There are two huge showdown matchups in the SBAAC this week. Each division has its own battle for first place.
In the American Division, unbeaten Clinton-Massie (7-0) meets unbeaten Goshen (7-0) at Jim Brown Stadium on the GHS campus.
In the National Division, unbeaten Bethel-Tate (7-0) meets East Clinton (3-4) with first place on the line in Lees Creek.
Clinton-Massie, Goshen and Bethel-Tate are squarely in the hunt for playoff berths in their respective divisions.
Also, New Richmond and Wilmington are also still in the playoff picture. The Lions still have Massie and Goshen the final two weeks so plenty of points remain. Wilmington also has Massie in two weeks and would be right in the mix if they could run the table.
In terms of division titles, the National is likely to come down to the winner of the EC-BT game Friday night.
In the American Division, a trio of teams are 2-0 and they play each other in the final three weeks of the season so it appears to be wide open among Massie, Goshen and New Richmond.
Aside from the first-place games, Wilmington is at Batavia, Clermont Northeastern is at Blanchester, Western Brown at New Richmond and Fayetteville is at Williamsburg.
All games kick-off at 7 p.m.
In the Associated Press state football poll, Clinton-Massie is No. 4 in Div. IV while Bethel-Tate stands at No. 10 in Div. V. New Richmond is No. 15 in the Div. III poll.
Region 12 playoff standings have Goshen at No. 3 and New Richmond at No. 4. Wilmington 13th in the region.
In Region 16, Massie is No. 3 and Batavia sits at No. 13, probably too far back to make a serious run at the post-season.
In Region 20, Clermont Northeastern is 14th, East Clinton 16th and Blanchester 21st. The Astros, even with a win over the Tigers, would probably fall short of a playoff berth.
In Region 24, Fayetteville-Perry is 15th and Williamsburg is 27th.
“We started out slow last week but then competed well the second half of the game,” Fayetteville coach Kevin Finch said. “We made too many mistakes early in the game.”
Finch said he would like to see his team “continue to improve and compete every week with our opponents.”
Western Brown head coach Don Sizer wants his team to get better at the fundamentals and give great effort in the final three games of the season.
