry 56, Springfield 12

Garfield 40, Newton Falls 7

Crestwood 21, Beachwood 17

Waterloo 27, Berlin Center Western Reserve 24

Aurora 69, Cuyahoga Falls 0

Kent Roosevelt 59, Copley 50

PLAYOFF RANKINGS

The complete list of playoff points can be viewed here.

The top 16 teams qualify for the postseason.

DIVISION III, REGION 9

T11. Aurora

19. Kent Roosevelt

DIVISION III, REGION 10

4. Cloverleaf

9. Norton

DIVISION IV, REGION 13

4. Woodridge

9. Coventry

10. Streetsboro

14. Ravenna

15. Field

T22. Springfield

DIVISION V, REGION 17

11. Garfield

19. Crestwood

DIVISION VI, REGION 21

2. Mogadore

6. Rootstown

9. Southeast

T15. Waterloo

DIVISION VII, REGION 25

1. Warren JFK

14. Windham

T25. St. Thomas Aquinas

ASSOCIATED PRESS STATE POLL

The state poll releases each week on Mondays.

You can view this week’s rankings here.

PORTAGE TRAIL CONFERENCE STANDINGS

Mogadore 5-0, 0-0

Warren JFK 5-0, 0-0

Rootstown 4-1, 0-0

Southeast 3-2, 0-0

St. Thomas Aquinas 0-5, 0-0

METRO ATHLETIC CONFERENCE STANDINGS

Cloverleaf 4-1, 2-0

Woodridge 3-2, 2-0

Coventry 4-1, 1-1

Field 3-2, 1-1

Norton 3-2, 1-1

Streetsboro 3-2, 1-1

Ravenna 2-3, 0-2

Springfield 0-5, 0-2

SUBURBAN LEAGUE AMERICAN CONFERENCE STANDINGS

Highland 5-0, 2-0

Aurora 4-1, 2-0

Tallmadge 4-1, 2-0

Kent Roosevelt 2-3, 1-1

Revere 2-3, 1-1

Barberton 2-3, 0-2

Copley 1-4, 0-2

Cuyahoga Falls 1-4, 0-2

MAHONING VALLEY ATHLETIC CONFERENCE GREY DIVISION STANDINGS

Brookfield 4-1, 2-0

Garfield 4-1, 2-0

Champion 3-2, 2-0

Crestview 1-3, 1-0

Liberty 0-4, 0-1

Campbell Memorial 1-4, 0-2

Newton Falls 1-4, 0-2

LaBrae 0-5, 0-2

MAHONING VALLEY ATHLETIC CONFERENCE SCARLET DIVISION STANDINGS

Lowellville 5-0, 2-0

Waterloo 3-2, 2-0

Jackson-Milton 4-1, 1-1

Mineral Ridge 4-1, 1-1

McDonald 2-3, 1-1

New Middletown Springfield 1-4, 1-1

Berlin Center Western Reserve 1-4, 0-2

Sebring McKinley 0-5, 0-2

CHAGRIN VALLEY CONFERENCE VALLEY DIVISION STANDINGS

Hawken 4-1, 2-0

Berkshire 3-2, 2-0

Harvey 3-2, 2-0

Beachwood 1-4, 1-1

Cardinal 1-4, 0-2

Crestwood 2-3, 1-1

Grand Valley 1-4, 0-2

WEEK 7 LOOK-AHEAD SCHEDULE

Aurora at Kent Roosevelt

Streetsboro at Field

Ravenna at Coventry

University School at Mogadore

St. Thomas Aquinas at Southeast

Rootstown at Warren JFK

Campbell Memorial at Garfield

Wickliffe at Crestwood

New Middletown Springfield at Waterloo

Windham at Pymatuning Valley