As the late, great Jerry Lee Lewis once sang, “There’s A Whole Lot Of Shakin’ Goin’ On.’
The shakin’ is in athletic conferences in Southeast Ohio.
It has become common knowledge that Ironton will exit the Ohio Valley Conference in football only in 2024 which should help keep that conference in tact.
An official vote on Ironton’s status is expected to be completed at the next league meeting. Ironton will become an independent program in football unless accepted by the Southern Ohio Conference.
The Fighting Tigers will open the season with Wheelersburg and Jackson and close with Fairland, Gallipolis and Portsmouth once they exit the OVC which means they will need to fill the schedule with five other schools.
With Ironton’s dominance in football, several schools were being courted by the Southern Ohio Conference which just went through a facelift by instituting two divisions in volleyball, boys and girls basketball, baseball and softball.
The SOC had initiated talks with OVC schools Coal Grove, Rock Hill, Chesapeake and South Point. The league was considering a plan of three divisions in football if there was more expansion.
Coal Grove, Chesapeake and South Point were members of the SOC prior to becoming members of the OVC in 1950. Ironton St. Joseph was also a former member of the SOC, left the league and returned.
The OVC was operating with just five schools before adding Ironton, Portsmouth and Gallipolis in 2015.
Ironton won the league title in football in 2015 and 2016, and then again in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The SOC is losing a member as the Frontier Athletic Conference is expected to add Waverly to the league.
The FAC hopes to expand to eight teams and feature two 5-team divisions.
The South Division would be Waverly, Jackson, Chillicothe, Hillsboro and Greenfield McClain.
The North Division would have teams located along U.S. 22 that include Washington Court House, Miami Trace, Logan Elm, Circleville and current Scioto Valley Conference member Unioto.
All the other schools are Division 2 in all sports except football.
The SVC currently consists of schools that are Division 3 and 4 in most sports except football in which they are D5, D6 and even D7 on occasions.
Along with Unioto which is the largest school in the league, the SVC consists of Adena, Huntington Ross, Paint Valley, Piketon, Southeastern, Westfall and Zane Trace.
Jackson, Waverly and Chillicothe are former members of the now defunct Southeastern Ohio Athletic League.
Circleville and Logan Elm are members of the Mid-State League.
Comments