Spots to Settle, and a Top-10 Clash
The next-to-last week of high school football’s regular season in Kentucky, you may know, is also the conclusion of the round-robin play that determines who will host the first two rounds of the playoffs, as well as, in many districts, which teams will not make it.
Two teams that are already assured of not making it are Henry Co. and Shelby Co. in 4A-District 4. It is in that district, though, where Franklin Co. has already clinched the top spot going into their last district game at Western Hills, who has already locked up 4th place. The big battle in 4A-4 this Friday has N. Oldham traveling to Spencer Co. with the winner getting 2nd place and a first-round home playoff game.
A possible 3-way logjam could develop at the top of the 5A-District 5 table if Woodford Co. defeats Anderson Co. and S. Oldham defeats Collins. Scott Co. is off this week as the 5A-5 leader “in the clubhouse” by a half-game, and are hoping for a loss from either the Yellowjackets or Dragons to lock up 1st place outright. With all three teams having split against each other head-to-head, that 3-way tie would have to be broken by RPI after next week’s season finales. The Yellowjackets have the edge in that category for now.
One of our broadcasts this Friday has KCD hosting Campbellsville to determine who clinches the top spot from 1A-District 2 as well as home field for the first two 1A playoff rounds. The visiting Eagles have a .05 lead in the 1A RPI over Lexington’s Sayre, while the Bearcats’ losses came against higher-classification teams in Atherton (5A) and John Hardin (4A).
In another broadcast we will have, it’s Male looking to clinch the 6A-District 4 title at Bullitt East. The Chargers, at the very least, want to get a win and hope for Southern to beat Fern Creek to lock up that title. Male currently has the upper hand in case they lose and Fern Creek wins due to RPI, but even that could change if it comes down to that.
Meanwhile, Manual, Trinity, Lexington Catholic, Tates Creek and Douglass could each earn home field for the first two rounds with wins on Friday, as will the winner between Washington Co. and Lexington Christian in 2A-District 4.
Up in Indiana, where the playoffs start this week, one first-round game that will merit watching is also on our schedule. It’s in 1A-Sectional 48, as the Providence Pioneers, fresh off a second straight unbeaten regular season, and ranked number-2 in the 1A poll behind N. Judson, travel to the town that Larry Bird made famous, French Lick. Bird’s secondary-school alma mater, Springs Valley, is home to a football team that comes off its second consecutive 8-1 finish, and are ranked 6th in that same poll.
Despite the loss that the Blackhawks took last month against Paoli, the Sagarin Ratings give them a 4-point lead over the Pioneers. Yet it’s not often for an opening-round sectional playoff game to match up two top-10 teams, especially when both are randomly drawn in true Indiana football playoff fashion. Providence won their sectional last year by easily defeating Springs Valley at home, but with the Pioneers on the road, that could make this Friday’s game even more compelling.
It should be a great week of postseason and near-postseason action here on GLICOD, and we haven’t gotten to the Old Rivalry between Manual and Male, which headlines our live coverage next Friday.