The three-way tie for second place has been settled and the playoff bracket solidified in 8-man football’s Small School South region.
Dirigo, Maranacook and Old Orchard Beach finished the regular season with 5-2 records and identical Heal points. Each also had a win and loss to one of the other two squads, eliminating head-to-head matchups as a tiebreaking option.
Dirigo’s Charlie Houghton reaches for a touchdown as Telstar’s Evan Leach and teammates drag him down earlier this month in Bethel. The Cougars, who finished in a three-way tie for second place in 8-man Small South, is the third seed. Telstar, the fifth seed, plays at Old Orchard Beach. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
The three schools were forced to figure out their postseason positioning through a coin flip, which resulted in Maranacook receiving the second seed, Dirigo the third seed and Old Orchard Beach the fourth.
That means the Cougars, coming off a well-played 32-24 loss to top seed Mountain Valley on Saturday night, will host No. 6 Boothbay (2-5) in the first round of the playoffs later this week. Seagulls held the Cougars to their lowest point total of the season in a 14-12 Dirigo win on Sept. 23.
Maranacook and Old Orchard Beach will be facing their playoff opponents for the second straight week. The Seagulls will host No. 5 Telstar (3-4), whom they defeated 48-6 on Saturday.
Maranacook is hosting No. 7 Sacopee Valley (1-6). The Black Bears defeated the Hawks 46-6 on Saturday.
Mountain Valley (7-0) will have a bye this week due to eighth-seeded Traip (0-7) choosing to not participate in the postseason. The Falcons will open the postseason next week against either Old Orchard Beach or Telstar.
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