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West Branch is the area’s highest ranked football team because the Warriors proved it on the field.
West Branch, coming off a 50-0 win against rival Salem, tied for 10th in Division IV of the final Associated Press high school football state poll released Wednesday.
The Warriors (9-1) are winning with defense. Their first-team defense has allowed four touchdowns all season -- three in a loss to Canfield and one to New Philadelphia.
Senior quarterback and YSU recruit Grady Hirst directs a West Branch offense that is averaging 35.6 points and 391 total yards a game.
Hirst has thrown for 1,863 yards and 15 touchdowns and rushed for 929 yards and 22 touchdowns. He has scored a team-high 142 points.
West Branch has a first-round bye in the playoffs and will host a second-round game on Friday, Nov. 7.
East Liverpool (8-2) and Salem (8-2) also are state ranked.
East Liverpool, ranked 17th in Division IV, has won six straight games since consecutive losses to Salem and Beaver Local. The Potters are coming off a 27-26 win over Brooke, W.Va., in four overtimes last Friday.
The Potters will host Columbus Marion-Franklin (6-4) in a first-round playoff game on Friday.
Salem, which climbed as high as fourth a couple of weeks ago, dropped to 20th in Division III with one vote.
The Quakers got out to a 7-0 start before injuries caught up them and lost two of their last three games.
Salem still earned a first-round bye in the playoffs and will host a second-round game on Friday, Nov. 7.
The Quakers are headed for a probable matchup against second-ranked Glenville (8-2), which captured state titles in football and track last season. The Tarblooders beat Salem, 49-0, in the playoff opener last year on the way to a third state title in four years.
South Range (9-1) is ranked fifth in Division VI. The Raiders also received a first-round bye and will host a second-round game on Friday, Nov. 7.
In Division VII, Toronto (9-1) is ranked ninth, McDonald (9-1) is 10th and Shadyside (8-2) is 14th.
Toronto and Shadyside defeated Southern Local in the first two games of the season.
Shadyside also beat East Palestine in the season opener.
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Final 2026 Ohio Associated Press High School Football Poll
DIVISION I
Rank School Total Points Previous
1. Cincinnati Princeton (7) (10-0) 106 1
2. Lakewood St. Edward (3) (9-1) 96 2
3. Gahanna Lincoln (1) (10-0) 83 3
4. West Chester Lakota West (9-1) 72 4
5. Cincinnati Elder (8-2) 54 6
6. Toledo Whitmer (9-1) 49 10
7. Cincinnati Moeller (7-3) 41 7
8. Columbus Upper Arlington (8-2) 28 8
9. Perrysburg (9-1) 18 5
10. Worthington Kilbourne (9-1) 17 9
Others receiving votes: 11, Austintown Fitch 14. 12, Cincinnati St. Xavier 8. 13, Springfield 6. 14, Mentor 5. 15, Pickerington North 4. 16, Cincinnati Winton Woods 3. 17, Cleveland St. Ignatius 1.
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DIVISION II
Rank School Total Points Previous
1. Columbus Bishop Watterson (11) (9-0) 110 1
2. Sunbury Big Walnut (10-0) 84 2
3. Massillon Washington (9-1) 78 3
4. Cincinnati Anderson (9-1) 72 4
5. Toledo Central Catholic (8-2) 57 5
6. Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit (7-2) 51 6
7. Medina Highland (9-1) 39 9
8. Avon (8-2) 26 8
9. Trotwood-Madison (7-2) 16 7
10. New Albany (8-2) 13 NR
Others receiving votes: 11, Mayfield 12. 12, Macedonia Nordonia 12. 13, Lima Senior 9. 14, Akron Hoban 8. 15, Columbus West 7. 16, Harrison 7. 17, Olmsted Falls 2. 18, Oregon Clay 1. 19, Columbus St. Francis DeSales 1.
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DIVISION III
Rank School Total Points Previous
1. Bellbrook (7) (10-0) 105 1
2. Cleveland Glenville (4) (8-2) 81 4
3. Newark Licking Valley (10-0) 75 3
4. Steubenville (8-2) 74 5
5. Tipp City Tippecanoe (9-1) 63 2
6. Celina (9-1) 45 6
7. Willoughby South (10-0) 43 7
8. Chardon Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (9-1) 27 NR
9. Ontario (9-1) 23 9
10. Youngstown Ursuline (6-4) 20 8
Others receiving votes: 11, Cincinnati Indian Hill 12. 12, Garfield Heights 11. 13, Washington C.H. Miami Trace 9. 14, Columbus East 7. 15, Athens 3. 16, Kettering Archbishop Alter 2. 17, Dover 2. 18, Columbus Linden McKinley 1. 19, Lodi Cloverleaf 1. 20, Salem 1.
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DIVISION IV
Rank School Total Points Previous
1. Gnadenhutten Indian Valley (9) (9-0) 99 1
2. Ottawa-Glandorf (10-0) 76 2
(tie) Shelby (1) (10-0) 76 3
4. Sandusky Perkins (1) (10-0) 73 4
5. Rocky River (10-0) 56 6
6. London (8-2) 38 8
7. Cincinnati Wyoming (9-1) 32 5
8. Streetsboro (8-2) 27 NR
9. New Lexington (9-1) 25 7
10. Beloit West Branch (9-1) 16 NR
(tie) Cincinnati North College Hill 16 9
Others receiving votes: 12, Uhrichsville Claymont 12. 13, Bellevue 11. 14, Bellville Clear Fork 8. 15, Akron East 8. 16, Zanesville West Muskingum 7. 17, East Liverpool 6. 18, Lancaster Fairfield Union 6. 19, Germantown Valley View 5. 20, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy 4. 21, Norton 2. 22, Millersburg West Holmes 2.
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DIVISION V
Rank School Total Points Previous
1. Ironton (5) (9-1) 100 2
2. Perry (6) (10-0) 96 1
3. Barnesville (10-0) 68 4
4. Girard (10-0) 63 5
5. LaGrange Keystone (9-1) 39 6
(tie) St. Paris Graham (9-1) 39 7
7. Archbold (9-1) 36 3
8. Youngstown Mooney (7-3) 31 9
9. Wooster Triway (9-1) 29 10
10. Garrettsville Garfield (10-0) 18 NR
Others receiving votes: 11, Pemberville Eastwood 13. 12, Bluffton 12. 13, Beverly Fort Frye 11. 14, Port Clinton 9. 15, Williamsburg 8. 16, Martins Ferry 8. 17, Vermilion 8. 18, Castalia Margaretta 7. 19, South Point 5. 20, Casstown Miami East 4. 21, Conneaut 1.
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DIVISION VI
Rank School Total Points Previous
1. Liberty Center (8) (10-0) 107 1
2. Lima Central Catholic (1) (10-0) 91 2
3. Kirtland (1) (9-1) 83 3
4. New Madison Tri-Village (1) (10-0) 66 5
5. South Range (9-1) 63 4
6. Columbus Grove (9-1) 44 6
7. Elmore Woodmore (10-0) 31 7
8. St. Henry (7-3) 24 8
9. Cincinnati Deer Park (9-1) 22 NR
10. Hannibal River (10-0) 20 NR
Others receiving votes: 11, Nelsonville-York 19. 12, Collins Western Reserve 16. 13, Sugarcreek Garaway 4. 14, West Jefferson 4. 15, Jeromesville Hillsdale 4. 16, Chillicothe Zane Trace 3. 17, Columbia Station Columbia 2. 18, Anna 2.
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DIVISION VII
Rank School Total Points Previous
1. Maria Stein Marion Local (11) (10-0) 110 1
2. Leipsic (10-0) 90 3
3. Bascom Hopewell-Loudon (10-0) 76 2
4. Danville (10-0) 59 4
5. Willow Wood Symmes Valley (10-0) 54 6
6. Ansonia (9-1) 46 5
7. McComb (9-1) 39 7
8. Sycamore Mohawk (9-1) 29 9
9. Toronto (9-1) 22 10
10. McDonald (9-1) 21 NR
Others receiving votes: 11, Cleveland Cuyahoga Heights 14. 12, Minster 11. 13, North Baltimore 11. 14, Shadyside 8. 15, DeGraff Riverside 5. 16, Edon 5. 17, New Bremen 3. 18, Mogadore 2