MOUNT VERNON — Two Knox County schools will have new divisional homes in the fall and another will be moving regions.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association unveiled divisional breakdowns and regional alignments for the 2024 football season Thursday afternoon and three of the county’s five schools are on the move.
East Knox will move up to Division V, while Centerburg will drop to Division VI. Danville will remain in Division VII, but will take up residence in Region 27.
The OHSAA determines how many schools will be in each of the seven enrollment divisions for football using enrollment data provided by the Ohio Department of Education. From there, schools are placed in one of 28 geographical regions (four per enrollment division).
The biggest 70 schools are placed in Division I. The remaining schools are split up evenly and placed in the other six divisions.
East Knox will move to Region 18 of Division V after playing in Division VI, Region 23 last year. The Bulldogs reached for the playoffs as the No. 9 seed — the top 16 teams in each region qualify — and knocked off Martins Ferry in the opening round before falling to Garaway in the regional quarterfinals.
Centerburg will be in Region 23 of Division VI this fall after playing in Division V, Region 19 last year. The Trojans finished 18th in the regional rankings, two spots out of the playoffs.
Danville, which reached the Division VII, Region 25 championship game last year, will compete in Region 27 this year. The Blue Devils will be joined in Region 27 by Loudonville. The Redbirds, who joined the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference for football last fall and will become a full-time KMAC member for the 2024-25 school year, dropped from Division VI, Region 23.
Knox County’s other schools, Mount Vernon and Fredericktown, are staying put. The Yellow Jackets will again be in Division II, Region 7 and the Freddies will be in Division V, Region 18.