First place is on the line in Hawks-Vikings clash

The regular-season portion of the Waterloo County senior football schedule comes to a close this week with six games on the schedule.

The biggest of the bunch takes Friday afternoon in Cambridge, with the Jacob Hespeler Hawks hosting the Waterloo Vikings in a showdown between the league’s only undefeated teams.

The winner will finish first in the Division 1 standings and the loser will finish second.

The Huron Heights Huskies and Preston Panthers will finish third and fourth, respectively, regardless of what happens in their final games. The Bluevale Knights and KCI Raiders have been eliminated from playoff play.

Playoff positions have yet to be finalized in Division 2 but the most likely scenario will see the Grand River Renegades finish first, followed by the Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders, Elmira Lancers and Waterloo-Oxford Crusaders. The Galt Ghosts and Glenview Park Panthers are out.

First-round playoffs start next week and the projected quarterfinal matchups will see Jacob Hespeler vs. Waterloo-Oxford, WCI vs. Elmira, Huron Heights vs. Sir John A. Macdonald, and Preston vs. Grand River.

The District 8 regular season concludes Wednesday with two games on the schedule — the St. David Celtics vs. the St. Mary’s Eagles and the Resurrection Phoenix vs. the St. Benedict Saints.

St. Mary’s has already been eliminated from post-season play and Resurrection is locked in as the third-ranked team.

St. Benedict and St. David are tied for first with 4-1 records and, assuming both win this week, the Celtics own the tiebreaker because they allowed fewer points in headto-head meetings with the Saints.

The WCSSAA quarter-finals are scheduled for next Thursday and the District 8 semifinal will be played Tuesday. Here’s a quick look at this week’s games.

WCSSAA

Thursday

Galt (1-4) at Grand River (4-1), 3:30 p.m.

The Renegades’ one-two rushing attack of Brigg Medensky and Noah Lebar will be too much for the Ghosts to handle.

Huron Heights (3-2) at Waterloo-Oxford (2-3), 12:30 p.m.

The Huskies are better than they showed in last week’s loss to the Renegades. Take Huron Heights.

Bluevale (1-4) at Sir John A. Macdonald (3-2), 1p.m.

Highlanders head coach Josh Alexander has a reputation for having his team peaking at the right time. SJAM should breeze here. Friday

Elmira (3-2) at Glenview Park (1-4), 3 p.m.

The Lancers, riding high from last week’s Battle of the Barns victory over the Crusaders, will hit the playoffs on a winning note.

WCI (5-0) at Jacob Hespeler (5-0), 3 p.m.

WCI head coach Mike Waters will likely tell his players about how a former team defeated a powerful Resurrection squad in the 2010 playoffs and topped Tyler Varga and the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels in the WCSSAA final a week later. Still, I am not about to bet against the four-time champs.

Preston (2-3) at KCI (0-5), 3 p.m. (Bridgeport)

The Panthers have been outscored this season 110-48 but the Raiders have had it even worse, 134-37. Take Preston.

DISTRICT 8

Wednesday

St. David (4-1) at St. Mary’s (0-5), 3 p.m.

The Celtics will rebound from last week’s loss to the Saints.

Resurrection (2-3) at St. Benedict (4-1), 7 p.m.

The Saints are clicking at the right time. Last week: 6-2 Season: 30-10