Week Seven preview: Division titles, playoff berths on the line
Published: October 15, 2009, 11:46 pm
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It's easy to figure out that Sweet Home and Williamsville South would be Class A division co-champions should both close the regular season this weekend with wins.
What is still in the air, somewhat, is which of these teams would be the top seed for the playoffs since both would finish 6-0 in the league.
Since neither played the other this year due to the imbalanced schedule in the 11-team Class A, a tiebreaker or two would be used to settle that dispute. Point differential against common opponents (with a maximum of 20 points used for triumphs and defeats) and strength of schedule are the first two tiebreakers. If those settle nothing, then defensive points given up against common opponents is the next one.
If both teams win Class A tests tonight (Sweet Home at Amherst and Williamsville South at Hamburg), Sweet Home would be in the best position to earn the top seed. The Panthers earn No. 1 if they win by four or more points based on the point differential tiebreaker, according to coach John Faller. If both teams win but Sweet Home does so by three or fewer points, South could earn the top seed based on strength of schedule.
Of course if Hamburg, which has allowed the fewest points (36) in Class A, beats South while Sweet Home takes care of business then it's easy to figure out seeding. SH would be No. 1, Hamburg No. 2 and South No. 3. Sweet Home also earns No. 1 if it shares the division title with Hamburg. The top two seeds earn home-field advantage for the first two rounds.
"We've never gone beyond step two," Section VI chairman Chuck Funke said. "We've been very lucky."
South has a chance at finishing the regular season perfect for the first time since 1994. It won't be easy against a physical Bulldogs crew whose only loss was by a point to Iroquois when it failed to score on a two-point conversion in the final seconds of their Week Four clash.
"There are a lot of things that can happen," Faller said. "We'll see what happens."
"They're a very good football team," South coach Kraig Kurzanski said. "It's going to be very hard."
There are some potential win-to-get-into-the-playoffs games on the docket, three in Class A involving Amherst (2-3), Lake Shore (2-3, at Iroquois) and Williamsville East (1-4, at Starpoint) vying for the final two playoff spots. If all three finished with identical 2-4 league records, then the tiebreakers come into play. Lake Shore only gets into the playoffs if it has a better point differential than the other two since it didn't play Amherst or East.
The only winner-take-all showdown is in Class C North on Saturday between Akron and Gowanda. The winner is in the playoffs, the loser isn't.
In Class AA South, Jamestown (2-3) clinches tonight with a win over visiting Clarence (1-3). If Clarence wins, it could slip into the playoffs via tiebreaker pending the outcome of the Orchard Park (3-1) versus Frontier (2-2) game tonight.
The winner of Saturday's Class D West clash between Chautauqua Lake (3-1) and Panama (3-1) is in the playoffs. The loser will be among three teams vying for two wild-card berths in Class D.
East Aurora (4-1) wins the Class B South title outright with a win Saturday night at Olean. A loss means the winner of tonight's Lackawanna-Alden clash is the champion.
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