Some Playoff Berths Headed For Overtime

Some football playoff pairings are set. Some are destined for overtime.

The Great Northern League and Northeast A are, barring upsets, headed for tiebreakers.

There is no tiebreaker in the Bi-County, but there could be a tie. If Ritzville (4-1) knocks off visiting Davenport (5-0), there will be a three-way tie for the two playoff spots with 5-1 Liberty, which has concluded its league season.

Points-against totals among the three teams will break the tie.

A Davenport win would eliminate the confusion, but Ritzville will be in if it wins. Davenport would still advance if it scores less than 10 points, and Liberty goes if Davenport scores 10 or more.

Liberty has allowed 23 points, Ritzville and Davenport 14 each. The team with the lowest number is in, the other two go head to head. Davenport beat Liberty 17-14, Liberty beat Ritzville 14-6.

“It’s a mess,” Davenport coach Skip Pauls said. “I don’t know when they put this in, or why, but I don’t like it.

“We’ve been real pleased with our kids,” Pauls said. “They’re starting to come along. John Steele is running the ball real well right now, he’s punishing people.”

The offensive line has been a big plus. When junior Chris Pauls recovered from a back injury and returned to center, his freshman brother Clark was moved back to guard.

“It’s neat to watch them work together,” the proud father said. Ritzville is a surprise. The Broncos were thought to be a year away.

“We don’t have what we call a superstar,” coach Mike Lynch said. “Josh Draper has run for a lot of yards, scored most of our points. But we just have a whole lot of kids who are playing really, really hard.”

Ritzville starts four sophomores and a freshman on defense.

Other playoff outlooks

If favored teams win, Chewelah, Deer Park and Lakeside will tie for the Great Northern’s third playoff spot. The tiebreaker would be Monday at 7 p.m. at Riverside. The survivor would play at East Valley-Yakima, No. 2 out of Central Washington. Medical Lake and Pullman have the top two seeds.

Medical Lake, top seed out of the GNL, is home against Othello, No. 4 out of Central Washington. No. 2 Pullman stays home against Central Washington No. 3 Connell.

Reardan and Freeman tie for the Northeast A playoff berth if they take care of business. They would decide the issue Tuesday at West Valley at 7 p.m. The format would be two 6-minute halves. The winner will advance to a home game against Royal, No. 2 out of the South Central South.

The Big Nine teams for the 4A playoffs are Pasco, Walla Walla, Kamiakin and Wenatchee. That’s the order, barring upsets.

In the Greater Spokane League, Lewis and Clark will have a home playoff game at Albi on Tuesday and CV will play one at home.

Cheney is home against Moses Lake, the No. 2 team out of the Mid-Valley in the 3A playoffs next weekend, probably Friday.

In the B-11 openers, North Central No. 2, the loser of tonight’s Waterville-Manson game, plays at the Bi-County champion; Cusick, second from the Panorama, goes to Southeast champion DeSales; the Bi-County second seed goes to the Waterville-Manson winner; and Panorma champ Republic is home against Waterville, second out of the South.

B-8 teams do not play next week, but Touchet and Columbia have home games in the quarterfinals.