Playoffs arrows: Up or down?

Boiling Springs (even) -- Even with the victory at Camp Hill, the arrow is neither up nor down. The Bubblers still need a lot of help to crack the playoffs and Milton Hershey's victory over Middletown won't help. Regardless, five straight wins after an 0-4 start is a nice accomplishment and six would be even better. The Bubblers host James Buchanan on Friday in the regular-season finale Friday at 7 p.m.

Cedar Cliff (down) -- Only because a 35-14 loss to anybody is disheartening. Still, the Colts can crack the playoffs for the first time since 1996 with a win over Central Dauphin East at Landis Field in Week 10. If Cedar Cliff can claw into the top 12, don't be surprised with a first-round Cedar Cliff win.

Cumerland Valley (up) -- CV should move into the top three after Penn Manor's last-minute, 24-20 loss to Wilson. The Bulldogs will stay second (behind Bishop McDevitt) with the Eagles moving to third. The key is to try and avoid McDevitt until the district final, which will happen if CV wins at Central Dauphin in Week 10.

Mechanicsburg (up) -- A 2-point win over James Buchanan should never be cause for celebration but if that victory is a team's fifth-straight after an 0-4 start, it's a big relief. A win at Red Land on Thursday will send the Wildcats back to the District 3 Class AAA tournament with only one returning starter from last year's 12-1 team.

Northern (down) -- Polar Bears fell apart in the second half of a 35-14 loss at Susquehanna Twp. The Polar Bears hung tough against a good opponent on the road and can still boast a nice 21-0 victory over Greencastle-Antrim. Problem is, the loss to 'Hanna will hurt Northern's playoff seed in a loaded bracket.

Trinity (up) -- Heading into a huge game with Milton Hershey on Friday at 7 p.m., the Shamrocks are riding high. Middletown, one of the teams ahead of Trinity, lost to Milton Hershey on Friday. The result, coupled with Trinity's 21-3 victory at Palmyra, will lift Trinity into the top three for the moment. Everything will change when the Spartans come calling. A win for the 'Rocks is a must.

Week 9 predictions: Born Power Index

If last week is any indication, the following picks by the Born Power Index will likely pick the winner but not the spread of the game. Last week, the BPI was 11-3 overall but a measly 4-10 against a spread that it submits. That isn't good but for the sake of fun, here's the predictions for this, the ninth week of the high school football season:

Friday
Non-division
Altoona by 10 over Central Dauphin East*
Bishop McDevitt by 18 over State College*
Boiling Springs by 6 over Camp Hill*
Central Dauphin by 20 over Lower Dauphin*
Chambersburg by 12 over Carlisle*
Cumberland Valley by 25 over Cedar Cliff*
Gettysburg by 8 over West Perry*
Greencastle-Antrim by 32 over Waynesboro*
Hershey by 28 over Big Spring*
Mechanicsburg by 23 over James Buchanan*
Shippensburg* by 4 over Red Land
Steelton-Highspire* by 22 over East Pennsboro
Susquehanna Twp.* by 13 over Northern
Trinity by 20 over Palmyra*
Non-conference
Line Mountain by 7 over Susquenita*

Saturday
Non-conference
Harrisburg* by 13 over Central Mountain

CV can make a move

Assuming Cumberland Valley can take care of business Friday night - the Eagles have a tough assignment with a trip to West Shore Stadium to meet Cedar Cliff (5-3) - it should gain ground in the District 3 Class AAAA power rankings.

The Eagles (7-1) are currently fourth behind Bishop McDevitt (8-0), Wilson (7-1) and Penn Manor (7-1). At the same time CV is battling Cedar Cliff, Penn Manor will be locked in a fight with defending district champion Wilson.

The loser of that Lancaster-Lebanon Section I game will likely fall behind CV, which would then move into third place.

This is important because a top three seed for the Eagles will keep them on the opposite side of the bracket of McDevitt, which is considered the team to beat in 3-AAAA. A game against McDevitt before the district final means a Saturday afternoon date with the Crusaders at either Landis Field or Walter E. Severance Field. McDevitt's home field is not suitable to host postseason games due to the district rule that venues without lights must have artificial turf to host games.

Power Rankings (Week 8)

Not a ton of surprises in this week's power rankings, which came out Sunday afternoon. There's a few teams to note as Mechanicsburg (right) has grabbed the No. 16 spot in District 3-AAA while Milton Hershey sits in the eighth and final 3-AA seed. Of course, there's still time for these teams to drop out and/or move up.

In Class A, winless programs Carson Long Military, Columbia and Halifax have opted to not participate in the 3-A field. Fairfield, the other winless Class A team, has until Monday afternoon to indicate what it plans to do.

Now here are what the pairings would look like if the postseason began Friday night:

Class A

Fairfield (8, 0-8) at Upper Dauphin (1, 7-1)

York Catholic (5, 5-3) at Holy Name (4, 5-3)

Central Catholic (6, 4-4) at Millersburg (3, 5-3)

Camp Hill (7, 2-5) at Steelton-Highspire (2, 5-2)

Class AA

Milton Hershey (8, 5-3) at Lancaster Catholic (1, 7-1)

York Suburban (5, 6-2) at Trinity (4, 6-2)

Littlestown (6, 6-2) at Middletown (3, 6-2)

Wyomissing (7, 5-3) at Delone Catholic (2, 7-1)

Class AAA

Upper Bracket

Mechanicsburg (16, 4-4) at Manheim Central (1, 8-0)

Eastern Lebanon (9, 7-1) at Greencastle-Antrim (8, 6-2)

Kennard-Dale (13, 4-4) at Northern (4, 7-1)

New Oxford (12, 4-4) at Conrad Weiser (5, 6-2)
Lower Bracket

Northern Lebanon (15, 5-3) at West York (2, 8-0)

Cocalico (10, 6-2) at Conestoga Valley (7, 6-2)

Lampeter-Strasburg (14, 5-3) at Susquehanna Twp. (3, 7-1)

Daniel Boone (11, 6-2) at Hershey (6, 6-2)

Class AAAA

Upper Bracket

Dallastown (16, 4-4) at Bishop McDevitt (1, 8-0)

York William Penn (9, 6-2) at Muhlenberg (8, 6-2)

Reading (13, 4-4) at Cumberland Valley (4, 7-1)

Governor Mifflin (12, 5-3) at South Western (5, 7-1)

Lower Bracket

Chambersburg (15, 4-4) at Wilson (2, 7-1)

Manheim Twp. (10, 5-3) at Central York (7, 6-2)

Spring Grove (14, 5-3) at Penn Manor (3, 7-1)

Cedar Cliff (11, 5-3) at Central Dauphin (6, 6-2)

Week 8 predictions: Born Power Index

Below are the Born Power Index predictions for the Mid-Penn Conference. Last week the Index went 16-3 straight up and 9-8 against its own spread.

Friday
Commonwealth
Central Dauphin by 2 over Chambersburg*
State College* by 22 over Altoona

Keystone
Bishop McDevitty by 56 over Carlisle*
Lower Dauphin by 13 over Central Dauphin East*

Colonial
Mechanicsburg* by 17 over Gettysburg
Susquehanna Twp. by 10 over Hershey*
Red Land by 15 over Waynesboro*

Capital
Greencastle-Antrim by 20 over Northern*
Shippensburg by 8 over Big Spring*

Liberty
Boiling Springs by 4 over Susquenita*

Patriot
Steelton-Highspire* by 11 over Trinity

Non-division
Middletown* by 19 over Camp Hill
East Pennsboro* by 17 over West Perry

Saturday
Commonwealth
Cumberland Valley* by 21 over Harrisburg

Winter storm awaiting Cedar Cliff

Talk about being up against it.

When Cedar Cliff treks to Altoona for a 7 p.m. kick Friday night, the Colts will not only need to beat a much-improved home team, but Cedar Cliff will also need to battle the weather.

According to the National Weather Service, the game-time temperature for Altoona is 34 degrees with snow showers. The chance of precipitation is 80 percent.

The National Weather Service also has issued a Winter Storm Watch for the Altoona area, with several inches of heavy, wet snow expected by Friday morning.

A complete story on what the Altoona area is facing can be found here.

While the weather isn't great in the Harrisburg area, temperatures are expected to hover around the low 40's with a 70-percent chance of rain.

Cedar Cliff hauls a 3-3 record into this game and likely needs a win to qualify for the District 3 Class AAAA playoffs. Altoona is 2-1 at home with impressive victories over Central Dauphin (4-2) and Chambersburg (4-2). The only other team to beat Central Dauphin this season is unbeaten, state-ranked Bishop McDevitt while Chambersburg's only other loss was at perennial power Cumberland Valley (5-1).

The Colts are coming off a 40-28 loss to State College in a game that was tied, 28-28, into the fourth quarter. Cedar Cliff has not won in two trips to Mansion Park since Altoona joined the Mid-Penn Conference in 2004.

Week 7 predictions: Born Power Index

Below is a look at who the Born Power Index thinks will win each game this weekend in the Mid-Penn Conference.

Non-division
Bishop McDevitt by 28 over Chambersburg*
Cedar Cliff by 3 over Altoona*
Cumberland Valley by 48 over Carlisle*
Greencastle-Antrim by 2 over Susquehanna Twp.*
Harrisburg by 7 over Lower Dauphin*
Hershey by 12 over Palmyra*
Mechanicsburg by 13 over Big Spring*
Milton Hershey* by 7 over East Pennsboro
Northern by 14 over Gettysburg*
Red Land* by 22 over West Perry
Shippensburg* by 23 over Waynesboro
State College by 39 over Central Dauphin East*
Steelton-Highspire* by 48 over James Buchanan
Susquenita* by 1 over Camp Hill
Trinity* by 3 over Middletown

Non-conference
Boiling Springs* by 18 over Reading Central Catholic
Central Dauphin* by 7 over Williamsport (Saturday)

Power Rankings (Week 6)

Below is a look at what the District 3 playoffs would look like if the postseason began Friday night. There's a few would-be interesting matchups.

In Class AAA, the only area team to crack the top 16 is Northern and the Polar Bears would host a very good two-loss Cocalico team.

In Class AAAA, Cumberland Valley would receive a raw deal and be seeded on Bishop McDevitt's side of the bracket as the No. 5 seed. Also in that bracket would be Reading and its coach, Preston McKnight, who guaranteed the Knights would be in the postseason.

The big-ticket game would be Cedar Cliff at Wilson. Current Cedar Cliff coach Jim Cantafio (left) was formerly the coach of Wilson and still resides in Sinking Spring, which is in the Wilson School District. A very fun first-round pairing, indeed.

Class A

Carson Long (8, 0-5) at Upper Dauphin (1, 6-0)

York Catholic (5, 3-3) at Holy Name (4, 3-3)

Millersburg (6,3-3) at Central Catholic (3, 4-2)

Camp Hill (7, 2-3) at Steelton-Highspire (2, 4-1)

Class AA

Bermudian Springs (8, 4-2) at Lancaster Catholic (1, 5-1)

Littlestown (5, 5-1) at Delone Catholic (4, 5-1)

Middletown (6, 4-2) at York Suburban (3, 5-1)

Wyomissing (7, 4-2) at Trinity (2, 5-1)

Class AAA

Upper Bracket

Kennard Dale (16, 3-3) at West York (1, 6-0)

Daniel Boone (9, 5-1) at Eastern Lebanon (8, 5-1)

Palmyra (13, 4-2) at Conestoga Valley (4, 5-1)

Twin Valley (12, 4-2) at Hershey (5, 5-1)

Lower Bracket

Northern Lebanon (15, 4-2) at Manheim Central (2, 6-0)

Conrad Weiser (10, 4-2) at Susquehanna Twp. (7, 5-1)

New Oxford (14, 3-3) at Greencastle-Antrim (3, 6-0)

Cocalico (11, 4-2) at Northern (6, 5-1)

Class AAAA

Upper Bracket

Hempfield (16, 3-3) at Bishop McDevitt (1, 6-0)

Chambersburg (9, 4-2) at Penn Manor (8, 5-1)

Reading (13, 3-3) at York William Penn (4, 6-0)

Governor Mifflin (12, 4-2) at Cumberland Valley (5, 5-1)

Lower Bracket

Red Lion (15, 3-3) at South Western (2, 6-0)

Central Dauphin (10, 4-2) at Muhlenberg (7, 5-1)

Cedar Cliff (14, 3-3) at Wilson (3, 5-1)

Central York (11, 4-2) at Manheim Twp. (6, 5-1)

Fallout from Week 6

What jumps off the page immediately comes from the Class AAA ranks. Shippensburg, with a resounding 31-14 loss at Mechanicsburg, is squarely a playoff bubble team. The Greyhounds had a chance to hike their record to 4-2 but instead fall to 3-3. Two of those wins being against Class A schools will not help Shippensburg reach the postseason.

The other thing that sticks out is Northern's disasterous 21-0 loss against visiting Hershey. The Polar Bears gained a mere 77 yards and turned the ball over five times. While we think Northern will no doubt be in the playoffs, it probably won't host a first-round game with minefields against Greencastle-Antrim and Susquehanna Twp. on the horizon.

Others things to note from around the Mid-Penn:

• Cedar Cliff hung tough with State College until the fourth quarter when the Little Lions pulled away. State High can't keep allowing teams to hang around if it wants to reach its fullest potential.


• Chambersburg trailed Susquehanna Twp., 29-6, at one point before rallying for a 36-32 win. The Trojans, despite that loss at Altoona, might be a serious contender to host a playoff game and maybe even reach the quarterfinals. Chambersburg hasn't been in the District 3-AAAA field since 1998.