A week off didn't really hurt the Ironton Fighting Tigers.

Last week's open date saw Ironton drop just one spot in the Region 15 Division IV Ohio High School Athletic Association playoffs computer ratings.

Third the previous week, Ironton was fourth in Tuesday's release of the ratings behind Portsmouth, New Lexington, and Portsmouth West.

Portsmouth stayed first despite a 28-12 loss to Gallipolis, but their lead is just 21.8895 to New Lexington's 21.5000 average. West leaped from fifth to third with a 16.9675 average and Ironton has a 16.2517 average.

The Fighting Tigers were at 13.8217 last week.

Coshocton moved from seventh to fifth, Fairfield Union remained sixth, Martins Ferry fell from fourth to seventh, and Waverly stayed in the eighth slot.

Since this is the ninth week of the season, the weekend games will leave teams in a position to know just where they'll finish in the computer ratings.

Ironton (6-1) has two big weeks remaining regarding computer points. Columbus DeSales, this week's opponent, rests at No. 2 in Region 11 of Division III. The Fighting Tigers close the regular season with Belfry, Ky., also 6-1 and ranked sixth in the Kentucky Class AA poll.

The Symmes Valley Vikings (6-2) held steady at No. 5 in Region 23 of Division VI.

Danville jumped to first in the region, trading places with Strasburg-Franklin. Shadyside and Millersport stayed in the three and four places.

The Vikings have a key game Friday at Sciotoville East. Not only is the game for the Southern Ohio Conference outright league title, but East is 10th in the region and worth a lot of computer points.

If the Vikings remain fifth, they would travel to the fourth place team, probably Shadyside or Millersport.

Wheelersburg (5-3) is fifth in Region 19 of Division V but faces a tough finish. The Pirates play Portsmouth West and Portsmouth to end the season and may still qualify for the playoffs even if they lose their final two games.