If prep football were boxing in some parts of the Mid-Ohio Valley, then the "old one-two" would be significant.
Going into Friday night play on the gridiron, seven schools in Washington County, Ohio, and Wood County, W.Va. - Marietta, Warren, Waterford, Belpre, Frontier, Parkersburg Catholic, and Williamstown - own a 1-2 overall record.
Over in Morgan County, Ohio, Morgan High is also 1-2.
Bucking the one-two trend, Fort Frye (Washington County), Parkersburg High (Wood), Parkersburg South (Wood), Monroe Central (Monroe), Federal Hocking (Athens) and St. Marys (Pleasants) each is 2-1, while Noble County schools' Caldwell and Shenandoah are both 0-3.
Overall in the area, there appears to be a lot of parity on the grid and no one dominant football team. On the plus side, at least every school so far has at least one win (except Caldwell and Shenandoah).
On the flipside, not too many of these schools will probably be competing in the postseason playoffs.
In 2011, all of the high schools in Wood County extended its football season - and that still could happen again this fall, mainly because the state of West Virginia has fewer schools.
On the Ohio side of the river, it's a little harder to advance. In fact, last season, only Monroe Central in the Marietta Times circulation area got to the playoffs - and went one-and-out.
Looking at the current Ohio ratings, no school in this area - not even Monroe Central or Fort Frye with 2-1 marks - is in contention for a playoff spot. But it's still early. Each needs to notch a few more victories on its belts.
Only the top 8 at the end of regular-season play in each Ohio region earns a postseason berth.
Right now, Monroe Central and Fort Frye are 12th and 13th, respectively, in Division V, Region 17. The Seminoles and Cadets by the way are scheduled to play each other in a key Pioneer Valley Conference matchup in Beverly on Sept. 21.
Federal Hocking is tied for 13th in Division V, Region 19.
Last year, of the aforementioned high schools, two - Frontier and Belpre - finished the campaign winless. The Cougars halted that slide with a win against visiting Shenandoah in their 2012 season opener, while the Golden Eagles did the same with a triumph over Southern last Friday night at Ralph Holder Stadium.
While there's still a lot of season remaining, and anything is possible, if the Redskins and Zeps haven't gotten into the "W" column by their season finale, one of them is going to go 0-10.
On Oct. 26, Shenandoah is slated to host Caldwell in the annual Noble County showdown. Hopefully, by then, though, both of these schools will have earned at least one or more victories.
Caldwell is on the road to Woodsfield Friday to play Monroe Central, and Shenandoah entertains undefeated Shadyside, which pinned the Seminoles with their only setback thus far two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the beat goes on.
After Friday night, the 1-2 schools will obviously either break even at 2-2, or be 1-3 - and facing an uphill struggle. The 2-1 schools will improve to 3-1 or fall to 2-2.
Tutu incidentally is a ballet and not a boxing term.
Better to be 2-2 at this stage of the football season than not.
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Ron Johnston is the Marietta Times sports editor and can be reached at 376-5441 or at rjohnston@mariettatimes.com
