The 2023 high school football regular season has reached its midway point, and some league-title chases gained some clarity after last weekend's games while other championship quests are yet to be launched.

Here is a look at the state of those league races heading into Week 6.

Driver's seat to Motor City: With its 28-23 home victory over Warren De La Salle on Friday, Central Catholic (5-0, 3-0) won for the 20th straight time while gaining the upper hand in the Catholic High School League's Central Division.

The Fighting Irish — winners of the 2022 Ohio Division II state championship, and the state's current top-ranked team in Division III — held off a late comeback bid by the Pilots (2-2, 1-1), who have won the past two Michigan Division 2 state titles.

De La Salle scored on a 15-yard pass from Sante Gasperoni to Joey Montilla to get within five points with 33.7 seconds remaining, then was nearly successful on a subsequent onside-kick attempt.

The Pilots recovered the ball near the Central sideline, but the ball had not traveled the minimum 10 yards, and the Irish maintained possession, then ran out the clock.

At 3-0 midway through its Central Division schedule, Central has already beaten what appear to be the top two Detroit-area teams — Detroit Catholic Central, 42-21, in Week 3, and De La Salle on Friday. The Irish also topped Birmingham Brother Rice, 33-7, in Week 4.

After a nonleague home game against Cleveland St. Ignatius this week, Central has Central Division games remaining at in-town rival St. John's Jesuit (2-3, 1-1) in Week 7, at Orchard Lake St. Mary's (1-3, 1-2) in Week 8, and at home versus its other local rival, St. Francis de Sales (1-4, 1-2) in Week 9.

The Irish will need to win just two of the three division games to clinch at least a share of the CHSL Central title, and earn a spot in the Oct. 21 Prep Bowl game at Ford Field in Detroit. This year, that event will pit the Central Division champ against the winner of the Detroit Public School League's upper division, most likely against either Detroit's Cass Tech or Martin Luther King high schools.

Earning the chance to play at the home of the NFL's Detroit Lions has been a goal for the Irish since it was announced they were joining the CHSL, and is especially a target for Central senior star receiver Jaylen Watson.

“I'm from Detroit, and played in Ford Field when I was in little league,” said Watson, an Iowa commit who transferred to Central this year from River Rouge (Mich.) High School. “Seeing how excited my teammates are to have a chance of playing there, that's really a dream that we all want to accomplish.”

Watson had six catches in the game for 102 yards, including a 42-yarder that set up Tyler Morgan’s 3-yard TD run on the next play in the third quarter, and a clutch 10-yard grab on a fourth-and-6 play that led to Marquan Braswell’s 15-yard TD run on the next play for a 28-16 lead with 1:30 remaining.

Dempsey's Irish have beaten St. Francis 21 straight times with their last loss to the Knights a 16-13 overtime setback in 2003. Central has topped St. John's eight straight times (lost 13-6 in 2017), and has beaten the Titans in 14 of the last 15 meetings.

NLL races wide open: While the schedule in the newly-aligned Northern Lakes League is a bit cumbersome with 11 total teams in the two divisions (6 in Buckeye, 5 in Cardinal), this inaugural season of the expanded NLL promises to feature two wide-open titles races that begin this Friday.

In the upper (Buckeye) division, the top four teams enter the start of division play with a combined 16-4 nonleague record. Perrysburg is 5-0, Anthony Wayne and Findlay are both 4-1, and preseason Buckeye favorite Whitmer is 3-2.

All of the four teams have shown the potential thus far to beat any of the other three.

The first head-to-head matchup among this quartet comes Friday, when AW plays at Whitmer. In Week 7, Perrysburg plays at Whitmer and AW travels to Findlay. In Week 8, Findlay plays at Perrysburg. In Week 9, Findlay plays at Whitmer and, in Week 10, Anthony Wayne plays at Perrysburg.

In the Cardinal Division, preseason favorite Southview (2-3) will most likely get a challenge from Clay (2-3), and the surprise NLL team of the season, Bowling Green (4-1), may also prove to be a contender. The Bobcats were picked in the preseason to finish last in the division.

Clay plays at BG on Friday, and host Southview in Week 9. Bowling Green travels to Southview in Week 7.

Rockets soaring: It appears that veteran coach Mike May's Oak Harbor Rockets could not have picked a better time to join the Northern Buckeye Conference.

The Rockets (5-0, 2-0) were ranked No. 3 in last week's Associated Press Division V state poll, and have dominated all five of their foes thus far with a lethal combination of explosive offense and stingy defense.

Oak Harbor has outscored its opponents 230-20, and average of 46-5 per game. The 210-point advantage is the highest of any team in northwest Ohio at midseason.

Liberty Center (5-0, 2-0) of the Northwest Ohio Athletic League, which is ranked No. 4 in Division V, has the next largest points margin at 183 (224-41).

Oak Harbor has been led offensively by the dynamic trio junior quarterback Michael Lalonde (54 of 67 passing, 819 yards, 11 TDs), senior receiver Jaqui Hayward (29 catches, 445 yards, 9 TDs), and the running back combo of senior Dalton Witter, junior Carson Ridener, and sophomore Blake Nickel, who have each scored five touchdowns.

The Rockets reached the Division V state semifinals in 2019, when they finished 13-1 with a loss to eventual champion Kirtland, 28-14. They entered the NBC after winning the Sandusky Bay Conference's Bay Division title last year (10-2, 5-0).

Green Bears eye repeat: With a 4-1 start overall, Ottawa Hills begins its quest to repeat as Toledo Area Athletic Conference champion this Friday, when it hosts Northwood (2-3).

The Green Bears' only setback was a 26-21 Week-4 home loss to defending Michigan Division 8 state champion Whiteford (4-0), which is riding an 18-game winning streak.

Although Northwood has dominated the TAAC over its time in the conference, winning its last TAAC crown in the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 season (7-1, 6-0), the Rangers have slipped a bit the past two season, finishing 4-5, 3-1 in 2021 and 5-5, 2-2 last season.

Ottawa Hills edged the Rangers 5-2 in 2021, when Edon (11-2, 3-0) won the TAAC title, and blanked Northwood 41-0 last year.

First-year coach Brandon Carter's Green Bears have been paced offensively by their skill-position trio of junior QB Chase Miller (58 of 82 passing, 12 TD), and the brother combo of junior receiver Reddik Pillarelli (19 catches, 273 yards, 8 TD) and sophomore Rocco Pillarelli (107 rushes, 725 yards, 9 TD).

Lima Senior looks to end drought: The last time Lima Senior won a league championship was also the year the Spartans won a Division I state playoff championship back in 1996 under coach Leonard Rush. That title came in the Greater Miami Conference.

A few seasons back, the Spartans competed well in their former home in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference, finishing 8-3, 5-2 in 2014, and 9-3, 5-2 in 2015 under former coach Mike Fell.

Only a 49-48 loss at Central in Week-10 prevented Lima Senior from earning a three-way tie for the TRAC title with the Irish and Whitmer.

With the TRAC becoming defunct after the 2022 season, Lima Senior has found a new home in the Toledo City League, and the Spartans (3-8, 0-7 TRAC last year) were picked in a preseason coaches' poll to finish second behind defending champion Scott in the City League.

But, with the Bulldogs (2-3, 1-1) looking inconsistent thus far and having already lost 30-26 to Start in league play, Lima Senior (3-2, 1-0) looks poised to snap its 27-year league-title drought under first-year coach Bill Lawrence.

Lima hosts Scott in Week 9, and Start in Week 10.

First Published September 17, 2023, 11:49 p.m.