It’s getting down to crunch time as we hit Week 8 of Regular Season on the Gridiron. Divisional Championship races are coming down to the wire and playoff spots are up for grabs. Let’s take a look at our teams on the Championship Drive!
Division Races
First, we’ll start off with the SVL Championship races. In the SVL Blue, there’s technically 5 Teams still alive for a share of the Championship. Mt. Pleasant and Midland High stand alone, atop of the Division with just one loss and one League Game remaining. Mt. Pleasant faces Midland Dow on the road this week, while Midland High has a non-league matchup before taking on Dow in the Final Week of the regular season. If both take care of business in their last league game, they will claim a share of the Championship.
Bay City Western, Midland Dow and Traverse City Central are all still alive at 2-2 in League Play and each have 2 games remaining. Traverse City Central will face off against Bay City Western this week in a huge game, not only for Divisional positioning but for the Playoff push as well. Midland Dow will take on 1st Place Mt. Pleasant. In order for these three teams to have a shot at a 1st Place tie, Midland Dow needs to defeat the Oilers. A Mt. Pleasant win guarantees at least a piece of the title.
In the SVL Red, it’s simple; Lapeer and Davison are the only remaining undefeated teams in Division play. Davison has a huge game against Grand Blanc this week. A Davison win would set up a winner take all match-up in Week 9 when the Cards face Lapeer. A loss would clinch at least a share for Lapeer, who takes on State Power Clarkston this week.
Playoff Qualification
In the SVL Blue; Midland High and Mt. Pleasant are sitting pretty. The Chemics are the 5th Ranked Team (out of 32 open spots) in Division 2 in terms of Playoff Point Average and Mt. Pleasant is at #2 in Division 3. Traverse City Central at #25 in D2 is in pretty good shape. This game between BCW and the Trojans will have huge playoff ramifications. Bay City Western is firmly on the Division 2 Bubble, at #33, just one spot away from being in at this point. If they were to win out, they would be in great position to earn a Playoff Bid. Midland Dow is a bit further down at #41 but have the detriment but benefit of playing both First Place teams in the SVL Blue. The uphill climb is immense but the possible haul in Playoff Points would shoot them up the charts if they could pull out the win.
In the SVL Red; Lapeer and Davison are in great position and #5 and #10 in Division 1. Heritage is looking good as well, in the #15 spot in Division 2. If the Playoffs were to start today, Grand Blanc (#27 in D1) would be in.
These last 2 weeks of the Regular Season should be every thing we could hope for in terms of competition and hopefully a nice training ground for Playoff Success, with dreams of playing the Day after Thanksgiving!
