Elmwood Countdown to Football

ELMWOOD RECORD: 3-8 overall, 2-4 Blanchard Valley ConferenceKEY GAME: August 30, at Eastwood. From a back-yard, bragging rights rivalry standpoint, the Battle of the Woods is one of the biggest games on both teams' schedule. The 2021 and 2022 games were down-to-the-wire thrillers that directly impacted the Northern Buckeye Conference standings. But Elmwood graduated an outstanding athletic group that went 22-4 their junior and senior seasons. The Royals also made the move to the Blanchard Valley Conference, but fell off from 12-2 in 2022 to 3-8 last year. With 51 players, Elmwood boasted one of the bigger rosters in the BVC. A rugged schedule and a bit of a youth movement cost the Royals last season. This season, they will be looking to bounce back in a big way and a Week 2 matchup with an always solid Eastwood team could go a long way in preparing the Royals for BVC road games at Leipsic in Week 3 and at Liberty-Benton in Week 5.INTERESTING FACT: Elmwood went just 3-7 during the 2023 regular season, but still qualified for the Division V, Region 18 playoffs. The Royals were 2-6 and on the playoff bubble, but in Week 9 they earned considerable Harbin points by beating an Edon team that was 6-4. That put them into the 16th and final playoff spot in Region 18. Due to a change in enrollment and competitive balance numbers, Elmwood dropped from Division V to Division VI this season, and finds itself in Region 22 with schools like Bluffton, Carey, Hopewell-Loudon and Patrick Henry.MAGIC NUMBER: 419. Elmwood gave up 419 points last season, the most by any of the eight BVC teams. Youth and inexperience played a part in that number. So did costly injuries. The biggest culprit was likely a brutal schedule. Eight of the 11 teams Elmwood faced made the playoffs. Two of the three teams that didn't finished 4-6. Reducing that total of points allowed, which averaged out to 38.1 points a game, will be pivotal issue as the Royals head into year two of their move to the BVC. 2024 scheduleDate Opponent Home/AwayAug. 23 Evergreen H 30 Eastwood ASept. 6 Leipsic* A 13 Ada* H 20 Liberty-Benton* A 27 Pandora-Gilboa* HOct. 4 Arlington* H 11 Riverdale* A 18 Van Buren* A 25 McComb* H*Blanchard Valley Conference games