By Chris Rossetti

As District 9 football teams enter Week Nine, the playoff picture has cleared up a little bit but seeding and, in the case of Class A, playoff berths are still on the line with teams having one or two games left in the 2007 regular season.

CLASS A

Five of the eight District 9 Class A playoff spots have been secured with Cameron County (8-0), Coudersport (7-1), Kane (8-0), Port Allegany (5-3) and Redbank Valley (7-1) all assured of postseason berths. Cameron, Coudy and Redbank were all there last season, while Kane and Port Allegany return to the postseason after a year layoff.

While five teams are in, five teams – Keystone (4-4), Ridgway (4-4), Elk County Catholic (4-4), Clarion (3-5) and Curwensville (3-5) – are competing for the final three spots.

Keystone is in the best position of the five. All the Panthers need to do is beat A-C Valley Friday night to secure the second automatic berth awarded to the KSAC. A-C Valley has lost 21 straight games. Even if the Panthers are upset, they can still secure the No. 2 seed out of the KSAC with a Clarion loss at Moniteau (5-3).

Ridgway can also secure a playoff berth this week with a win over Otto-Eldred (1-7). Even with a loss, the Elkers could still be in after this week if both Clarion and Curwensville lose. Curwensville hosts Sheffield (1-7).

ECC can also secure a playoff spot this week with a win over Smethport (1-7) and a Clarion loss.

Clarion needs some help to extend its District 9 playoff streak to four straight seasons. The Bobcats need to beat Moniteau this week and Brookville (5-3) next week while having ECC lose to either Smethport this week or St. Marys (5-3) this week.

Curwensville has an outside shot at getting in. They can actually clinch a playoff spot this week by beating Sheffield having Ridgway lose to Otto AND Clarion lose to Moniteau. They can be eliminated from playoff contention this week with a loss OR if Ridgway AND ECC win. There are other scenarios that would have the Tide needing help in Week 10, but we will worry about that if it happens next week.  

Seeding is almost as complicated as the final three spots. This much is known: Redbank Valley has one of the top two seeds and the winner of the Cameron County-Kane AML Title game has the other top seed with the loser also guaranteed a home playoff spot as a top four seed. Coudersport also can be a top 4 seed and can put itself in position to possibly be as high as the third seed if it can beat Kane this week. The bottom four seeds are still a jumble.

CLASS AA

In Class AA, the four teams are basically set with Brockway (5-3), Brookville (5-3), Karns City (8-0) and Moniteau (5-3) all most likely entering the open playoffs (no qualifying needed). A-C Valley is the other Class AA team, and as mentioned before the Falcons have lost 21 straight games and no factor to go to the playoffs.

As far as seeding goes, Karns City has the top seed locked up. The other three seeds will be determined in the next two weeks. If the season ends with all Brockway, Brookville and Moniteau all with the same record then Brookville would be the second seed, Moniteau the third and Brockway the fourth based on the District 9 Power Rating system. Brockway’s only hope for a home playoff game is to finish a game ahead of both Brookville and Moniteau in the standings. The only way the Rovers can avoid the fourth seed and a date with powerhouse Karns City is to finish ahead of either Brookville or Moniteau in the standings. Brookville is in the best position because it holds the Power Rating tiebreaker with both Moniteau and Brockway if the teams tie, while Moniteau loses a Power Rating battle with Brookville but beats Brockway.

CLASS AAA

The Class AAA bracket will most likely have three teams – Bradford (6-1), Clearfield (5-3) and St. Marys (5-3) – in it.

Bradford has the best shot at the top seed. The Owls can clinch that top spot and a most likely bye into the title game with a win over East Allegheny (6-2) this week or Bishop McCort (7-1) next week or at least one loss by St. Marys or Clearfield in the final two weeks. Bradford, however, could also drop to the third seed with two loses and two wins by both Clearfield and St. Marys.

Clearfield finishes the year with Huntingdon (2-6) this week and Penns Valley (7-1) next week, while St. Marys has Youngsville (0-8) this week and ECC (4-4) next week.

The Bisons have a leg up on St. Marys in getting the No. 2 seed and a home game. If the two teams finish with the same record, Clearfield gets the second seed based on a win over St. Marys.

CONFERENCE TITLES

  Every conference title is sewed up.

Kane secured the AML South title with a 51-0 win over Brockway last week, while Cameron County took the AML North title with a 63-8 win at Sheffield. The two teams will meet in the AML Title game at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, in Kane. Kane is looking for its first AML Title since 2002, and Cameron County is looking for its first since 1999. The teams haven’t met since 2005 when Kane won 46-14 at Cameron County.

Bradford is the final D9 League champion – the league dissolves after this season. It is the Owls second straight (they shared the title with Brookville and Clearfield last season) D9 League title and sixth in the league’s 23-year history. DuBois won the most D9 League titles with 10, while Clearfield won seven.

Karns City has won at least a share of its third straight KSAC title and can take the title by itself with a win over Union (1-7) this week. Redbank Valley could clinch a share of the title if the Gremlins trip up and the Bulldogs beat Clarion-Limestone (2-6). Karns City beat Redbank Valley 23-0 but the league doesn’t have a tiebreaker.   

In the Mountain Athletic Conference Seven Mountains Division, Hollidaysburg gets the championship because of a strange quark in the schedule. The Tigers are 5-1 and are a ½ game up on Indian Valley, which won the head-to-head match-up. But Indian Valley and Punxsutawney don’t play this season because they couldn’t find an open spot on their schedules. That probably cost Indian Valley the title considering Punxsy is 0-8.