With four weeks remaining in the high school football regular season, the 3-2 Trenton Bulldogs have earned 32.7 points and, for the time being, the #2 seed behind Maryville in Class 2, District 7. Despite an overall record of 2-3, Maryville gets a boost from losses to tough teams in bigger classifications, falling thus far to St. Pius X, Harrisonville, and Blair Oaks, with the Spoofhounds sitting at 42.9 points. With District 7 having only six teams, the advantage of finishing as a top-two seed would be significant, as those teams will get a first-round bye, and not have to play on Friday, October 29th, plus home-field advantage for the district semifinal round on November 5th. For the opening week of district play, the six seed will play at the three seed, with the five seed at the four seed.
While Trenton currently sits in the #2 spot, the 10.2 points between the Bulldogs and Maryville is a much greater spread than the distance between Trenton and the teams chasing the GRC leaders, as Palmyra, with a record of 2-3, currently has 30.89 points and the #3 seed, followed by Macon, with the #4 seed at 29.3 points. Brookfield is seeded fifth, with 22.95 points, with Clark County in the #6 position, with 22.74 points.
In MSHSAA postseason rules, a team that has a head-to-head win over another in the regular season has the option of jumping that team if they are one spot behind them. That option could be of benefit to Brookfield, as the Bulldogs already have an opening night overtime win over Trenton and a victory last Friday night against Macon, meaning in that scenario, if the regular season ended today, Brookfield would likely jump Macon for the #4 seed.
This week, Maryville plays St. Joseph Benton, with Trenton hosting Polo, Palmyra and Clark County play one another, with Brookfield drawing a matchup with Monroe City, and Macon playing nearby rival South Shelby.
The Penney Hornets, under first-year coach Alex Lloyd, have looked strong coming out of the gates in 2021, with only a Week 4 loss at fellow Class 1 ranked East Buchanan denting Hamilton’s 4-1 record. Hamilton, at mid-season, has the #1 seed in Class 1, District 7, with only Grand River Conference schools chasing in the eight-team field. Polo, with their 4-1 record and 34.56 points, takes a #2 seed to C.F. Russell Stadium this week for a huge GRC matchup with the Trenton Bulldogs (KGOZ FM 101.7). Milan, coming off an 18-14 loss to Trenton, sits at the #3 position, with 34.1 points, followed by Gallatin at #4, with 31.9 points, bringing huge district and conference implications to Gallatin’s home date with Milan this Friday night (KTTN FM 92.3). South Harrison’s two game winning streak has boosted the Bulldogs to #5 in the district standings, with 30 points even, followed by Putnam County (25.94 points), Maysville (20.33 points), and Princeton (14.9 points).
If the season ended today, the district pairings would be:
Class 2, District 7
Quarterfinals: (October 29th)
#6 Clark County at #3 Palmyra
#5 Macon at #4 Brookfield
Semifinals: (November 5th)
Clark County/Palmyra winner at #2 Trenton
Macon/Brookfield winner at #1 Maryville
District Championship (November 12th)
Semifinal winners play at highest remaining seed
Class 1, District 7
Quarterfinals (October 29th)
#8 Princeton at #1 Penney-Hamilton
#7 Maysville at #2 Polo
#6 Putnam County at #3 Milan
#5 South Harrison at #4 Gallatin
Semifinals (November 5th)
Princeton/Penney winner vs. South Harrison/Gallatin winner (hosted by higher seed)
Maysville/Polo winner vs. Putnam County/Milan winner (hosted by higher seed)
District Championship (November 12th)
Semifinal winners play at highest remaining seed
