“The elephant in the room” is an idiom that refers to an obvious or important issue that people are avoiding discussing. It’s a metaphor for pretending something isn’t there, even though it’s very noticeable.

(12-7-24) After yesterday’s Marion Local running clock 74-0 win over Hillsdale in the Ohio D VII State Championship game social media erupted.

Why is Marion Local still in the smallest Ohio division?

Marion Local facts to consider…

The win ends another undefeated season for the Flyers at 16-0 and they win their 64th consecutive game to lead all high schools currently in the US and continue to build on their all-time Ohio winning streak.

Marion Local wins their 4th straight state title and their 15th overall, 108 playoff wins, 25 straight playoff wins.

This season…

  • they traveled to southern Indiana and beat Linton (Indiana) 45-6, in the season opener, who last week lost in the Class 1A Indiana State Championship game to Adams Central.
  • they beat Midwest Athletic Conference (MAC) rival Delphos St. John’s 71-0, the Blue Jays lost in a D VII Regional Championship game as a #15 seed, the first #15 seed to ever advance that far
  • they beat MAC and county rival Coldwater 35-0 during the season, the Cavaliers play Kirtland this morning in the Ohio D VI title game
  • they beat MAC rival Minster (11-3) 21-0 and 21-7 (playoff game), the only team to hold the Flyers under 35 points scored
  • they had teams opt out to not play them in the 1st round tournament game

The Flyers last loss was in 2020, the COVID season, to MAC rival New Bremen 24-17 on November 6th during the playoffs. The Cardinals would go on to win the Ohio D VII State title.

NOTE: responses posted on T’X’itter

The naysayers….

The Defenders…

Moving up a division?

Ohio schools are assigned to divisions and to a region in those divisions for the playoffs. The only option to move up a division for Ohio schools is to D I.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors has approved 14 requests from 11 schools to move up to Division I in specific fall and winter sports for the 2024-25 school year. The requests were made possible by the passage of Referendum Item 1B that OHSAA member schools passed earlier this spring, which permits schools to request to move up to Division I on a sport-by-sport basis for one school year.

Next door neighbor, Indiana, has a success factor in place to move teams up divisions based on their latest successful seasons.

Just a reminder…Indiana allows every school to play in the football playoffs and they are put into brackets on a blind draw using ping-pong balls.