Fate of area football teams hinges on Week 10

Pigskin prognosticator projects four Butler County squads making postseason plans.

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By Rick Cassano, Staff Writer Updated 8:48 AM Thursday, October 29, 2009

HAMILTON — And then there were four.

Shuck’s Projections publisher Steve Shuck is picking a quartet of Butler County prep football teams to make the playoffs: Lakota West and Middletown in Division I, Ross in Division II, and Monroe in Division III.

The regular season ends this weekend. Here’s the region-by-region breakdown:

Division I, Region 4

Shuck has West (8-1) finishing sixth and Middletown (8-1) eighth in the region, earning first-round road contests against Anderson and Moeller, respectively.

Both likely need to win to advance to Week 11, and Shuck is projecting them to do so. The Firebirds visit Lakota East (3-6) on Friday, Oct. 30, while the Middies travel to Princeton (5-4) on Saturday.

“I think you have to say West needs to win the game or they’ll be hoping and checking for breaks,” Shuck said.

Middletown is in a precarious position. One game is especially vital to the Middies and Colerain, which Shuck has finishing just out of the playoff field in ninth place — Fairfield (5-4) at Hamilton (2-7).

Shuck is picking the Indians to win that contest, which boosts Middletown. If HHS wins and Shuck’s other projections are right, Colerain and the Middies would switch spots in the final Harbin computer standings.

Division II, Region 8

Ross (5-4) hosts Northwest (4-5) on Friday, and Shuck is expecting an RHS win. That would place the Rams sixth in the region and lead to a first-round game at New Carlisle Tecumseh.

Ross could win and not advance — it also could lose and still qualify. On paper, the odds are stacked in the Rams’ favor, especially if they take care of the Knights.

Division III, Region 12

Shuck sees Monroe (7-2) finishing sixth in the region and heading to Circleville Logan Elm in the first round.

The Hornets will be heavily favored to end the regular season with a victory over visiting Dayton Northridge (1-8) on Friday. But this is a very tight region, and an upset here or there could have a major effect on the final standings.

Division V, Region 20

Badin (6-3) is projected to lose to McNicholas (5-4) on the road Friday, and that would end the Rams’ playoff hopes in Shuck’s view.

If Badin wins and everything else goes as Shuck is predicting, the Rams would finish fifth in the region and play at Anna in the opening round.

But a victory won’t guarantee Badin a spot in the postseason. The Rams need to beat McNick, then start looking for scores.

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