Playoff possibilities abound for several area football teams

Chris Peterson

Havre Daily News

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Believe it or not, there are just two weeks left in the high school football season and that means that playoffs, for Class A, Class B and Class C, are right around the corner.

Locally, there are a handful of teams that have put themselves in playoff position and while things are still up in the air, Havre High, Chester-Joplin-Inverness and North Star all have good chances of playing in the postseason.

When it comes to the Blue Ponies, the scenarios are pretty simple: win and you’re in. Currently, Havre (5-2, 2-1) is in second place in the Central A conference, tied with Lewistown in the loss column with one each. HHS, which is fresh off a loss to Belgrade, and Lewistown, which lost to the Panthers two weeks ago, are both essentially out of the race for the conference championship. That means their game Friday night, which will start at 7 p.m., in Lewistown, is for the No. 2 spot and the guaranteed playoff berth that goes along with it.

Therefore, if the Ponies win in Lewistown, they will clinch, not only a spot in the Class A playoffs, but also a home game in the first round. However, if Havre loses to the Eagles, things may not be quite so concrete. That’s because Havre would need to rely on a wildcard berth from the Class A power poll and while the Ponies are currently in a strong position in the poll, losses to Lewistown and Polson could change that.

Right now, even though they are second in the Central A, the Ponies have the highest power poll number of all the teams in the 11-team Eastern A Division. That’s due to five victories and a schedule that includes seven teams with multiple wins, including six with at least three.

In the east, Sidney has essentially wrapped up a playoff berth, while Billings Central and Laurel look like strong bets to finish second and third. Miles City and Hardin are also in the mix, but just barely. Yet, even so, things will become much clearer after this weekend when Miles City takes on Billings Central and Hardin battles Laurel.

If Billings Central and Laurel both win as expected, that would be good news for Havre. You see, a loss by the Ponies against Lewistown would put Havre in direct competition with the third- and fourth-place teams in the East for the two wildcard playoff positions.

There is a strong likelihood that either Billings Central or Laurel, which face off next weekend, will be the second team from the East and the other will be the wildcard. That means Havre would simply need to beat out Miles City and Hardin for the final wildcard spot.

A win over Polson in the final week of the season would certainly get Havre enough points to secure the final berth. Yet, losses by Miles City and Hardin either this weekend or next, would also do the trick.

The margin in the power poll is already significant, seeing as Havre has 42.4 points, compared to 30.4 for Miles City and 28.7 for Hardin, so a single loss by either team would make the gap too large to overcome.

However, if Miles City is able to upset Billings Central and win out or Hardin somehow beats Laurel and Sidney in back-to-back games to end the season, it could be a different story, especially if Havre lost to both Lewistown and Polson.

No matter what happens in the East and even with two losses, Havre has a strong probability of making the playoffs. But a win against Lewistown or even one against Polson, will wrap up a berth and allow Havre football fans everywhere to put their calculators aside.

When it comes to the playoff race in the Northern C of 8-Man football, things are a little simpler. Yet, for CJI, it’s basically the same as Havre — win and you’re in.

The Hawks, who started the season 1-3, have won three straight and are now 4-3 in the Northern C, leaving them tied with Power-Dutton-Brady, the team they host Friday night in Chester. Simms (3-4), which CJI beat earlier this season, is also still in contention.

A win Friday would be the Hawks’ fifth in conference play. It would also guarantee them a berth in the playoffs, because they would own the head-to-head tiebreaker over both Simms and PDB.

A loss for CJI Friday would put the Hawks in a precarious position, but it wouldn’t necessarily eliminate them from the playoff picture. At that point, the Hawks would need to hope for a three-way tie between themselves, Simms and PDB.

It sounds far-fetched, but when considering PDB plays Belt (7-0) in its final game and Simms has winnable contests against Hays-Lodge Pole and Cascade, it’s plausible. And in that scenario, each team would have one win over one of the others, so the tie would be decided by point differential.

As far as Six-Man football is concerned, the North Star Knights have already done enough to get into playoffs, so their final two games will be all about seeding. At 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the North Division, the Knights could finish anywhere from first to fourth.

The Knights are tied for second with Geraldine-Highwood and Valier, which are their opponents for the last two games, thus, if North Star wins out, it will win the Six-Man North. But, even with two losses, the Knights will be back in the postseason.

The only other team along the Hi-Line that has any playoff hope is Big Sandy (3-3, 2-3). Unfortunately for the Pioneers, they need a lot to go right. First, they need to win out, which would include beating Geraldine-Highwood, then they would need Sunburst (3-3, 3-2) to lose to Augusta and Heart Butte, two teams with one combined win on the season, in back-to-back weeks, which is highly unlikely to happen, which means Big Sandy will probably be on the outside looking in.

At the end of the day, there are many different clinching scenarios out there, but the bottom line is, that as long as local teams like Havre, CJI and North Star keep winning, the rest will take care of itself.