Football Playoffs: Still a lot left to be decided

Of the 12 playoff spots in the top three divisions, there were six still up for grabs going into Friday night's high school football games.

Now with five games left in the regular season Saturday, only one of those spots is still available. The four playoff teams in Division I and II are set, and three of the four in Division III are determined.

All that's left is seeding.

Division I

Salem's win over Londonderry Friday night settled the playoff field, despite Manchester Central's win over Nashua South. Even though Central, South and Salem are all 5-3 - and Nashua North could be too if it loses to Exeter Saturday - Central is out because it loses all the tiebreakers to the other three teams.

That means Pinkerton, North, South and Salem will be in the playoffs for 2010. What order their in is still to be determined.

• If Pinkerton and North both win, the seeding would be as follows: 1. Pinkerton (7-1); 2. North (6-2); 3. South (5-3); 4. Salem (5-3). South wins the tiebreaker with Salem thanks to a head-to-head win.
• If Pinkerton loses and North wins, the Titans get the No. 1 seed thanks to its head-to-head win over the Astros: 1. North (6-2); 2. Pinkerton (6-2); 3. South (5-3); 4. Salem (5-3).
• If North loses, regardless of what Pinkerton does, South would get the second seed because of wins over North and Salem: 1. Pinkerton (7-1 or 6-2); 2. South (5-3); 3. Salem (5-3); 4. North (5-3). Salem would win the tiebreaker over North because of a head-to-head win.

Division II

The four-team field is set, thanks to Winnacunnet's win over Merrimack and Dover's win over Timberlane. What happens between Keene and Bishop Guertin Saturday night will determine what order those teams will finish in.

• If Bishop Guertin wins, it gets the top seed and the rest looks like the following: 1. BG (7-1); 2. Winnacunet (6-2); 3. Dover (6-2); 4. Keene (5-3). Winnacunnet would get the second seed because of its head-to-head win over Dover.
• If Keene wins, the teams would finish in a four-way tie at 6-2 and the first tiebreaker would be record within the group. Winnacunnet and Dover are 2-1 among teams in the group while Keene and BG would be 1-2. Winnacunnet would get the No. 1 seed because of its win over Dover and Keene would be the No. 3 because it would have beaten BG.

Division III

Here is were the lone playoff spot is still up for grabs, and the winner of Saturday's Goffstown-Hollis/Brookline game will get it. Milford's win over Pelham on Friday clinched a spot for the Spartans and thanks to Souhegan's win over Bedford, Portsmouth is in before it even finishes its season Saturday at Pembroke.

So here's what could happen.

• If Portsmouth wins, these are the seeds: 1. Souhegan (8-0); 2.Portsmouth (6-2); 3. Milford (6-2); 4. Goffstown-H/B winner (5-3). Portsmouth gets the No. 2 seed because it beat Milford.
• If Portsmouth loses and Goffstown wins, this is how it looks: 1. Souhegan (8-0); 2. Milford (6-2); 3. Goffstown (5-3); 4. Portsmouth (5-3). Goffstown would get the No. 3 seed because it beat Portsmouth. If H/B were to beat Goffstown, it would get the No. 4 seed because it lost to Portsmouth.

No matter who is in and who is out, the playoffs will start Nov. 13 at the home of the higher seed.