(The following Logan Daily News article posted with permission)

By CRAIG DUNN
Sports Editor, The Logan Daily News
cdunn@logandaily.com

LOGAN — Last fall, with Logan riding a streak of six-straight Southeastern Ohio Athletic League football titles, only one area media prognosticator picked against the Chieftains.

That person correctly picked Jackson, which went on to claim the 2010 title.

This season, out of a dozen media who took part in The Logan Daily News' annual pre-season football poll, 11 of them stuck with the defending champion Ironmen while the other picked the Chieftains, who placed fourth last fall.

Jackson is thus the overwhelming favorite in the six-team SEOAL this fall, although most agree the race for the 2011 championship could be one of the most balanced in recent memory.

Jackson scored 71 of a possible 72 points (points were awarded on a 6-5-4-3-2-1 basis from first place to sixth) to take the mantle as pre-season favorite.

The panel, comprised of newspaper, radio and Internet personnel who cover all six SEOAL schools installed Logan (49 points) second, not far ahead of third-place Portsmouth (43), followed by Gallipolis (39), Chillicothe (30) and Warren (20).
To show the uncertainty surrounding the SEOAL race this season, four schools were forecast to finish in as many as five different slots.

Runner-up Logan was named first on one ballot but was also tabbed for second on four others, third on three, fourth on three and fifth on one.

Uncertainty also surrounded third-place Portsmouth (three second-place votes, five thirds, one fourth, two fifths and one sixth), fourth-place Gallipolis (three seconds, two thirds, three fourths, three fifths and one sixth) and fifth-place Chillicothe (one second, two thirds, two fourths, four fifths and three sixths).

Only Warren (three fourth-place votes, two fifths and seven sixths) did not receive a first-division ballot.

Jackson (6-0 in 2010) broke the Chiefs' 34-game SEOAL winning streak with a 49-28 victory in week four last fall and never looked back, although the Ironmen did have a close call late in the season with a harrowing 15-14 win over Chillicothe.
Chillicothe (4-2) and Gallipolis (4-2) tied for second place last season, followed by Logan (3-3), Portsmouth (2-4), Warren (1-5) and Marietta (1-5). Marietta is no longer in the SEOAL, having moved to the East Central Ohio League this fall.

Some of the key games to look for include Jackson at Logan (week four), Logan at Gallipolis and Portsmouth at Jackson (week six), Gallipolis at Portsmouth (week eight), Portsmouth at Logan (week nine) and Gallipolis at Jackson (week 10).

The SEOAL's complete single round-robin schedule begins in week four this season. Each team has non-league games scheduled in spots vacated by the departure of Marietta and Ironton over the last two seasons. Starting next fall, league play begins in week six, with three conference games each week.

———
Results from the 2011 pre-season SEOAL football media poll, conducted among a panel of newspaper, radio and Internet personnel who cover the league, are as follows, with first-place votes in parenthesis. Votes are tabulated on a 6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, with each team's total points listed:
1, Jackson (11), 71
2, Logan (1), 49
3, Portsmouth, 43
4, Gallipolis, 39
5, Chillicothe, 30
6, Warren, 20 

The Hamilton Township Rangers ride in to Herrnstein Field Friday night for the season opener.

The Cavs have been battling the injury bug and have a young crop of players cutting their teeth on Friday night.

Listen for the Ron Hinton Show for daily updates at 6:45am during Dan & Mike in the Morning on 1490 WBEX.

If you miss a show live, hear it again here.

The visitor's side bleachers at Herrnstein Field are really taking shape.

Workers are hoping to have the new seating ready for Friday's season opener with Hamilton Township.

FISH FRY: The annual Cavalier Club Fish Fry is Friday night beginning at 4pm. 

This article was reported on Monday 08-01-2011 3:08pm ET

Approximately 1,250 fans will have safer seating on the visitor's side of Herrnstein Field this upcoming football season.

Chillicothe City Schools Superintendent Jon Saxton tells WBEX/WKKJ Sports, thanks to a David Meade Massie grant, the bleachers are being replaced.

At a special board meeting July 16th, Saxton told the board the replacement of the seating would not take place unless the grant was approved.

Demolition of the bleachers began last Friday, with the hopes of getting the new seating in place before the Cavs season opener on August 26th. Saxton says this represents part of the initial phase to renovating the stadium, "...that's the ultimate goal, (complete renovation) but we'll have to do that without Chillicothe City School District dollars."

Safety became the driving force to get the project done.

"The bleachers that were there... there was very serious concern about their safety."

The visiting bleachers will also be handicapped accessible and the area beneath the seating is enclosed which will be safer for children and the hazard of dropping personal items, i.e. keys, a pocketbook, etc.

The size of the structure will actually be a little bit wider than the former seating due to the handicapped seating and accessibility.

As for the dreams of renovating the entire stadium and field, Saxton says "We have a committee of people that are working toward that goal, a more complete renovation of the stadium" adding "safety was my number one priority in this."

In order for more work to be done, Saxton says it would have to be with private funding.

At least for now, when visiting Chillicothe, supporters of the Cavs' opponents will have safe seating at Herrnstein Field.