District 3 Playoff Pairing Predictions: Class AAA and Class AAAA

Class AAA
Upper Bracket
East Pennsboro (No. 16 seed) at Greencastle-Antrim (No. 1 seed)
Susquehanna Twp. (9) at Daniel Boone (8)
ELCO (13) at Cocalico (4)
Lebanon (12) at Manheim Central (5)

Lower Bracket
Kennard-Dale (15) at Mechanicsburg (2)
Northern Lebanon (10) at Northern (7)
Hershey (14) at West York (3)
Garden Spot (11) at Conrad Weiser (6)

Class AAAA
Upper Bracket
Warwick (16) at Wilson (1)
Muhlenberg (9) at Hempfield (8)
Red Lion (13) at Bishop McDevitt (4)
Elizabethtown (12) at Penn Manor (5)

Lower Bracket
Red Land (15) at York William Penn (2)
Central Dauphin (10) at Governor Mifflin (7)
Harrisburg (14) at Cumberland Valley (3)
Dallastown (11) at Central York (6)

District 3 Playoff Pairing Predictions: Class A and Class AA

In 48 hours we'll know the true pairings for the upcoming District 3 football playoffs. Before the teams settle everything on the field, we'll take a look at the current standings and attempt to predict how Week 10 will play out and which teams will meet in elimination games starting next Friday. First up is Class A followed by Class AA. Check back later for the upper classifications.

Class A
Columbia (No. 8 seed) at Steelton-Highspire (No. 1 seed)
Reading Central Catholic (5) at Millersburg (4)
York Catholic (6) at Camp Hill (3)
Upper Dauphin (7) at Reading Holy Name (2)

Class AA
Littlestown (8) at Lancaster Catholic (1)
Middletown (5) at Trinity (4)
Biglerville (6) at Delone Catholic (3)
Bermudian Springs (7) at Wyomissing (2)

Crunching the numbers

There's more local teams alive for a berth in the upcoming District 3 football playoffs than some may realize.

Maybe the best story of the year, Cedar Cliff's turnaround under new coach Jim Cantafio, will officially end after the Colts' trip to Landis Field to meet Central Dauphin East on Friday at 7 p.m. in a Mid-Penn Keystone Division game.

A victory against the winless Panthers will help Cedar Cliff to its first non-losing season since 2001. The Colts, as they did in 01, have a shot at finishing 5-5 with a win.

Unfortunately for Cantafio's boys, there will be no bonus points from the win, making it nearly impossible to catch Red Lion and Manheim Twp., a pair of teams with at least 20 more bonus points than Cedar Cliff. If both lose, they'll still likely snare enough bonus points to hold off the Colts.

A quick look at where the local teams stand heading to Week 10:

Class AAAA

In: Cumberland Valley (8-1)

In with a win: Red Land (6-3)

In with a loss and help: Red Land

Class AAA

In: Mechanicsburg (9-0) and Northern (6-3)

In with a win and some help: East Pennsboro (4-5)

In with a win and lots of help: West Perry (3-6) and Shippensburg (4-5)

Class AA

In: Trinity (7-2)

Class A

In: Camp Hill (7-2)

A Tornado watch

Without question, the most anticipated bracket in the upcoming District 3 football playoffs is the Class AA one. We've said in the past how deep this field is, which should make for very exciting football games.

The survivor of this minefield won't get much reprieve in the quarterfinals of the PIAA playoffs. The District 4 champion will venture to Hersheypark Stadium on Nov. 28 or 29 to meet the District 3 king in that round of states.

For how deep 3-AA is, 4-AA is right with it. The top eight teams all have winning records -- Troy and Wellsboro round out the field with 5-3 marks -- but it appears most teams are chasing Mount Carmel.

The Red Tornadoes (8-0) blew out previously unbeaten Lewisberg, 30-13, Friday night to take over the top spot in the district. The team opened the season with a convincing 14-0 win over Selinsgrove. The Class AAA Seals have not lost since.

Before it can focus on the 3-AA champion, Mount Carmel will likely have to beat Montoursville, a team that hasn't allowed double digit points since a 23-20 loss to Southern Columbia on Sept. 5. In the last six games, the Warriors (7-1) have allowed a total of 24 points and posted two shutouts.

Division races nearly settled

Bishop McDevitt, via a 42-21 win over Carlisle on Saturday, clinched the Mid-Penn Keystone Division title. The Crusaders finished divisional play 4-0. McDevitt, ranked No. 2 in Class AAAA according to the Pennsylvania Football News, ends the season with a pair of home games against State College (8-0) and Erie McDowell (5-3).

The only other outright division champion so far is Greencastle-Antrim (8-0), who staked its claim to the Capital thanks to its 24-16 win over Northern on Friday.

Three other unbeaten teams have clinched at least a share of their respective divisions. State College, Mechanicsburg and Steelton-Highspire all need to win their division finales in order to win the Commonwealth, Colonial and Patriot divisions outright.

None of the three are in division play this week. All will be at home Oct. 31 to try and wrap up the outright titles. State College hosts Chambersburg (0-8); Mechanicsburg welcomes Red Land (5-3) to John H. Frederick Field and Steel-High meets an always-dangerous Camp Hill team. The Lions enter Week 9 at 6-2.

The Mid-Penn took a lot of heat for the new six-team alignment but the conference might get the last laugh as far as the Liberty Division is concerned. Both Middletown and Palmyra will enter Week 10 with 4-0 records in the division. The two square off for the outright title at Middletown's War Memorial Field on Halloween night.

Stepping out of Cumberland County

Well, we're officially two weeks from the close of the regular season of high school football. All but one area team took the field Friday night -- Carlisle travels to Market Street this morning to square off with undefeated Bishop McDevitt at 10:30-- so when the sun comes up in a few hours, the playoff picture will be a little clearer.

With that in mind, let's take a moment to switch gears, look at some teams that aren't in our coverage area and see what they proved Friday night.

The first thing that stood out Friday was Cumberland Valley's inability to stop Harrisburg's offense. The Cougars ran the ball straight at CV's respected front eight and were rewarded with chunks of yardage each time. Had it not been for a missed extra point, a pair of failed 2-point conversions and two lost fumbles, Harrisburg likely walks out of Harry C. Chapman Field a winner. The Cougars (4-4) need to beat Central Mountain and Altoona in the final two weeks to have a shot at the playoffs but you heard it here first: Harrisburg will not be a team any top seed wants to face.

Heading down to the YAIAA, we now wonder, following a 22-0 punishing loss at the hands of Biglerville, if Delone Catholic really deserved that statewide praise the young Squires received after upending Trinity in overtime Sept. 5. Delone, which was out gained 342-219 Friday, was leading the ultra-deep District 3 Class AA power rankings. There are now zero unbeaten teams in that classification and there could be a new leader. Lancaster Catholic (No. 2) and Wyomissing (No. 4) both won. Trinity (No. 3) lost to Steelton-Highspire. Don't look now but thanks to a win over Camp Hill, Middletown (No. 5) is right back in the thick of the race for the top seed or at least a home game.

Moving up to Class AAA, we know the love has been flowing for Mid-Penn unbeatens Greencastle-Antrim and Mechanicsburg and that's great, they deserve it. But look at the numbers West York is putting up. That offense is simply scary. The Bulldogs (6-1) are averaging 50 points per game. In the team's only loss, it scored 47 points and lost to Dallastown on Sept. 5. That was the Dallastown prior to eight starters being booted for allegedly breaking a behavioral contract student-athletes sign. FYI: West York isn't winning shootouts. The team averages 13.3 points against and has allowed double-digits three times.

Now, to wrap things up, we're heading out of District 3. A lot of time and money may be saved by conceding at least the District 3 Class A championship to Steelton-Highspire. A Middletown team the Rollers beat, 40-14, cruised by Camp Hill - likely Steel-High's only real competition in the district - 38-21 tonight.

In the first round of the PIAA tournament, the Rollers might not, well, roll over their opponent. There appears to be three teams that could win District 6 and contend with this team. Bishop McCort, the two-time defending 6-AA champs, moved down this year and have dominated in starting undefeated. The Crimson Crushers are most likely to dance with Steel-High the day after Thanksgiving. But don't sell short an unbeaten Portage team that was the second highest scoring team in the state headed to Week 8. And then there's Bellwood-Antis, the reigning two-time 6-A champion that has five shutouts and seven wins after opening the season with a loss at Class AA power Tyrone. The winner of that district should offer a test to Steel-High.

Now for some predictions. First, the future District 3 champions (subject to change by Nov. 1):

AAAA - Wilson
AAA - Manheim Central
AA - Trinity
A - Steelton-Highspire

This year's PIAA champions:

AAAA - Gateway
AAA - Thomas Jefferson
AA - West Catholic
A - Riverside

Week 7 winners and losers

At this point in the season, most teams know whether they're serious contenders to qualify for the District 3 playoffs or not. There are a few, however, that still sit on the fence as to whether they'll sneak in or be left in the cold come November.

A trio of Class AAA teams made frantic comebacks Friday night to help their playoff cause.

Biggest winners:

West Perry -- These guys vaulted into the Class AAA field of 16 with a surprising 28-21 win over Red Land. The Mustangs (3-4) trailed 14-0 and 21-14 before doing what they did to Waynesboro a week earlier: scoring the final 14 points. After a tough September schedule, West Perry does not meet another team with a winning record this season. Junior fullback Chaz Sheaffer (left) leads the Mustangs with 462 rushing yards on 118 attempts.

Shippensburg -- Still recovering from early-season woes and a pair of wins over Class A teams, the Class AAA Greyhounds have some work to do if they want to play an 11th game. Shippensburg (3-4) made a big leap Friday by scoring the final 28 points of the game for a 28-21 win over Waynesboro.

East Pennsboro -- Another Class AAA team with work remaining. Defending District 3 and PIAA Class A champion Steelton-Highspire is on the schedule, which makes a playoff berth unlikely for the Panthers (3-4), who scored 13 fourth-quarter points in a wild 26-21 win over Milton Hershey on Friday. A win Friday at West Perry sure would help the cause.

Cedar Cliff -- Another win for the Colts has this program eyeing a playoff appearance. The 4-3 Colts, following a 24-7 rout of Altoona, sit in the 16th and final spot in the Class AAAA field. Just being in the discussion at this point is new territory for Cedar Cliff.

Biggest losers:

Trinity -- Word came down Monday that halfback/safety Christian Kuntz, a Penn State recruit, will likely miss the rest of the season with a torn MCL. The loss deals a serious blow to the Shamrocks, who were eyeing a Class AA district title after falling short last year. In the minefield that is 3-AA, Trinity needed to be at full strength come November.

Red Land -- After a 28-21 loss at West Perry, the Class AAAA Patriots are assured of nothing the rest of the way. At 4-3, Red Land will likely need to win out to make the field. With a season-ending date at undefeated Mechanicsburg, that seems unlikely. Still, if Red Land regroups and goes, at worst, 6-4, there might be a spot in the postseason party for this bunch.

Week 6 winners and losers

There weren't a multitude marquee matchups in Week 6. Arguably, the biggest game was Saturday night's clash between Cumberland Valley and Lower Dauphin. In that one, the Falcons proved once again that they might be the team with the hardest luck in the Mid-Penn.

Coming into Week 6, this team had a close loss to Cedar Cliff (21-14) and another that got away in the second half of a loss to Bishop McDevitt (42-20). In that game, Lower Dauphin (2-4) was down, 21-20, at halftime before letting it get away at McDevitt Field.

Saturday was another hard-luck loss as the Falcons, after recovering a fumble at midfield late in the fourth quarter of a 31-28 game, handed the ball, and the game, right back to CV with a fumble of their own. Oh, the humanity.

Biggest winners:

West Perry -- Don't look now but the Mustangs (2-4) are still alive for a berth in the District 3-AAA playoff field. West Perry scored the last 14 points - Dayne Abeling's extra point in the fourth quarter was the difference - to keep a glimmer of postseason hope alive for a young, experienced team.

Mechanicsburg -- This team is starting to master the final piece of the puzzle. Early in the year, the Wildcats (6-0) couldn't seem to put anyone away. A 56-6 blitzing of Shippensburg one week after a 45-6 rout of Waynesboro proves that they can now do that.

Boiling Springs -- It's going to be extremely tough but if the Bubblers (2-4) keep winning, 6-4 might be enough to sneak into the 3-AA postseason party. Jake Grove stepped into the limelight Friday and gashed Milton for 243 yards on 19 carries in the 22-0 win.

Trinity -- This has as much to do with Steelton-Highspire's rout of Middletown, which previously held the top seed in 3-AA, than of Trinity's 24-0 win over East Pennsboro. The Shamrocks (5-1) keep climbing up the standings following an early loss to reigning District 3 champion Delone Catholic.

Biggest losers:

Red Land -- Talk about not taking advantage of a golden opportunity. The Patriots (4-2) lost out on 50 bonus points and dropped near the bottom of the 3-AAAA standings with a 31-7 loss at home to Greencastle-Antrim. That inability to stop a good running team could come back to haunt Red Land.

Northern -- This was a surprise. The Polar Bears (4-2) should have cruised against a rebuilding Hershey team. Instead, Northern failed to a hold a 10-point lead and turned the ball over three times in a 23-16 loss at Hersheypark Stadium.

Cumberland Valley -- A win's a win but that young secondary may have been exposed late in the fourth quarter of the 31-28 win over Lower Dauphin. If the Eagles (5-1) are to live up to the expectation of being one of the district's best, they'll need to succeed at stopping the run and the pass.

Carlisle -- Central Dauphin hadn't exactly been lighting up the scoreboard in recent weeks but the Rams poured 38 points on Carlisle in a 31-point win. The Thundering Herd (1-5) is reduced to playing for pride at this point. A .500 season is still attainable but the road is tough.

Don't miss these games

The second half of the high school football season is upon us. Leaves are changing, the weather is getting cooler and everyone is starting to look ahead to the second season, normally referred to as the playoffs.

Before we delve into brackets and win-or-go-home games, let's take a look at the can't-miss games that dot the schedule over the final four weeks of the regular season. All listed games are on Friday unless noted. Team records are in parenthesis.

Week 7
Trinity (5-1) at Middletown (5-1), Saturday, 2 p.m.: A battle for seeding in the District 3-AA playoffs. Middletown coming off an ugly 40-14 loss at Steelton-Highspire.

Week 8
Harrisburg (3-3) at Cumberland Valley (4-1): Eagles looking more and more like a District 3-AAAA contender. Harrisburg just wants into the 16-team field.

Steelton-Highspire (6-0) at Trinity (5-1): Another big game in terms of playing positioning. Trinity, which won 31-7 last year, can make a move up the table if it beats Middletown and Steel-High.

Week 9
Susquehanna Twp. (4-2) at Northern (4-2): This could be a must-win for the Polar Bears if they lose to Greencastle-Antrim in Week 8. If Northern wants a playoff game at Bostic Field, it can't afford to lose many more.

Week 10
Camp Hill (5-1) at Steelton-Highspire (6-0): Teams split last year. This could be a preview of the District 3-A final a week before Thanksgiving.

Central Dauphin (4-2) at Cumberland Valley (4-1): Loser here might be on the road in the playoffs. For CV, that might not be a bad thing.

Red Land (4-2) at Mechanicsburg (6-0): Wildcats could be trying to secure top seed in 3-AAA bracket and a perfect season. Red Land might be fighting for its playoff life for a spot in the 3-AAAA field.

Perched at the top of the table

Mechanicsburg's dream football season got a lot better in the moments following the Wildcats' 45-6 rout of Wayensboro on Friday night.

The same evening, Garden Spot beat Lebanon, 35-21. Why was that result important? The Cedars were the only team ahead of Mechanicsburg (5-0) in the District 3 Class AAA playoff power rankings. Thanks to that loss, the Wildcats head into Week 6 as the top dog and one of only two unbeaten teams in the district -- Greencastle-Antrim is the other.

Mechanicsburg has a healthy 90-point edge on the Blue Devils, who have a difficult assignment this week at Red Land, and are 150 points in front of West York, which checks in at No. 3.

That doesn't mean a district title and a spot in the PIAA semifinals is certain for Mechanicsburg. The biggest threat to a team that has won every conceivable way so far could be a team seeded way down at No. 12: Manheim Central.

The Barons, which own 15 District 3-AAA titles, have lost twice this year but neither team was in Central's classification. Wilson, a favorite in 3-AAAA, squeaked out a 20-15 win Sept. 5 and Class AA Lancaster Catholic beat the Barons, 21-8, a week later.

In Mechanicsburg's second appearance in the 3-AAA final, Manheim Central beat the Wildcats, 27-6, in 2004. Mechanicsburg has never won a 3-AAA football championship.

The unofficial District 3 rankings can be found here, courtesy of the Pennsylvania Football News.