Who’s in, and who’s out?

The age old question that bothers high school football coaches and players around the state this time of the year. For some, spots are virtually locked, while others wait patiently to see what the computer rankings will do to their postseason aspirations.

For two Muskingum Valley League teams, they find themselves in good position with just one game left. John Glenn, fresh off a win over New Lexington and riding a five-game win streak, sits in sixth in the Division IV, Region 15 part of the playoff bracket, over three points ahead of seventh-place Fairland.

Sheridan sits nearly four points ahead of Athens and is in the same spot as the Muskies in the Divison III, Region 11 bracket, and currently ranked fifth in the latest statewide Associated Press poll. Both the Generals and John Glenn have winnable games left in front of them when faced with Morgan and Crooksville, respectively, in the final installment of the 2018 regular season.

Other area teams have outlooks that are not as positive. Philo and Tri-Valley both sit in the last playoff spots in their respective regions, but both are less than half a point ahead of the next closest team.

With Tri-Valley up by less than 0.1 points, and the Electrics on top of Licking Valley by just 0.42 points, both must produce a win. And both must wait and see what happens on Friday night.

Drew Pasteur’s highly accurate playoff projections still give the Scotties a spot in the playoffs, and even move them up one spot to seventh. However, that kind of projection is based off a Tri-Valley win, as well as a Highland loss, which is a likely scenario given their upcoming date with undefeated Barberton.

Philo is also projected to slot into the postseason, but will be put in a nearly impossible position if they fall to the Panthers. Both the Electrics and Licking Valley need wins, but things get very interesting if the Panthers secure a win against Licking Heights.

A win over a Division IV team like New Lexington would not yield as many points as a victory over Division II Licking Heights, which puts Dirk Lincicome and company in a stressful situation.

As for the Zanesville Blue Devils, being caught in the middle of the pack in Region 11 has not mathematically knocked them out of contention for a spot in the tournament, but the team would still need more than a few losses by teams above them to make a run. Bishop Rosecrans is in a similar situation.

As for Maysville and West Muskingum, both have been mathematically eliminated from contention.

With Sheridan a likely lock and John Glenn likely safe, the rest of the region will be scrambling to the nearest computer, tablet or phone screen to patiently await their fate.

Happy playoffs everyone.