Which YAIAA football teams will make the District 3 playoffs? Here's our predictions
We're fully in the stretch run of high school football season.
There's only two weeks left in the regular season. Right now, there are eight YAIAA teams on track to make the District 3 playoffs.
But there's still time for things to change. A number of teams are either in the final spot in their classification or just on the outskirts.
Here's a look at where things stand and where they could be headed in the next two weeks.
Class 1A
How many teams qualify? Two out of three
Where do YAIAA teams stand? No. 3 Fairfield (0-8)
The breakdown: While Fairfield has actually qualified for the title game a number of times, it's not happening this year. Steel-High remains the top-ranked small school in the entire state and will likely top Halifax to move on to the state playoffs. Fairfield lost to York County Tech by just two points last week and has a decent chance to get a win at home against York Catholic (1-7) this Friday.
Class 2A
How many teams qualify? Four out of seven
Where do YAIAA teams stand? No. 3 Delone Catholic (4-4); No. 6 York Catholic (1-7)
The breakdown: What a stunner for the Squires last week. Delone was favored to take control of YAIAA Division III against Bermudian Springs, but turnover issues led to a 28-20 defeat. Still, the Squires will almost certainly win their next two against Hanover and Fairfield and return to the playoffs. However, holding the No. 3 seed could mean a rematch with juggernaut Trinity — which beat them 49-12 in Week 1. It's also possible Trinity jumps current top seed Annville-Cleona. Regardless, Delone has a lot of work to do if it wants to go on a run.
Class 3A
How many teams qualify? Six out of 14
Where do YAIAA teams stand? No. 6 Littlestown (6-2); No. 7 Bermudian Springs (5-3); No. 12 Hanover (3-5); No. 13 Biglerville (3-5)
The breakdown: Now this could be fun. Longtime rivals Littlestown and Bermudian Springs seem to be battling for the YAIAA Division III title and the final playoff spot and they're set to play at Bermudian Springs in Week 10. If they both win as expected this week — Littlestown is playing Biglerville and Bermudian is playing York Tech — then Bermudian will clinch a share of the division with a chance to win outright with a win over the Bolts. Littlestown will most likely be trying to create a three-way tie between itself, Bermudian and Delone.
But Bermudian remains one spot below the Bolts in the district power rankings. It's possible both could find a way to sneak in. No. 5 Berks Catholic (4-4) has a worse record and faces tough remaining games against Cocalico and ELCO, but the Saints have a much higher strength of schedule than their Adams County counterparts. Still, wouldn't it be exciting if Week 10 really did determine which YAIAA school kept playing? That game could be a classic, and Bermudian seems to have the edge right now with how it played against Delone — a team that beat Littlestown by eight this season. Whoever makes it will have a tough first-round matchup with the top four seeds (Wyomissing, West Perry, Schuylkill Valley and Lancaster Catholic) all formidable.
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Class 4A
How many teams qualify? 10 out of 23
Where do YAIAA teams stand? No. 8 Eastern York (6-2); No. 10 Susquehannock (3-5); No. 15 York Suburban (3-5); No. 16 Kennard-Dale (2-6); No. 22 West York (0-8)
The breakdown: Eastern York hasn't made the playoffs since its last winning season in 2014, but the Golden Knights are knocking on the door. It will be important for the Knights to take care of business at home against York Suburban this Friday, since they will face undefeated New Oxford on the road Week 10. Still, there's a big gap in the power points between No. 9 ELCO (5-3) and No. 10 Susquehannock. The Warriors aren't far ahead of No. 11 Big Spring and No. 12 Northern Lebanon (both 4-4), but they are probably the favorite the next two weeks against West York and Kennard-Dale. It would be Susquehannock's first playoff appearance since 2017.
While the top half of this classification is loaded with juggernauts like Manheim Central and Lampeter-Strasburg, it seems pretty cut-and-dried. Undefeated Bishop McDevitt seems to be blazing a path to its second straight state title.
Class 5A
How many teams qualify? 12 out of 26
Where do YAIAA teams stand? No. 1 New Oxford (8-0); No. 9 South Western (5-3); No. 13 Dover (5-3); No. 18 Spring Grove (3-5); No. 26 Northeastern (0-8)
The breakdown: The Colonials play Maryland powerhouse Fort Hill this week in an out-of-state game that won't count against the power rankings. They have a decent cushion over No. 2 Cedar Cliff so there's a solid chance they'll finish as the top seed if they beat Eastern York Week 10 — even though their strength of schedule is lower than some teams below them. Regardless of where it lands, New Oxford will be determined to prove it can win in the playoffs after bowing out in its first game as the No. 3 seed last year.
South Western doesn't have a spot locked up with a tough home game against York High this week and rival Spring Grove looking to upset them at Papermakers Stadium next week. The Mustangs should be OK if they split their next two games. Dover, on the other hand, needs to hope that winning its last two games against Kennard-Dale and West York will be enough to get them one of the final spots. The Eagles are close to No. 12 Governor Mifflin (4-4) in points, but the Berks County Mustangs have a much stronger strength of schedule with games against Manheim Central (6-1) and Warwick (2-6) left.
Class 6A
How many teams qualify? Eight out of 19
Where do YAIAA teams stand? No. 3 Central York (8-0); No. 4 York High (6-1); No. 10 Dallastown (3-5); No. 14 Red Lion (3-5); No. 19 York County Tech (0-8)
The breakdown: While Dallastown and Red Lion both have realistic chances of winning out (they play each other Week 10), it will be tough for either to jump No. 9 Cumbersburg and No. 8 Cumberland Valley. It's a lock Central York and York High will make it, the only question is at what seeds.
Of course, that will be determined by their Week 10 matchup — especially if Central beats Reading and York High beats South Western as expected this week. Central is firmly behind No. 2 Harrisburg (7-1) and No. 1 Manheim Township (8-0), so neither of these teams should get higher than the No. 3 seed.
Which YAIAA powerhouse wins its latest highly anticipated matchup? We'll save that prediction for next week.
Predictions
There will be nine YAIAA teams that make the playoffs when the dust settles next week.
Class 1A: Zero Class 2A: Delone CatholicClass 3A: Bermudian Springs Class 4A: Eastern York, SusquehannockClass 5A: New Oxford, South Western, Dover Class 6A: Central York, York High
Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on Twitter at @bad2theallibone.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: District 3 football: Which YAIAA teams will make playoffs?
