Plenty to play for as local teams enter final week

Suspense? Well, sort of.

It’s not exactly cliffhanger week in Greater Spokane League football but final play will be entertaining.

For GSL 4A teams, this is exactly what we envisioned at the start of the season. Four of the six teams are playing meaningful games in the last week of the regular season.

And the other two – Mead and University – can play spoilers.

So the picture is clear. But there are a few possible scenarios.

4A: Gonzaga Prep (4-0) can capture the league title outright and the top play-in berth by beating Ferris (3-1) Thursday at Albi Stadium.

Ferris can capture the league title outright and the top play-in berth by winning. In that scenario, Lewis and Clark (2-2) and Central Valley (2-2) would be done and headed to nonleague crossover finales the week after.

For LC and CV to have a shot at the second play-in berth, they have to win and G-Prep has to do them the big favor of winning. That would drop Ferris into a three-way tie with LC and CV.

It’s not going to be an easy chore for LC and CV, though. LC closes with Mead and CV takes on district rival U-Hi. Both games are Friday.

U-Hi and Mead are approaching their final games as postseason games. It’s their chance to have a say in determining seeds.

A three-way tie would constitute a mini playoff the following Tuesday at Albi. We’ll worry about the format and other details later.

If two teams tie for second, no playoff is necessary. That would be decided based on the head-to-head outcome.

The top seed plays host to Mid-Columbia Conference second seed Walla Walla and the second seed travels to defending state champ Chiawana.

3A: It’s much less complicated in 3A. As expected, Mt. Spokane and Shadle Park square off Friday to decide the league title and the two play-in berths. The winner stays home and takes on MCC second seed Kennewick and the loser travels to top seed Kamiakin.

• The Great Northern League has some tiebreaker possibilities, too.

The league title will be decided outright, though, when Clarkston (2-1) travels to West Valley (2-1) on Friday.

All five league schools are in the mix for the two play-in berths.

East Valley (2-2) has a bye this week. Pullman (1-2) visits Cheney (1-2).

Only ties involving three teams that can’t be settled by head-to-head outcomes will be played out.

The top two teams advance to play-in games Nov. 11 against the No. 2 and No. 3 Central Washington Athletic Conference teams.

• In the Northeast A, teams have been in playoff mode for a couple weeks, and the final week won’t be any different.

Colville (6-0) can capture the league title outright and the top seed by beating Lakeside (5-1), which visits Friday.

The top three teams advance directly into the state playoffs. The league doesn’t have play-in games this year with the Caribou Trail League.

Freeman (5-1) can lock up the second seed when it plays host to Deer Park (4-2) Friday.

If Lakeside upsets Colville and Freeman beats Deer Park, there would be a three-way tie for first. Postseason seeds would be decided by a predetermined draw.

A three-way tie could occur for second involving Freeman, Lakeside and Deer Park. That would necessitate a playoff because one team’s season would end.