As the regular season comes to a close, playoff positioning and league titles are the top stories.

The Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference, however, is still up for grabs and Clarion-Limestone’s trip to Redbank Valley Friday night will go a long way in determining the KSAC championship. The Lions are seeking their third straight KSAC title and a win over either the Bulldogs and Moniteau next week would secure at least a tie for the title and two wins give the Lions the title outright. There is no tiebreaker in the KSAC and four teams, C-L, Redbank Valley, Clarion and Redbank Valley, could still end up in a four-way tie for the league title. An even likelier scenario has C-L, Redbank Valley and Clarion in a three-way title tie.

Four teams still remain undefeated in D-9 – Clarion-Limestone, Clearfield, Coudersport and Curwensville. While the Lions head to Redbank Valley, the Bisons host St. Marys (1-5), Coudersport entertains playoff-berth seeking Otto-Eldred (3-4) and Curwensville hosts Elk County Catholic (5-2).

In other Friday games, Brockway (6-1) hosts Ridgway (1-6), Smethport (4-3) visits Cameron County (0-7) and Kane (1-6) travels to Johnsonburg (2-5) in the AML. In the KSAC, Keystone (1-6) hosts A-C Valley (3-4), Clarion (5-2) hosts Moniteau (4-3) in a key game. In the District 9 League, Brookville (2-5) hosts Punxsutawney (2-5). In non-league games, DuBois (5-2) hosts State College (4-3) and Bradford (4-3) travels to Karns City (4-3).

Saturday, Union (0-7) travels to District 10’s Kennedy Catholic (5-2) and Port Allegany (4-3) hosts Sheffield (2-5).

Port Allegany and Smethport will clinch playoff berths with wins or a Johnsonburg loss, probably leaving the eighth spot between Otto-Eldred and Johnsonburg. An Otto-Eldred win combined with a Johnsonburg loss would clinch the Terrors their first-ever playoff berth.

For seeding purposes, C-L can wrap-up the top seed with a win and loses by Curwensville and Coudersport. The Lions can guarantee themselves one of the top two spots with a win or a Clarion loss. Clarion can wrap-up a top 4 seed and a home playoff game with a win and a loss by ECC.

In Class AA, all seven teams may enter the D-9 playoffs. The playoff standings have Brockway (6-1), Redbank Valley (5-2), Karns City (4-3), Moniteau (4-3), A-C Valley (3-4), Brookville (2-5) and Sheffield (2-5). Don’t be surprised to see at least five of these teams in the postseason.

For seeding purposes, a Brockway win and a Redbank Valley loss would assure the Rovers as the top seed.

The Class AAA bracket has Clearfield (7-0) and Bradford (4-3) as the only teams with winning records. Punxsutawney (2-5) and St. Marys (1-5) are the other Class AAA teams.

If it is a two-team bracket, the title game will be the weekend of Nov. 12-13 at a neutral site, most likely Clarion University.

DuBois, the district’s only Class AAAA team, will compete in the District 10 playoffs, which include McDowell (6-1), Cathedral Prep (4-3) and Erie Central (1-6). Details of that playoff setup were not available.

Johnston passed the 4,000-yard career passing mark and 2,000-yard rushing mark in C-L’s 57-12 win over Union. It’s believed that no other D-9 quarterback has ever attained both of those marks.

Johnston recently passed a familiar, or make that famous, former District 9 quarterback. Against Clarion two weeks ago, Johnston surpassed the career yardage amassed by Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, who starred at East Brady High School. Kelly threw for 3,915 yards and 44 touchdowns in his years with the Bulldogs. He never lost a game as a starting QB in high school.

Johnston is 31-2 as a starting QB for the Lions and he’s never lost a regular-season game, a 25-0 mark.

Johnston, who has passed for 1,324 yards, 20 touchdowns and only two interceptions this year, now has 66 career TD passes. He’s only 13 behind D-9 record-holder Chad Kroell’s 79.

Harbold, meanwhile ran for a career-high 341 yards in Clearfield’s 36-12 win over Clarion last week. That put him over the 3,000-yard milestone.

Another school milestone could be reached this week, as Keystone’s Sam Swartzfager is only 52 yards shy of the school’s career rushing record. Swartzfager has 2,064 career yards and the school record is 2,166 set by Chad Nellis, the brother of current Panther head coach Jason Nellis, from 1993-95. Jason Nellis wasn’t too bad himself rushing for 1,649 yards from 1987-89.

Curwensville still remains the highest scoring team in the state at 50.6 points per game, ahead of McKeesport (47.5) of the WPIAL, Pius X (45.9) of District 11, Gateway (43.4) of the WPIAL and Hempfield (43.1) of District 3. Clearfield (37.6) and Clarion-Limestone (37.0) rank 27^th and tied for 30^th respectively. The Golden Tide also rank first in the state in point differential at 43.4 points per game, ahead of Hempfield (36.7). Clarion-Limestone (29.0) and Clearfield (28.9) rank 20^th and tied for 21^st. … Despite the Tide blowing teams out by over 43 points per game, it’s amazing that their turnover ratio is even with eight giveaways and eight takeaways. … Statistically speaking, Karns City’s Stephen Black needs 20 yards to hit 1,000 yards passing. After Johnston and Black, no other D-9 QB is guaranteed a 1,000-yard season. At the top of the D-9 rushing list is Clearfield’s Harbold at 1,370 and Curwensville’s Nate Sipes at 1,303. Clarion’s Chris McSwain needs 65 yards and Curwensville’s Nick Sipes needs 86 yards to make 1,000. Otto-Eldred’s Virgil Graham (893) and Karns City’s Josh Fiscus (826) are also on the 1,000-yard radar screen.

Johnsonburg has had a tough season, which has included numerous injuries to key players. Throw two last-second field goals by opponents to beat the Rams the last two weeks in a 16-13 loss to Elk County Catholic and a 9-6 loss to Smethport. … In the bounce-back performance of the week, Ridgway nearly knocked off unbeaten Coudersport after suffering a 78-0 loss the week before to unbeaten Curwensville. Only a Rob Cavallari 72-yard kickoff return after Ridgway went up on a Nick Thompson field goal late in the fourth quarter preserved the 14-10 win. … That wasn’t the only clutch kick return. Adam Cornelio won the game for St. Marys when he returned a kick 82 yards for a score after Punxsutawney tied the game late in the fourth quarter. The Dutch won their first game as the Chucks committed seven turnovers, which included three interceptions by the Dutch’s Steve Gaul. … Another kickoff helped spark a D-9 team to a win. Brookville freshman Joe Galbraith returned a kick 89 yards in the Raiders’ 38-13 win at Wellsboro, making the three-hour trip worth it. … The Bisons, thanks to Harbold’s effort, ran for 422 yards against the Bobcats last week, 10 more yards than Clarion had given up all season.