With the high school football season halfway through its regular season, it’s time to start counting playoff points. A massive majority of The News-Herald coverage area must be pleased with how the counting is going. If the postseason started today, 23 of the 29 teams in the coverage area would be playoff-bound. That would far and away be the most area teams who have qualified for postseason play since the Ohio High School Athletic Association expanded its playoff field to 16 teams per region starting in the 2021 season. Last season, 16 area teams punched tickets to the playoffs, with two of them — Perry in Division V and Kirtland in D-VI — winning state championships. At the midway point of the regular season, here are the 23 teams who are currently in the playoff field, including the region in which the team is slotted and their rank: • Mentor is first in Division I, Region 1 with its 5-0 record. • In D-II, Region 5, Riverside (2-3) in 11th, North (3-2) in 12th, South (2-3) is 14th and Euclid (2-3) is 16th. • In D-III, Region 9, Gilmour (5-0) is first, VASJ (5-0) is fourth, Hawken (4-1) is fifth, Geneva (4-1) is sixth, Chardon (3-1) is seventh, Madison (3-2) is eighth, Kenston (2-3) is 15th and Harvey (3-2) is 16th. • In D-III, Region 10, Benedictine (4-1) is second. • In D-IV, Region 13, Perry (4-1) is first, Lake Catholic (5-0) is second, NDCL (3-2) is tied for 11th and West Geauga (2-3) is 14th. • In D-V, Region 17, Berkshire is sixth and Chagrin Falls is ninth. • In D-VI, Region 21, Kirtland is first and Wickliffe is 10th. • In D-VII, Region 25, Fairport is 14th. Mentor, Kirtland hold leads Mentor and Kirtland retained their spots as the top-ranked teams in their respective divisions in this week’s Associated Press poll. Mentor (5-0) got eight first-place votes and 109 voting points to remain ahead of Cincinnati Winton Woods in D-I. Kirtland has a slimmer lead. The 5-0 Hornets got eight first-place votes and 123 voting points, just one ahead of second-place Coldwater. Other area teams that are ranked in this week’s AP poll are: VASJ (fourth in D-III), Gilmour (seventh in D-III), Chardon (11th in D-III), Benedictine (13th in D-III), Geneva (16th in D-III), Lake Catholic (second in D-IV) and Perry (third in D-IV).