By Staff
Scot Beard
RED BAY – With the region schedule coming to a close this week the Red Bay football team is making its final push for playoff positioning.
Back-to-back losses to Tanner and Clements ended any hopes of a region title this year, but the Tigers still have a chance to wrap up the region's second seed.
There are eight different scenarios that can happen this week and the Tigers will clinch be assured of a playoff spot in seven of those scenarios.
For Red Bay to earn the region's second seed the Tigers will have to defeat Lexington and Cherokee will have to defeat Clements. That will leave the only team in the region with a 5-2 record, trailing only Tanner.
If Red Bay wins and Clements wins then both teams will be 5-2 in region play. Clements will earn the No.-2 seed because it defeated Red Bay, so the Tigers would fall to the No.-3 seed and be on the road in the first round of the playoffs.
The real complications come if Red Bay loses to Lexington.
In the first scenario Red Bay loses while Clements and Tanner wins. Tanner would win the region with a 7-0 record while Lexington and Clements are tied for the second-best record at 5-2.
Lexington defeated Clements so it would be the No.-2 seed and Clements would fall to the third seed. Red Bay's 4-3 region record would earn the Tigers the fourth seed.
In the second scenario Lexington, Cherokee and Tanner all win. Again Tanner would be the No.-1 seed while Lexington would be the only 5-2 team and would wrap up the second seed.
Red Bay, Clements and Cherokee would all be tied for the final playoff spots. Through the tie-breaking procedure, the Tigers would earn the third seed and Cherokee would win the head-to-head with Clements to grab the fourth seed.
If Lexington, Clements and Hatton win there would be a tie for second and a tie for fourth. Lexington would win the head-to-head over Clements, leaving the Golden Bears No. 2 and dropping the Colts to No. 3.
Red Bay would be tied with Hatton for the final spot, but holds the tiebreaker so the Tigers would be in and the Hornets would miss the playoffs.
The final scenario – Lexington, Cherokee and Hatton all winning – is the most complicated.
Tanner would be the region champion and Lexington would secure the No.-2 seed. Clements, Cherokee, Hatton and Red Bay would be in a 4-way tie for the last playoff spots.
With the Alabama High School Athletic Association current tiebreaking guidelines the tie could not be broken until the conclusion of the regular season.
In this scenario, which considers a team's overall record, Red Bay could miss the playoffs because the Tigers are 0-2 in non-region games this season.