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Send to friendHUNTSVILLE — After a decade’s wait, Scott High is back in the playoffs.
The Highlanders earned a wild card berth in the state football playoffs, their first trip to the post-season since 1999.
Scott players and coaches learned of the playoff berth Saturday morning, when the TSSAA released playoff brackets for each of the six classifications.
Conventional wisdom going into Friday’s game at Stone Memorial was that a win would give Scott an automatic berth in the playoffs, while a loss would end their season. The Highlanders fell 20-7 to the Panthers, but, as it turned out, their 4-6 record was just good enough to earn one of several available wild card slots in the 32-team Class 4A playoffs. The TSSAA uses a complicated formula that begins with total wins and includes such tie-breaking variables as opponents’ total wins and opponents’ records to determine which teams receive the wild card berths.
The Highlanders were seeded as the #8 team in Class 4A’s second quadrant, meaning they will face the top team in that quadrant in the first round.
That team is Maplewood. The Nashville-based Panthers are 6-4 overall, but earned the #1 seed in District 10 with a 5-1 record. The school’s only district loss was a 9-7 setback against East Literature on Oct. 9.
Maplewood’s record is deceiving. The Panthers handed David Lipscomb its only loss of the season (23-13), and only lost by a touchdown (30-24) to a strong Ooltewah team. Both David Lipscomb and Ooltewah are ranked in the Top 10 in their classifications by mos polls.
Maplewood is currently ranked #6 in the Tennessee Prep Performance Ratings. The Panthers are not ranked in the Associated Press Top 10 in Class 4A.
The Panthers’ most successful post-season to date was 2007, when they advanced to the Class 4A championship game before losing to Maryville, 28-13. Last season, Maplewood defeated Rossview 60-0 in the first round of the playoffs before losing to Beech, 16-14, in the second round.
Friday’s game will kickoff at 7 p.m. in Nashville.
Oneida, meanwhile, was seeded as the #2 team in Class 2A’s first quadrant, and will have the first week of the post-season off. In Classes 1A and 2A, there are 24 playoff teams instead of 32, meaning the top two teams in each quadrant receive a first round bye.
The Indians will host the winner of #3 Rockwood and #6 Unaka at Dr. M.E. Thompson Field on Nov. 13, at 7 p.m.
Hampton is the top team in the first quadrant, and will host the winner of Oliver Springs and Tellico Plains on Nov. 13. The winners of the Nov. 13 games will square off on Nov. 20, at the home field of the higher-seeded team.
Boyd Buchanan, the state’s top-ranked 2A team according to the AP, is expected to emerge from the second quadrant for a semifinal matchup with whichever team survives the first quadrant.
Every team in District 4-AA earned a playoff berth. In District 4-A, meanwhile, Coalfield received the automatic berth among 1A teams, while Sunbright was awarded a wild card spot in the playoffs.
Complete brackets are available on TSSAA’s website, www.tssaa.org.
