Playoff scenarios for every Madison Co. football team

With three weeks remaining in the regular season for TSSAA football, here’s a look at how each team in Madison County looks in their playoff races in the region.

Each record listed next to any team reflects its region record only.

Division II-A West

Who can get in: A total of 13 teams qualify for the Division II-A playoffs. The top four teams from the West will make the playoffs with the champion getting a first-round bye and a home game in the second round (quarterfinals). The second- and third-place teams will each host a first-round game, and the fourth-place team will travel to the runner-up team from the East region.

Records: Jackson Christian 3-0, Trinity Christian 2-0, First Assembly Christian School 1-1, Fayette Academy 1-2, Tipton-Rosemark 1-2, Harding Academy 0-3

Jackson Christian is in the playoffs and has enough tie-breaker advantages to know they’re playing at home in the first round. They clinch the region championship if they win both of their remaining games (Harding Aca. and TCA).

TCA clinches a playoff spot if Fayette Academy were to lose one of their final two games (FACS and Harding).

The Lions still have games with FACS, Tipton-Rosemark and Jackson Christian. Depending on how those first two games go, the Lions could be playing for the region championship or trying to stay out of fourth place in the region.

Division II-AA West

Who can get in: In the larger schools’ bracket, 16 teams make the playoffs with six each coming from the East and Middle regions and four coming from the West. But the top three seeds from the West get a home game in the first round.

Records: Lausanne 3-0, Northpoint Christian 3-0, University School of Jackson 1-1, Evangelical Christian School 1-1, St, Benedict 0-3, St. George’s 0-3

USJ would clinch a playoff spot with one more win.

The Bruins host ECS this week, and the winner will have the inside track on a third-place spot and a home game in the first round.

The team that loses that game will need to win one more game to clinch the postseason, and they both each have a game against a team tied for first and a team tied for last remaining after this week.

The top four teams in all Division I regions make the playoffs with champions and runners-up hosting first-round games.

Region 6-4A

Records: Hardin County 3-0, North Side 2-1, South Gibson 1-1, Lexington 1-1, Chester County 1-2, South Side 0-3

North Side would clinch a playoff berth with a win over South Gibson (1-1) next week or Chester County (1-2) the following week. A win in both weeks would give the Indians the runner-up finish. A win in both weeks and losses in Hardin County’s final two games would give the Indians the region championship.

South Side needs to win its final two games against Hardin County and South Gibson to have a chance to make the playoffs. If the Hawks were to make the playoffs, they need South Gibson to beat Lexington this week. They would also need the loser of next week’s matchup between Lexington and Chester County to lose in Week 11 when Lexington plays Hardin County and Chester County plays North Side.

Region 7-3A

Records: Dyersburg 4-0, Covington 4-1, Westview 4-1, Ripley 4-1, Bolivar 1-4, Scotts Hill 1-3, McNairy Central 0-4, Liberty 0-4

Liberty has been eliminated from postseason contention.

Region 6-2A

Records: Huntingdon 4-0, Milan 4-1, Riverside 3-1, Peabody 3-1, Camden 2-3, Adamsville 1-3, Gibson County 0-4, Jackson Central-Merry 0-4

If JCM were to make the playoffs, the Cougars have to win their final three games against Peabody, Riverside and Gibson Co. They’re out with one loss.

Then after that, the Cougars need a specific set of events to play out based on who all needs to lose and who all still has to play each other.

They would also need both Peabody and Riverside to lose all their remaining games. Peabody plays JCM, Milan and Huntingdon. Riverside plays Adamsville, JCM and Milan. If either of those teams win a game, JCM is out. If both Adamsville and Camden were to both win a game, then JCM is out. So in addition to Riverside and Peabody going winless in the last three weeks of the season and JCM going undefeated, the Cougars need Huntingdon to beat Camden next week. That’s because Camden plays Adamsville in Week 11. Adamsville plays Riverside this week, so if Riverside were to lose (the bigger need for JCM right now), then that means a win for Adamsville, which means Camden needs to go winless to give JCM a chance to leapfrog the Lions in the standings to fourth place.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news