It’s hard to believe we’re already to this point, but the District 9 postseason is slated to begin next week.
Here’s a class-by-class look of where things stand, but remember, teams have until just after their final regular season game to opt in or out of a potential postseason, so fields aren’t truly finalized until this weekend.
Also, all seeding will be determined by win-loss record, head-to-head and power points.
Class 1A
The 1A field will consist of two teams from the D9 South Division and two from the IU9 bubble, or D9 North. The field is pretty well set, assuming everybody accepts, and will consist of Coudersport, Smethport, Redbank Valley and Union/A-C Valley.
Coudy and Smethport, both 4-0, are set to clash Friday night, while Redbank Valley (4-0) topped Union/A-C Valley (3-1) on Oct. 1, 10-7.
Barring an unforeseen upset, it would be safe to guess the top two seeds will go to Redbank Valley and the winner of Friday’s Coudy-Smethport game, while the bottom two seeds go to the loser of that matchup and Union/ACV. How the order ends up remains to be seen, however.
The semifinals are schedule for either Oct. 23 or 24, and will be held at the higher seed’s stadium. The championship is set for either the Friday or Saturday of Halloween weekend.
Of note, Coudersport and Redbank Valley clashed in twice last season, including in the Class A championship. Coudy won both matchups, 56-0 in the regular season and 42-13 in the title game.
Class 2A
One team from the D9 North Division will head to the Class 2A postseason, and that team is Ridgway (3-1). Three teams will come from the D9 South, and it’s shaping up to be Brookville (5-0), Central Clarion (4-1) and Karns City (3-2).
Brookville has wins over Central Clarion (49-30) and Karns City (41-0) and figures to take the top overall seed. Central Clarion features a tight 43-41 win over the Gremlins, and is very well positioned to take No. 2 in the tournament.
That leaves one-loss Ridgway and two-loss KC. The Elkers face St. Marys — the team that handed them the loss — this Friday, while Karns City plays Moniteau.
Deciding who faces 1-seed Brookville and 2-seed Central Clarion will be tricky on this one if Ridgway doesn’t top St. Marys Friday night, and realistically, it’s a tough draw either way.
The Elkers, of course, have won four consecutive D9 titles, including the past two in 2A. Central Clarion (which is now a co-op of Clarion, Clarion-Limestone and North Clarion) fell to Ridgway in last year’s title game, while KC lost to the Elkers in the semis. Brookville, the 3-seed in 2019, fell to 6-seed Kane in the opening round, 28-22.
Just like the Class 1A postseason, semis are scheduled for the 23 or 24 at the higher seed’s stadium with the championship the weekend after.
Class 3A
Two teams from District 9 will be able to compete in a sub-region with Districts 5 and 6. Only three Class 3A teams are in D9, and they’re St. Marys (4-0), Clearfield (2-1) and Punxsutawney (0-5). With those records, it’s clear the Flying Dutchmen and Bison will be the representatives for our District.
Both teams made the postseason a year ago, though Clearfield’s was in Class 4A and would theoretically meet in a D9 Class 3A championship on Oct. 23. The winner would face District 5’s champion on Oct. 30 or 31, with the winner moving on to face D6’s champion a week later.
Class 4A
Only Bradford (0-4) and DuBois (2-3) are in Class 4A in District 9, and teams with sub-.500 records typically don’t opt into the playoffs. With limited spots available due to COVID-19, the playoffs are out of the picture even for the Beavers.
About those schedules…
Speaking of next week’s postseason, what about those regular season games that were set for Oct. 23, 30 and Nov. 6?
All four of the potential postseason teams from the IU9 bubble (Coudy and Smethport in 1A, Ridgway in 2A and St. Marys in 3A) have games scheduled within that bubble those weeks.
Now, it all becomes moot if the schools don’t opt into the postseason. But if they do go ahead and play those games? That creates a mess, even with the understanding that the final two games of the season (the weeks of Oct. 30 and Nov. 6) were dependent on postseason formats.
Coudy is supposed to play Port Allegany on Oct. 23, St. Marys on Oct. 30 and Kane on Nov. 6. Smethport, meanwhile, has games slated against Otto-Eldred, Bradford and Ridgway in those weeks.
The Elkers are supposed to play Kane, O-E and Smethport, while St. Marys has Bradford on Oct. 23 and then Coudy the following week and Elk Catholic on Nov. 6.
Obviously, some rearranging will happen should playoffs go on as scheduled. The question then becomes which schools end up actually playing in the non-playoff games to end the year.
Looking ahead
There are a couple really intriguing matchups this week, but perhaps none more so than the clash between D9 North rivals Coudy and Smethport, set for Friday night in Potter County.
Both teams enter at 4-0, and have very likely had this game circled since the season began.
They’ve each notched wins over Port Allegany, Otto-Eldred, Cameron County and Elk County Catholic, and all of those were in convincing fashion.
The battle will also feature two exceptional quarterbacks in Hayden Keck (Coudy) and Noah Lent (Smethport) along with strong tailbacks in Braedon Johnson (Smethport) and Brandt Kightlinger (Coudy).
The Falcons have dominated the series as of late, having won each of the past two matchups — a 42-0 romp during the 2019 regular season and a 44-7 win over the Hubbers in the 2018 District title game that ended Smethport’s undefeated season.
Prior to the D9 championship game, Smethport had defeated Coudy in the regular season 21-20 thanks to a second-half comeback.
Kickoff at Coudersport is set for 7 o’clock.
Other games this week include: Kane (1-3) at Bradford (0-4), St. Marys (4-0) at Ridgway (3-1), Otto-Eldred (1-2) at Elk County Catholic (2-2) and Port Allegany (0-4) at Cameron County (0-3).
