A BRIGHT FUTURE...is what several CCC teams have, including the Railroaders of Bradford.

The 2008 regular season is in the books, while three CCC teams play on in week eleven in the state play-offs.

What looked bad after week one, the Cross County Conference appears to be on the rise as several schools fielded young teams.

Despite the youth, it was another exciting season with several memorable games - like Miami East - Ansonia, Covington - Twin Valley South, Bethel - Bradford - Mississinawa Valley - Covington, Arcanum - Covington, Bethel - National Trail and Mississinawa Valley - Bethel. Each came down to the last play, leaving fans on the edge of their seats the entire way.

First, to honor those who saw their seasons end and will look toward the future with promise, the Bradford Railroaders claimed their first win with a 45-14 victory over National Trail.

Bradford has impressed throughout the season under first-year head coach Gary Miller as a team that plays hard regardless of the circumstances. The Railroaders came up short in several close games, but it wasn't due to a lack of effort from this young squad.

The future looks bright for the Railroaders as they'll return the majority of its roster and bring in a freshman class that has been accustom to winning since they first strapped on helmets and shoulder pads.

Mississinawa Valley also dropped several close games and concluded the season with a 4-6 overall record (3-6 in the CCC). Three of Mississinawa Valley's losses were within eight points, which shows how close the Blackhawks were from being a 7-3 football team.

The Blackhawks closed the season with an impressive 41-19 victory over Tri-County North, making for some excitement in Union City for the 2009 season.

Miami East locked down the CCC championship outright with a convincing 48-0 victory over an up-and-coming Arcanum team. The Vikings will travel to West Jefferson on Saturday in the opening round of the state play-off, while Arcanum (6-4 overall) will build on a solid season with a young team.

Covington moves on to week eleven as week with a 42-19 victory over Bethel. Another young team, the Buccs have overcome more adversity than ever before to finish 8-2 overall and 8-1 in the CCC. With only six seniors and 44 kids on the roster, the Buccs had up to 20 kids miss action at various times this season - several out for the year due to injuries.

The Buccs locked up the number four seed in Region 24 and will host Lockland on Friday.

Ansonia also qualified for the state play-offs with a 48-13 victory over another young team in Twin Valley South. The Tigers will travel to play Lehman on Friday and head to the play-offs playing their best ball.

After a suffering a disappointing loss to Fort Recovery, Ansonia has won 7 of 9 games with the only losses being in games they could have won against Miami East and Covington.

CrossCountyConference.com would like to congratulate all teams for an exciting 2008 season and wish Miami East, Covington and Ansonia luck in the state play-offs.

Give 'em heck boys and make the CCC proud.