By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The high school football season’s final week of the 2026 regular season was an eventful one.

Here are some news and notes from the night.

PERFECTION FOR GARFIELD

It was another season of success for the G-Men.

On Friday, Garfield defeated Brookfield, 21-13, to win the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference’s Gray Division.

It is the program’s third crown in the last four years and the fourth in the last six seasons.

The win also completed a perfect 10-0 season for the G-Men. It is the 27th perfect 10-0 season in Portage County history and third for Garfield, with the 2021 and 2023 also achieving the feat.

Garfield has now won 12 straight regular-season games, dating back to the close of the 2025 season. They are nearing entering the list for the longest win streaks in Portage County history, with Aurora (2008-09), Ravenna (1973-74), Ravenna (1964-65), Mogadore (2011-13) and Crestwood (1989-90) all with 15-game win streaks as the threshold of the historical list.

The longest regular-season win streak in county history is 29 games by Mogadore teams that spanned 1953-56.

The G-Men do own the fifth-longest win streak in county history, with the teams from 2019-2022 winning 22 straight.

STREETSBORO CHAMPIONSHIP

Friday was championship night for the Rockets.

Yes, it was through a three-way tie atop the Metro Athletic Conference, but with all of the adversity the Rockets have experienced since the summer, they weren’t going to stress over shared or outright.

In fact, veteran head coach Pete Thompson described Friday’s title-clinching win as “one of the sweeter ones” he has experienced with his team.

The crown was secured in a 28-14 victory at Tallmadge. It gave the Rockets a 6-1 MAC record, which was duplicated by Cloverleaf and Norton, forcing all three to share the championship.

SECOND SEASON FOR THREE

Three Portage County teams qualified for the playoffs.

GARFIELD G-MEN

•    No. 4 seed in Division V, Region 17
•    10-0 overall record
•    Clinched a first-round bye and second-round home game

MOGADORE WILDCATS

•    No. 3 seed in Division VI, Region 25
•    8-2 overall record
•    Clinched a first-round bye and second-round home game

STREETSBORO ROCKETS

•    No. 1 seed in Division IV, Region 13
•    8-2 overall record
•    Clinched a first-round bye and second-round home game

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

By all accounts and records, Portage County will have Monday Night Football for the first time in history.

Rootstown will host Fairview tonight after the matchup between the two teams on Friday was postponed when electrical lines and posts fell to the ground near the home bleachers of Robert C. Dunn Field in Rootstown.

After conversations between the two districts, the game was rescheduled for 7 p.m. tonight in Rootstown.

It is the regular-season finale for both teams.

Both teams had already been mathematically eliminated from the OHSAA playoffs.

Tonight’s results will not have any bearing on the playoff rankings, which were finalized and released by the OHSAA on Sunday afternoon.

WINNING IN KENT

Friday’s victory over arch-rival Ravenna gave Kent Roosevelt a 6-4 record to close out the regular season.

It was not good enough for a league title.

It was not good enough for a playoff berth.

However, it was good enough for the program to take a big step forward.

It was the Rough Riders’ first winning season since 2013 (counting full 10-game seasons and not the COVID-impacted 2020 season).

The Rough Riders were 9-2 overall, advancing to the postseason, in 2013.

From that point, Roosevelt got close to winning seasons in both 2019 and 2025, with both finishing even at 5-5.

Kent Roosevelt debuted in the Metro Athletic Conference this season — a return to a familiar league home, with the MAC sharing a considerable core of what was once the Portage Trail Conference Metro Division, which Roosevelt was a founding member of before leaving for the Suburban League in 2015.

In the 10 years in the PTC Metro Division, prior to leaving for the Suburban, Roosevelt had a run of dominance and posted an overall record of 63-24. A run that included just one losing season.

In the school’s 10 seasons in the Suburban League, the results reversed, with the Riders going 31-68 overall.

MOGADORE COMEBACK

Just when it looked liked the Wildcats were down and out … they weren’t.

Mogadore dominated the fourth quarter, putting up 21 unanswered points, to turn a 22-7 deficit going into the final quarter into a thrilling 30-20 come-from-behind victory.

The Cats’ three touchdowns included:

   • Maddox Smith with an 11-yard pass to Collin Hendrickson

   • Kade Thomas with a 2-yard run

   • Smith with a 3-yard pass to Thomas

WATERLOO ENDS EARLY

The end of 2026 was tough for Waterloo.

With roster numbers teetering between having enough healthy players or not, the Vikings played in Week 6, canceled and forfeited Week 7, played in Week 8, canceled and forfeited in Week 9, then tried to make Week 10 work.

However, after playing the first half at Campbell Memorial and trailing 22-6, the Vikings had to cancel the remainder of the game because too many injuries dropped the team’s roster number to an unplayable amount.