As the regular season winds down for District 9 football, playoff posturing has begun. What games have the biggest impact on the postseason outlook? Here’s a rundown:

It’s a pivotal game at Dutch Country Stadium this week as St. Marys (3-4) hosts Clearfield (4-3). A Clearfield win could actually seal the deal for the Bisons to win, sort of, the District 9 title.

A St. Marys loss would finish the Dutch’s regular season at 4-5 at the best. School policy has been not to send sub-.500 teams to the playoffs. That could also happen for the other Class AAA team, Bradford (2-4), which must win at undefeated DuBois this week and Harbor Creek in Week 9 to guarantee a .500 season. To not do that might keep the Owls out of the postseason as well.

Undisputed D-9 champs? It could happen for the Bisons.

Five teams could make up the postseason – Karns City (5-2), Brockway (4-3), Redbank Valley (4-3), Moniteau (4-3) and Brookville (3-4) – but it’s not guaranteed.

Redbank Valley has two tough games remaining as they host Moniteau this week and travel to Clarion-Limestone in Week 9. Athletic Director Mike Brown said it is school policy to have to be .500 or above to reach the postseason, so the Bulldogs must win one of their final two games.

Moniteau also has two tough games remaining with the Warriors closing the season at home against Clarion. Moniteau has gone to the postseason before at 4-5 but it is not known whether that would be the case this year.

The rest of the field is likely to enter. Karns City will probably finish as the top seed, hosting A-C Valley (1-5) this week and winless Union in Week 9. Also this week, Brookville travels to winless Punxsutawney and Brockway visits winless Ridgway.

Seven out of eight possible spots have been clinched by Coudersport (7-0), Clarion (6-1), Clarion-Limestone (6-1), Curwensville (6-1), Port Allegany (5-2), Johnsonburg (5-2) and Elk County Catholic (5-2).

Kane (4-3) clinches the final spot with a win at home against Allegheny Mountain League rival Johnsonburg this week or an Otto-Eldred loss at home to Coudersport. According to Wolves head coach Rick Bouch, Kane would enter the playoffs – if they qualify – even if they lose their final two games and finish 4-5.

How the seeds sort out depends on how the final two weeks of the regular season play out. The top Class A teams from both the AML and the KSAC are guaranteed one of the top two seeds.

The AML’s top seed will be decided by the AML Title game. Coudersport, which has lost the past three AML Championship tilts, has already secured the spot from the AML North in the game. Three teams are still in contention for the AML South’s spot (see the AML section below in this story).

The KSAC top seed is determined by league record. If both Clarion and C-L would win out in their KSAC schedules then Clarion would get the KSAC’s nod by virtue of having beaten C-L last week 41-6. Clarion can get that top KSAC spot even if they lose to Kennedy Catholic this week and beat Moniteau next to finish 7-2 overall and 6-1 KSAC even if C-L wins out and finishes 8-1 overall and 6-1 in the KSAC. The non-conference games aren’t factored in when determining the KSAC’s top A team.

Speaking of the Allegheny Mountain League, Coudersport will learn who it will play in Week 9’s AML Championship game. It could be a title game rematch with defending champion Curwensville, Elk County Catholic or Johnsonburg.

Curwensville wins the AML South with a win at Elk County Catholic Saturday night. If ECC wins, Johnsonburg must lose to Kane for the Crusaders to win the South. Johnsonburg wins the South if it beats Kane and ECC beats Curwensville.

The AML Championship game will be played Saturday, Oct. 29 at the South Division champion’s field.

In the AML, Cameron County (2-5) visits Smethport (2-5) Friday, while Sheffield (0-7) hosts Port Allegany (5-2) Saturday.

Over in the KSAC, Clarion-Limestone (6-1) travels to Union trying to shake off its first loss of the year last week against Clarion. The Lions will be playing without junior standout Scott Davis, who was ejected in the first quarter of last week’s game. By PIAA rule, he is suspended for this week’s game.

In other games, Clarion hosts Kennedy Catholic (6-1) of District 10 at Clarion University. The Bobcats, following their 41-6 rout of C-L, moved into the Pennsylvania Football News’ Class A rankings at No. 10. Kennedy Catholic is considered a contender to win the Class A crown in D-10.

Keystone (1-6) travels to District 4 to take on Hughesville (6-1).

Not only would Clarion’s win over Kennedy Catholic be big as far as confidence builders go, but it also an historic one as well. The Bobcats have won 399 games.

Individually, Curwensville’s Nick Sipes went over 3,000 career rushing yards with his 151-yard effort last week at Port Allegany. Now with 3,150 yards, he’s 77 yards shy of older brother Nate’s school-record mark of 3,227 yards.

Sipes, who was the 13^th know District 9 player to reach 3,000 career yards, could be joined in the club this week or next by Clarion’s Chris McSwain. A senior, McSwain has 2,757 career yards through seven weeks including 905 and 13 TD’s this year.

Quarterbacks Andrew Janocko of Clearfield (1,124), C-L’s Davis (1,019) and St. Marys’ Lucas Wendel (1,000) hit or went over 1,000 passing yards for the season. Two more, Kane’s Zach Anderson (934) and Otto’s Travis Bair (946), are poised to hit four digits this week.

On the rushing leaderboard, Kane’s Kyle Oakes (1,111) went over 1,000 and holds an 80-yard lead over Sipes (1,031) for the district lead. Coudersport’s David Babcock is third at 1,016 yards. Moniteau’s Matt Schandelmeier is fourth at 941 yards and McSwain, last week’s Player of the Week, is fifth.