In taking a glance through The News-Herald area high school football schedule for the season, one game caught my eye. It wasn't because of X's and O's or respective reputation of the teams, but rather the distance involved.

In Week 5, Villa Angela-St. Joseph will host Portsmouth Notre Dame.

Nonconference football games between teams which normally don't see one another is a common occurrence as schools look to fill their schedules as best they can.

But this might be especially significant because it's almost impossible to stage a game between two Ohio teams that are further away from each other.

Thanks to Google Earth, here's Portsmouth Notre Dame ...

... and here's VASJ (yes I know they play at Sparky DiBiasio Stadium; this is just a comparison) ...

... and here's how far away they are from each other:

That's 243 miles between the schools, or 4 hours, 26 minutes according to Google Earth.

Talk about a fun bus ride.

In comparison, let's say we put together the schools - albeit far from our coverage area - on the northeasternmost and southwesternmost points of Ohio in a theoretical nonconference game.

Conneaut is the northeastern point...

... and North Bend Taylor is the southwestern point ...

That would amount to this:

It's a 328-mile odyssey that, according to Google Earth, would take 5 hours, 39 minutes.

Yikes.

So while it may not literally be the longest theoretical road trip for a high school football game in Ohio, that Week 5 VASJ-Portsmouth Notre Dame encounter proves once more that when it comes to filling a schedule, you've got to do what you've got to do.

- Chris Lillstrung | @CLillstrungNH