Five MAC, three WBL teams qualify for playoffs

It was a great night for the Midwest Athletic Conference as results around the state allowed five of its 10 teams to advance into the playoffs for the second year in a row.

Delphos St. John's and Marion Local were already assured of their playoff invitations before this weekend. Anna and Coldwater earned their way in with victories on Friday night, while Minster watched the scoreboard until learning that enough of its competitors for the final playoff spot in Region 24 lost to give the Wildcats their first postseason berth since 2001.

Three Western Buckeye League teams (Elida, Kenton and Ottawa-Glandorf) will reach the playoffs this year. Wapakoneta almost made it a fourth team for the WBL, but its loss to Elida left the Redskins in ninth place in Region 8, just a few points short.

Here is how all the local (and some of the other WBL and MAC) teams stand as far as playoff contention at the moment.

Region 8:

Wapakoneta's loss to Elida (8-2) cost them the chance to be guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. The Redskins just missed out on the playoffs, finishing in ninth place in the region, 0.50 points behind Dayton Carroll (7-3).

Region 10:

Elida's win over Wapakoneta put the Bulldogs in the playoffs as a #5 seed. Elida will travel to play Tipp City Tippecanoe (9-1) next week.

Celina's loss to Ottawa-Glandorf (8-2) cost the Bulldogs a postseason bid, finishing 13th in the standings. A win would have left the Bulldogs in the eighth position in the rankings with a chance to play Columbus Bishop Watterson in the playoffs.

Region 14:

Ottawa-Glandorf is in the playoffs but its first-round opponent is still to be determined. If Orrville (6-3) defeated Wooster (7-2), then Ottawa-Glandorf will finish fifth and travel to play Genoa Area. If Wooster won, then the Titans will finish fourth and host Orrville next week.

Region 16:

Kenton's win over St. Marys left the Wildcats just short of hosting a home playoff game despite a 9-1 record. Kenton will finish fifth in this region and travel to play Carlisle (10-0) or North College Hill (10-0) next week.

Region 20:

Anna will be hosting a home game in this region. In the event New Bremen pulls off the huge upset against Delphos St. John's on Saturday night, Anna could become the #3 seed, but most likely the Rockets will be the fourth-seeded team.

That will allow the Rockets to host Coldwater, which is the #5 seed in the region. Anna won this game 38-28 in week three of the regular season, in a game also played at Anna.

It turns out the Cavaliers would have made the playoffs even if they had lost to Minster on Friday night, but would have fallen to the sixth or seventh seed.

Versailles (6-4) ended up in 12th place in this region, only rising two positions after defeating St. Henry.

Region 22:

Delphos St. John's had the #1 seed in this region locked up before this week's games. They will be hosting Edgerton (7-3) next week.

Region 24:

Marion Local will finish either fourth or fifth in the region and will be playing Fort Loramie next week, though it is still to be determined which team will get to host the game. Rough calculations show the game will probably be at Fort Loramie.

Minster finishes 5-5 and earns the eighth seed, meaning the Wildcats will travel to play Springfield Catholic Central (9-1), a team Minster has defeated each of the last two seasons. Minster almost missed the playoffs, getting in only after Tipp City Bethel came from behind to knock Bradford out of playoff contention in a wild 48-44 contest. Bethel scored the game-winning touchdown with 11 seconds remaining to the relief of Wildcat fans.