Who doesn’t like a football tiebreaker?
There is a whole lot of excitement with a lot at stake all packed into a tight window. For fans, tiebreakers are thrilling.
For coaches and administrators, they are a bit of a headache.
Well, if you like tiebreakers, there is a chance in all three Greater St. Helens Leagues that a three-team tiebreaker could be needed after the regular season ends on Friday.
Tiebreakers will occur either next Monday or Tuesday. Exact time, sites and formats have not yet been finalized.
Here is the breakdown of the possibilities heading into Week 9:
4A GSHL
Teams still in hunt for three berths to Week 10 playoffs: Camas (2-0), Skyview (1-1), Battle Ground (1-1) and Union (0-2).
If Camas and Skyview win — Camas, Skyview and Battle Ground advance.
If Camas and Union win — Camas advances. Skyview, Union and Battle Ground tie for second. Tiebreaker needed to sort out second and third berths to Week 10 playoffs.
If Battle Ground and Skyview win — Camas, Skyview and Battle Ground advance. No tiebreaker needed as teams will be seeded by Week 10 seeding committee.
If Battle Ground and Union win — Camas and Battle Ground advance. Union and Skyview tie for third with Union advancing on head-to-head tiebreaker.
3A GSHL
Teams still in the hunt for two berths to Week 10 playoffs: Mountain View (4-0), Evergreen (2-1), Kelso (1-2) and Prairie (1-2).
Mountain View is the league champion and likely will host a Week 10 playoff.
If Evergreen beats Kelso — Evergreen clinches the league second berth to a Week 10 playoff.
If Kelso beats Evergreen and Prairie beats Heritage — a three-team tiebreaker will be needed between Kelso, Evergreen and Prairie.
If Kelso beats Evergreen and Heritage beats Prairie — Kelso claims the second seed on head-to-head tiebreaker with Evergreen.
2A GSHL
Teams still in the hunt for four berths to the Week 10 district playoffs with 2A Evergreen Conference: Ridgefield (5-1), Woodland (5-1), Washougal (4-2), Hudson’s Bay (4-2) and Hockinson (3-3).
Woodland plays at Ridgefield. The winner will be the league champion and No. 1 seed to the district playoffs in Week 10, playing host to the 2A EvCo No. 4 team.
Here is how the other three spots will be determined based on results of Woodland-Ridgefield, Washougal-Hockinson and Hudson’s Bay-Columbia River.
If Ridgefield beats Woodland, Woodland is No. 2, then …
- Washougal is No. 3 and Hudson’s Bay is No. 4 if Washougal beats Hockinson.
- Hudson’s Bay is No. 3 and Hockinson is No. 4 if both teams win Friday.
- If Hockinson wins and Bay loses, then Washougal, Bay and Hockinson tie for third. That would require a three-team tiebreaker to determine which two teams advance and which team is eliminated.
If Woodland beats Ridgefield, then …
- Ridgefield is No. 2, Washougal is No. 3 and Hudson’s Bay is No. 4 if Washougal wins and Hudson’s Bay loses.
- Ridgefield, Washougal and Hudson’s Bay tie for second if Washougal and Hudson’s Bay win. A tiebreaker will be needed to sort out Nos. 2, 3 and 4 seeds to district playoffs.
- Ridgefield is No. 2 and Washougal, Hudson’s Bay and Hockinson tie for third, requiring a tiebreaker if Hockinson wins and Hudson’s Bay loses.
- Hudson’s Bay is No. 2, Ridgefield is No. 3 and Hockinson is No. 4 if Hudson’s Bay and Hockinson win.
Trico League
Things will be easier to sort out if La Center beats Castle Rock on Friday. Then La Center will be No. 1 to the district playoffs, Seton Catholic will be No. 2 and Castle Rock No. 3.
Stevenson, with wins over King’s Way Christian, Fort Vancouver and Columbia-White Salmon, appears primed to take the No. 4 seed, but athletic directors were meeting Tuesday night to sort that out. Stevenson is still not a full-fledged Trico member in football this fall and is playing a hybrid Trico/Central 2B League schedule.
But if Castle Rock beats La Center, things get a little more muddled as La Center, Castle Rock and Seton will each have one league loss, assuming a Seton win over King’s Way on Friday.
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep coordinator for The Columbian. He can be reached 360-735-4538, tim.martinez@columbian.com or follow @360TMart on Instagram and X (Twitter).
