With only two weeks left in the regular season, the playoffs will be
here very soon. Several area teams will make the playoffs this year.
Here is a completely unofficial rundown of area teams and their playoff hopes.
Spirit Lake (2A District 1)
7-0 (5-0)
Current
Situation: Spirit Lake has clinched at least a share of the district championship. They have also sealed up the district 1-seed for the playoffs. They will have a home game on Wednesday, October 29th.
Match-ups will be determined later.
Remaining Schedule:
10/17: at Spencer (non-district)
10/24: vs MOC-Floyd Valley
Playoff
Outlook: Spirit Lake has clinched the district and will begin the
playoffs with a home game. Sioux Center and Central Lyon/George Little
Rock both have one district
loss. Because both teams lost to Spirit Lake, the Indians hold the tie
breaker.
Bottom Line: With one district game left, Spirit Lake will enter the postseason as a district champion.
Okoboji (2A District 1)
1-6 (0-5)
Current
Situation: Okoboji is currently 6th in the district and is 2 games
behind both the 4th and 5th place teams in the district. Since MOC-Floyd
Valley and Sheldon both defeated Okoboji, they own tiebreakers with
Okoboji. Because of that, they are locked out of the playoffs.
Remaining Schedule:
10/17: vs Cherokee
10/24: @ Sioux Center
Playoff
outlook: Because of the aforementioned tiebreakers, Okoboji could catch
fire and win their last two games, but they would still miss the
playoffs.
Bottom Line: Okoboji made a lot of improvements this
season and got their first win in a long time. Unfortunately, they will
not see the postseason this year.
Emmetsburg (1A District 3)
4-3 (3-1)
Current
Situation: Emmetsburg is currently 3rd in the district and cannot
finish worse than 4th. They will make it to the postseason.
Remaining Schedule:
10/17: vs Pocahontas Area
10/24: @ Lake Mills
Playoff
outlook: Emmetsburg currently holds a 2.5 game lead over 5th place West
Fork. With only 2 games left, they can’t finish worse than 4th.
Emmetsburg could win the district or finish as low as 4th, depending on
how the last two games go. They will still play the district’s 2nd and
4th place teams in the next two weeks, so they control their own destiny
for at least 2nd place. If undefeated Saint Ansgar loses their last two
games and Emmetsburg wins both, Emmetsburg would be district champion.
Bottom
Line: They will make the playoffs. They could win the district or
finish as low as 4th. If they win their last two games of the season,
they will finish 2nd in the district and would host a first round
playoff game.
Harris-Lake Park (8 Man District 2)
4-3 (3-2)
Current
Situation: HLP is currently 4th in the district. They are tied with
Remsen St. Mary for 4th and 5th, but HLP owns the head-to-head
tiebreaker thanks to a 61-18 win on 10/3.
Remaining Schedule:
10/17: Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire
10/24: vs Laurens-Marathon
Playoff
outlook: HLP will make the playoffs if they win their last two games.
If they lose one of their last two games, they can still make the
playoffs if Remsen St. Mary’s loses one of their last two games. If HLP
loses their last two games, they can still make the playoffs if RSM also
loses their last two games.
Bottom Line: HLP controls their own
destiny. If they win out, they’re in. RSM will play two of the
district’s top three teams and HLP still has winless Laurens-Marathon on
the schedule. Based on the tiebreaker with RSM and remaining schedule,
HLP’s chances of making the playoffs are pretty good.
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn (1A District 2)
3-4 (2-2)
Current
Situation: H-M-S is currently 4th in the district and holds a one game
lead over 5th place Ridge View and 6th place Unity Christian. H-M-S
defeated both teams already this season so they own tiebreakers.
Remaining Schedule:
10/17: @ Sibley-Ocheyedan
10/24: vs West Lyon
Playoff
outlook: H-M-S controls their own destiny to make the playoffs. They’ll
make the playoffs with one or two wins in the next two weeks. Since
H-M-S owns tiebreakers with the two teams currently one game back, one
win in the last two games will clinch 4th place for them. If they lose
their last two games, they can still make the playoffs if Ridge View and
North Union both lose at least one of their last two games. Both Ridge
View and North Union play top 3 teams in the district to round out the
season.
Bottom Line: Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn will make the
playoffs with just one win in the last two weeks. They could finish as
high as 2nd in the district.
Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire (8 Man District 2)
6-1 (4-1)
Current
Situation: G-T/R-A is currently 2nd in the district and they hold a one game lead over the 4th and 5th place teams.
Remaining Schedule:
10/17: vs Harris-Lake Park
10/24: vs Remsen St. Mary’s
Playoff
outlook: G-T/R-A hasn’t clinched a playoff spot yet, but it’s a simple
scenario for making the playoffs. They just have to win one of their
last two games to lock themselves into the playoffs. They can finish as
high as 2nd.
Bottom Line: G-T/R-A is in with at least one win.
They can still make the playoffs if they lose both of their games, but
they’ll need RSM or H-LP to lose their other remaining game.
Estherville Lincoln Central (2A District 2)
3-4 (2-3)
Current
Situation: ELC is currently 4th and on the bubble for making the
playoffs. They are half a game out of 3rd and a half game ahead of 5th.
Remaining Schedule:
10/17: @ Osage
10/24: vs North Union (non-district)
Playoff
outlook: ELC will make the playoffs if they beat Osage this week. If
Osage wins, ELC will be eliminated from playoff contention.
Bottom Line: ELC must win their game this week to make the playoffs.
Spencer (3A District 1)
3-4 (2-3)
Current
Situation: Spencer is currently 6th in the district, but they’re only a half game out of 3rd.
Remaining Schedule:
10/17: Spirit Lake (non-district)
10/24: @ Sgt. Bluff-Luton
Playoff
outlook: Spencer faces a tough task, needing a win against the
district’s #2 team next week, Sgt. Bluff-Luton. Even if they win,
they’ll need help from their closest district competition, LeMars,
Denison-Schleswig, and Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley. Since Spencer knocked
off Denison-Schleswig last week, they can leapfrog them with one more
D-S loss. They would also need either B-H/RV or LeMars to lose their
last two games. B-H/RV faces LeMars this week. Spencer will need the
loser of that game to also lose next week to give Spencer a shot at the
playoffs. The final regular season game for LeMars is at district leader
Bishop Heelan. Denison-Schleswig will play Sgt. Bluff-Luton this week
and B-H/RV next week. It is also possible for Spencer to make the playoffs even with a loss next week in Sgt. Bluff. If Denison-Schleswig and LeMars both lose their last two games, it would create a 3-way tie for the 4th and final playoff spot in the district. As of now, it appears that Spencer would own the tiebreaker in a 3-tie with those two teams.
Bottom Line: Spencer has a few hoops to jump through, but if they can beat Sgt. Bluff-Luton, their path to the playoffs will get much easier. Even with a loss next week, Spencer could see playoff action this year if LeMars and Denison-Schleswig both lose their last two games.
This is all unofficial and there may be errors, but hopefully this gives you a good idea about your team’s playoff chances.
