This season, the network is excited to feature an integrated schedule, including local match-ups as well as high-profile games from around the state. “We’ve improved this year’s high school football schedule to take full advantage of our reach and maximize exposure for the schools and students,” says FOX Sports Ohio Executive Producer Tom Farmer. “Each game will not only be televised locally, but it will also be shown throughout our entire distribution area.”
The network is also pleased to once again simulcast the games online. Each week, the games will stream LIVE on FOXSportsOhio.com. Furthermore, the site looks forward to a new layer of coverage as we will follow the performances of hotly recruited high school athletes and potential future players of Ohio’s leading college teams. Stay tuned for an announcement about an expanded high school football package exclusively on FOXSportsOhio.com. The ten weeks of high school football action on FOX Sports Ohio kicks off Thursday, August 25 at 7pm. LIVE coverage will begin 15 minutes prior to game time each week.
Week one features a match-up of northern Ohio rivals, when the Avon Eagles host the Avon Lake Shoremen. Week two takes viewers south as the Highlands Bluebirds will host the Dixie Heights Colonels. Click HERE for a complete schedule of the network's High School Football Game of the Week.
Not only will viewers at home be exposed to schools and teams at the opposite end of the state, they will additionally hear from two dynamic and experienced broadcast teams.
The Northern Ohio games will feature color analyst Hanford Dixon, who played defensive back on the Cleveland Browns for nine seasons and was named to three Pro Bowls. He will sit aside Emmy award winner Jeff Phelps, serving as the play-by-play announcer. Phelps is currently the sideline reporter during live Cavaliers game telecasts and also hosted Cruise-In this summer, featuring classic car shows throughout Ohio. Dionne Miller will serve as sideline reporter. She co-hosts Cavaliers Live and has worked on various network programs including Cavaliers in the Paint.
The Southern Ohio games will feature the team of Brad Johansen and Dave Lapham. Johansen spent 12 seasons as the radio play-by-play voice of the Cincinnati Bengals and is the sports anchor for Cincinnati’s WKRC-TV (CBS/Channel 12) as well as the play-by-play voice of Xavier basketball on FOX Sports Ohio. Color analyst, Lapham, was a Bengals offensive lineman from 1974-83 and is in his 26th consecutive season as the analyst on Bengals radio broadcasts. He also works as a reporter/analyst for Cincinnati's WLWT-TV (NBC/Ch. 5) and is an analyst for Big 12 college games on FSN. Jeff Piecoro will serve as sideline reporter. Piecoro is in his 13th season as host of the Emmy award winning Reds Live.
Each weeks’ telecasts will promote the schools’ other sports and activities through interviews with athletic directors, principals and other key faculty. And of course, no game is complete without getting the chance to see and hear the marching bands perform at halftime!
