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SPSL football races heating up

October 6th, 2009 at Tue, 6th, 2009 at 11:43 am by caseyolson

The Federal Way Eagles made a huge statement Friday night with a 24-14 win over the Tahoma Bears at Federal Way Memorial Stadium. The victory evens the Eagles’ record in the South Puget Sound League North Division to 2-2 and leaves them in essentially a three-way tie for fifth place in the eight-team league.This season, the top-three finishers in the North Division earn automatic playoff berths, while the fourth-place team will have to play a pigtail game against the fifth-place finisher from the Narrows League.

Without a collapse of epic proportions, it looks like the third-ranked Auburn Trojans are going to win the SPSL North title. Auburn is the only unbeaten team at 5-0 in the division and already beaten Kentwood and Kentridge, who are tied for second in the division at 3-1. The Trojans also have a win over Federal Way. They have three remaining games in the SPSL North against Kentlake, Tahoma and Auburn Riverside.

The two one-loss teams, Kentridge and Kentwood, still have a lot of work to do. Kentridge has remaining games against Tahoma, Auburn Riverside, Kentwood and Kent-Meridian and Kentwood plays TJ, Federal Way, Kentridge and Kentlake.

Federal Way looks like the best of the bunch with two losses. The Eagles have already beaten Tahoma (3-2) and Kentlake (2-2) and take on Auburn Riverside (2-2) Friday. Federal Way also has remaining games against Kentwood and winless Kent-Meridian and Jefferson. If the Eagles win out, which is not too big of a stretch, they are guaranteed one of the three automatic berths into the postseason.

There are also plenty of playoff scenarios in the SPSL South Division. Curtis looks like the cream of the crop at 5-0, followed by Graham-Kapowsin (4-1) and Bethel (3-1). But after those three teams, it’s anyone’s game. And in the South this season, the top-four teams advance into the postseason. Decatur (2-3) sits one loss back of Spanaway Lake (3-2) and Rogers (2-2) for the fourth playoff berth.

The Gators have Rogers, Graham-Kapowsin and Beamer (1-3) still left on their schedule. If the Gators can somehow win all three of those games, they would have a great shot at earning the school’s second-ever postseason berth. Beamer’s road into the playoffs is a little tougher. The Titans need to sweep their remaining four games to have a legitimate shot at the playoffs. Beamer takes on Emerald Ridge (0-4), Bethel (3-1), Graham-Kapowsin (4-1) and Decatur (2-3).

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