Local football playoff picture coming into view

It might be hard to believe, since it seems like the high school football season just started, but the reality is the playoff push is underway and, in fact, a few local teams have already shifted their focus to postseason play.

One such team is the Big Sandy Pioneers, which as of right now is the only Hi-Line team that has punched its ticket to the postseason. But that doesn't mean Big Sandy doesn't have anything to play for this weekend, as it gets set to host Power-Dutton-Brady.

Big Sandy officially clinched its playoff berth with a win last Saturday over Denton-Geyser-Stanford. However, that win also put the Pioneers in position to grab the No. 2 seed in the Six-Man North Division and a home playoff game for the second straight season. A win over PDB Saturday will ensure that - so would a loss by DGS to Geraldine/Highwood. There is a scenario where Big Sandy could be part of a three-way tie for first with DGS and Geraldine/Highwood, if DGS pulls the upset this week.

If that happened, the tiebreaker would come down to the point differential between the three teams. Big Sandy beat DGS by 25 but lost to Geraldine/Highwood by 14. That means DGS would need to beat Geraldine/Highwood by 37 points in order to overtake the Pioneers.

While Big Sandy is already in the postseason, no matter what happens over the next two weeks, Chester-Joplin-Inverness and Chinook are still one win away from saying that same thing. Both teams earned their way into the seeded playoffs of the Northern C, which features three games, including the Northern C title game, featuring the two division winners in the conference. That game will pit Great Falls Central against Shelby, in a battle of teams that are already assured the first and second seeds. The other three Northern C playoff berths will be decided by play-in games over the next two weeks.

After Chinook and CJI each finished third in their respective divisions, both teams will take part in the seeded playoffs, albeit on the road. Each team will take on the second-place team from the opposite division, with the third and fourth seeds on the line. Chinook will travel to Choteau and CJI will make the trip to Centerville.

A win by either team gets them into the playoffs. But a loss this weekend won't eliminate CJI or Chinook. That's because the Northern C, which has a total of 13 teams, now gets five teams into the 8-Man playoffs, meaning the loser of Chinook/Choteau will face the loser of CJI/Centerville next week for the fifth and final Northern C playoff spot. To make it simple, Chinook and CJI each need one win to make the playoffs and if necessary, both teams will get two chances in order to get it.

When it comes to the Class A playoff race, the Havre Blue Ponies were officially eliminated from playoff contention after their loss to Billings Central dropped them to 1-6. Yet, with games against Livingston and Miles City looming, two teams still in the playoff hunt, HHS will at least get the chance to play spoiler.

There are six playoff spots up for grabs in the Eastern A and three of them are already spoken for as Billings Central (7-0), Lewistown (6-1) and Laurel (6-1) are all playoff bound. Lewistown still has an outside chance at winning the Eastern A crown, along with Laurel, but that would require Lewistown beating Billings Central this week and winning the tiebreaker. On the other hand, if the Rams beat the Eagles, they will clinch the conference title and Laurel will wrap up the second seed, which comes with a first-round bye for the playoffs.

After those top three teams, Belgrade and Miles City are both sitting in solid positions at 4-3. The Panthers, who beat Miles City earlier this season, can clinch a playoff berth by beating Glendive Friday. The Cowboys can do the same this week by knocking off Sidney this week. That scenario would clear up the playoff race quite a bit; it would also keep Livingston's hopes alive, even though the Rangers currently sit at 2-5.

Yet, the idea of Livingston making the playoffs isn't as far fetched as it might seem. Thanks to its win over Glendive, it is much better positioned to make it than the Red Devils, who also have an outside chance at 2-5. Glendive would need to beat Belgrade and Lewistown, while also hoping for some upsets along the way. There is one unlikely scenario that would see Miles City, Sidney, Livingston, Glendive and Belgrade all finish tied at 4-5 in the final standings, yet it would require a few upsets, such as Havre beating Miles City, Glendive beating Belgrade and Hardin somehow knocking off Belgrade in the final game of the season, along with the Red Devils besting Lewistown.

Realistically though, Belgrade, Miles City and Sidney are the favorites to get the final three spots. However, the one team that has the best chance to sneak in is Livingston, simply based on its schedule and win over Glendive. Barring any major upsets, Livingston simply needs to beat Havre and Sidney, who it plays in the season finale and the Rangers are in.

But if Sidney were to beat Miles City and the lose to Livingston, Miles City would then need to beat Havre to clinch a playoff berth, otherwise there would be a three-way tie between Sidney, Livingston and Miles City, which would be decided by point differential between the three teams in their common games against each other.

What it all means is that even though Havre can't make the postseason, the Ponies can still have a say about the teams that do.

Havre travels to Livingston this Friday to take on the Rangers at 6 p.m. The Blue Ponies will wrap up the regular season Oct. 19 with a home game against Miles City.