By Chris Rossetti
The District 9 Class A playoff picture cleared up somewhat after Friday night’s game with Port Allegany and Curwensville definitely clinching a berth, the fifth and sixth teams to do so.
That leaves two spots to be determined, although one of those spot automatically goes to a KSAC team.
Three KSAC teams – Clarion, Keystone and Union – are tied for the second place in the Small School Division at 3-2.
We are told that tie will be broken first by using the Power Points system (only games within the KSAC Small School) and if that doesn’t break it – which it won’t – then common KSAC opponents will be used (that would be all KSAC teams Large and Small School).
In that case, we believe only Keystone and Clarion could get that second spot, but it’s always possible that District 9 will somehow see it differently and Union would get the spot – although we really don’t see how that could happen.
But for argument sake, lets look at that one first. If Union would get the spot then the final spot would be between Clarion, Keystone and Coudersport. The only way Coudersport, under this scenario, could get the spot is if both Keystone (to Penns Manor) and Clarion (to Brookville) would both lose. If either or both of those teams win, then Coudersport would be out. If Clarion wins then Clarion would have the final spot in this scenario, but if Clarion loses and Keystone wins then Keystone.
Now, again, this scenario is highly unlikely. The two likely scenarios are Clarion getting the second KSAC berth or Keystone getting the second KSAC berth.
So let’s see who would get the final Wild Card spot and what the seeding would look like in those cases along with seeing what the seeding would look like depending on the winner of the AML Title game next week between Port Allegany and Kane.
Before we dive too deep into that, lets try to explain why it comes down to either Clarion and Keystone and not Union for the second KSAC spot. This isn’t simple but the explanation we are getting from District 9 football chairman Bob Tonkin is as fellows. If Power Points within the KSAC Small School Division wouldn’t break the tie, which it doesn’t, then common KSAC (both Small School and Large School Divisions) would be taken into account. Since there is a perfect tie in the Small School Division, common opponents from the Large School Division would be used. In this case, all three teams have two common opponents from the Large School Division – Brookville and Karns City. All three teams lost to Karns City so it basically comes down to how they fared or will fair against Brookville.
Union lost to Brookville, while Keystone beat Brookville. Clarion plays at Brookville in Week 10. It’s believed that if this formula is followed to break the tie then Keystone would get the second spot if Clarion loses to Brookville based on the fact the Panthers beat Brookville and Union and Clarion would have both lost to Brookville. If Clarion beats Brookville, then we THINK Clarion gets the second spot based on the fact that both it and Keystone beat Brookville and Union lost to Brookville therefore eliminating Union from the tie. The tiebreaker, we THINK, would go back to head-to-head between Clarion and Keystone thus giving Clarion the second KSAC automatic berth based on the Bobcats win over the Panthers.
Confused yet? So are we. And thank District 9 for not clearing up the confusion going into this week. Hopefully sometime over the weekend or early next week there will be definitive word as to how this tie will be broken. Until then stay tuned.
That being said, that leaves us with a couple of possibilities for the Wild Card spots based on who gets the second KSAC Automatic bid.
IF CLARION GETS THE SECOND KSAC AUTOMATIC BID AND KANE WINS THE AML TITLE THEN WE KNOW THIS:
Redbank Valley is the No. 1 seed, Kane is the No. 2 seed, Clarion is the No. 3 seed, Brockway is the No. 4 seed, Elk County Catholic is the No. 5 seed, Curwensville is the No. 6 seed and Port Allegany is the No. 7 seed. The eight seed will be contested for between Keystone and Coudersport. Keystone would be the No. 8 seed with a win over Penns Manor. A Keystone loss to Penns Manor makes Coudersport the No. 8 seed.
IF KEYSTONE GETS THE SECOND KSAC AUTOMATIC BID AND KANE WINS THE AML TITLE THEN WE KNOW THIS:
Redbank Valley is the No. 1 seed, Kane is the No. 2 seed, Keystone is the No. 3 seed, Brockway is the No. 4 seed, Elk County Catholic is the No. 5 seed, Curwensville is the No. 6 seed, Port Allegany is the No. 7 seed and Coudersport would be the No. 8 seed (assuming a Clarion loss to Brookville. If Clarion would beat Brookville but Keystone would still somehow get the automatic berth then Clarion would have the No. 8 seed here).
IF CLARION GETS THE SECOND KSAC AUTOMATIC BID AND PORT ALLEGANY WINS THE AML TITLE THEN WE KNOW THIS:
Redbank Valley is the No. 1 seed, Port Allegany is the No. 2 seed, Clarion is the No. 3 seed, Kane is the No. 4 seed, Brockway is the No. 5 seed and Elk County Catholic is the No. 6 seed. The seventh and eighth seeds would then be dertemined based on who the eighth team is and how Curwensville fairs vs. Blairsville. Curwensville would be the seventh regardless of who the eighth team is as long as the Golden Tide beat Blairsville. The eighth would then be contested between Keystone and Coudersport with Keystone getting the nod with a win over Penns Manor and Coudersport getting it with a Keystone loss. Now if Keystone gets in with the win, and Curwensville loses to Blairsville, then the Panthers are the seventh seed based on having more Power Points than Curwensville, which would drop to the eighth spot.
IF KEYSTONE GETS THE SECOND KSAC AUTOMATIC BID AND PORT ALLEGANY WINS THE AML TITLE THEN WE KNOW THIS:
Redbank Valley is the No. 1 seed, Port Allegany is the No. 2 seed, Keystone is the No. 3 seed, Kane is the No. 4 seed, Brockway is the No. 5 seed, Elk County Catholic is the No. 6 seed, Curwensville is the No. 7 seed and Coudersport would be the No. 8 seed (assuming a Clarion loss to Brookville. If Clarion would beat Brookville but Keystone would still somehow get the automatic berth then Clarion would have the No. 8 seed here).
This is all of course is very unofficial. We hope to have something locked down as the week goes on.
