2024 Richland County High School Football Schedule Release: Big year on tap on gridiron

MANSFIELD — With all of the attention on the NFL and the schedule release for the 2024 season, it's only fair to bring that attention locally.

It is time for the 2024 Richland County high school football schedule release as we are officially three months away from kickoff.

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Week 1 is highlighted by our traditional matchups with Lexington at Ontario and Madison at Shelby while Mansfield Senior continues to test itself bringing in Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary for a big one at Arlin Field.

Week 2 has Crestview hosting state powerhouse Kirtland bringing the state champs to Richland County for a fun one. Shelby also travels to Lexington and Lucas hosts Hillsdale in annual rivalry games. The Tygers hit the road to Canfield for another big test. Plymouth heads to Willard in what is always a fun game.

Week 3 is highlighted by Lexington at Clear Fork and Ontario at Madison in two Richland County rivalries while Bellevue visits Shelby in a throwback Northern Ohio League game and Mansfield Senior welcomes in Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph to fill in the departing Massillon slot.

Week 4 begins conference play for most as Mansfield Senior heads to West Holmes in a battle of the last two Ohio Cardinal Conference champions. Ontario heads to River Valley, Galion at Clear Fork and Crestview at Monroeville will always have league title implications.

The midway point sees Clear Fork at Ontario, Mansfield Senior at New Philadelphia and Shelby at Galion for more league action.

Week 6 is kind of sluggish with good matchups. All eyes will be on Lexington at Mansfield Senior that week but a sneaky good one will be Ontario at Galion and possibly even Shelby at Highland. Lucas heads to Tiffin Calvert, too, which will be interesting.

Week 7 is when the playoff picture really starts to take shape. West Holmes at Lexington will be a very interesting game with Lex expected to compete for a league championship this year. Special things always seem to happen when Mansfield Senior visits Ashland and River Valley at Shelby has some electricity around it.

Week 8 has Shelby at Clear Fork as the Colts are looking for a turnaround season and Crestview heads to St. Paul for what could be another showdown for a Firelands Conference championship. Dover visits Madison in a little preview of the newest OCC team coming in over the next couple of years.

Week 9 will be all about Ontario at Shelby as that game has been an absolute thriller the last two years with Ontario winning in a walk-off in 2022 and Shelby using a hook-and-lateral last year to score a late TD before a broken-up pass in the end zone sealed it for the Whippets and snapped Shelby D-Coordinator Jon Amicone's Achille's in the process. Mansfield Senior also welcomes in its final nonconference opponent with Canton GlenOak paying a visit to Arlin Field in what should be a classic.

And finally, in Week 10, it's all about the Battle for the City with Mansfield Senior heading to Madison. Several teams should be in league championship races, too, as Crestview hosts Mapleton, Lexington is at Ashland, Ontario hosts Highland and Shelby travels to Pleasant.

So, without further ado, let's check out the 2024 Richland County high school football schedule.

2024 Richland County High School Football Schedule

Week 1, Aug. 23

Clear Fork at Perkins

Seneca East at Crestview

Lexington at Ontario

Lucas at Cardinal Stritch

Madison at Shelby

Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary at Mansfield Senior

Oberlin at Plymouth

Week 2, Aug. 30

Clear Fork at Granville

Kirtland at Crestview

Shelby at Lexington

Hillsdale at Lucas

River Valley at Madison

Mansfield Senior at Canfield

Centerburg at Ontario

Plymouth at Willard

Week 3, Sept. 6

Lexington at Clear Fork

Crestview at Keystone

Lucas at Smithville

Ontario at Madison

Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph at Mansfield Senior

Plymouth at Wellington

Bellevue at Shelby

Week 4, Sept. 13

Galion at Clear Fork

Crestview at Monroeville

Akron North at Lexington

Lucas at Warrenville Heights

Wooster at Madison

Mansfield Senior at West Holmes

Ontario at River Valley

Plymouth at Western Reserve

Marion Harding at Shelby

Week 5, Sept. 20

Clear Fork at Ontario

Crestview at New London

Wooster at Lexington

Willard at Lucas

Madison at West Holmes

Mansfield Senior at New Philadelphia

St. Paul at Plymouth

Shelby at Galion

Week 6, Sept. 27

Pleasant at Clear Fork

South Central at Crestview

Lexington at Mansfield Senior

Lucas at Tiffin Calvert

Ashland at Madison

Ontario at Galion

Plymouth at Mapleton

Shelby at Highland

Week 7, Oct. 4

Clear Fork at Marion Harding

Crestview at Plymouth

West Holmes at Lexington

Amanda-Clearcreek at Lucas

Madison at New Philadelphia

Mansfield Senior at Ashland

Ontario at Pleasant

River Valley at Shelby

Week 8, Oct. 11-12

Shelby at Clear Fork

Crestview at Norwalk St. Paul (Saturday)

Lexington at New Philadelphia

North Central at Lucas

Dover at Madison

Wooster at Mansfield Senior

Marion Harding at Ontario

New London at Plymouth

Week 9, Oct. 18

Clear Fork at Highland

Western Reserve at Crestview

Madison at Lexington

Lucas at Lakota

Canton GlenOak at Mansfield Senior

Ontario at Shelby

Monroeville at Plymouth

Week 10, Oct. 25

River Valley at Clear Fork

Mapleton at Crestview

Lexington at Ashland

Ottawa Lake-Whiteford (MI) at Lucas

Mansfield Senior at Madison

Highland at Ontario

Plymouth at South Central

Shelby at Pleasant

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: 2024 Richland County High School Football Schedule Release: Big year on tap on gridiron