Struggles have persisted throughout the 2008 football season for the West Elk Patriots and Sedan Blue Devils. However, both teams have hopes of salvaging their season campaign on Thursday night with a shot at the class 2A state playoffs.
Tickets to the state playoffs will be punched on Thursday night, Oct. 30, when the two rival squads lock horns in the regular season finale as well as the last game of the class 2A district 8 playoffs. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., in Howard.
Sedan is now 2-6 overall but got its foot in the district playoff door last Friday night when the Blue Devils defeated district playoff team Oswego, 31-14.
West Elk is 1-7 overall and experienced defeat from the powerful claws of the Humboldt Cubs, 56-38, in a non-league bout last Friday night. The Patriots lost to the Oswego Indians, 20-14, on Oct. 14 to take an 0-1 standing in the district playoffs.
So, here are the scenarios for both teams should they wish to enter the state playoffs.
• If Sedan defeats West Elk, then Sedan is the district playoff champion and will host the first round of the state playoffs next Tuesday night, Nov. 4 against either Pleasanton or Uniontown. A Sedan victory over the Patriots would also give the district playoff runner-up title to Oswego. The Indians would then travel to Pittsburg-Colgan next Tuesday, Nov. 4.
• A West Elk victory over Sedan is a bit more tricky. That’s because all three district playoff teams (Oswego, West Elk and Sedan) would be 1-1 in the district playoffs. That’s where a confusing scoring formula — one that would make a Harvard mathematician envious — comes into play.
In a nutshell, West Elk has to have a winning scoring margin of 10 or more points to be classified as the district champion and host a first-round state ploayoff game next Tuesday, Nov. 4. Sedan would then be the district runner-up and travel to Pittsburg-Colgan that same night.
If West Elk wins by nine or fewer points over Sedan, then Sedan is the district champion with the Patriots being the district runner-up.
Regardless of the scoring margin, a West Elk victory over Sedan would knock Oswego out of the state playoff contention.
