The Week 7 Western Massachusetts Football Walker Rankings were released Sunday night and there is plenty of intrigue heading into the final week of the regular season.
Two teams would be in the postseason if the season ended today. Unbeaten Turners Falls High School (7-0) is the top team in Division IV-A, while Pioneer (4-2) is seeded fourth. Mohawk Trail Regional High School (3-4) is also alive in the division. Two other area teams — Frontier Regional School (5-1) and Athol High School (4-3) — are on the outside looking in on the Division IV field, but both teams are very much alive.
Let’s take a look at what each of the four locals has at stake:
Turners Falls — The Indians are securely in the postseason picture and can lock up the top seed in Division IV-A with a win over Frontier on Friday night in South Deerfield, in what figures to be the local Game of the Week. If the Indians lose and Mount Greylock Regional High School beats Drury High School, the Mounties could finish above the Indians in the Walker, although that remains to be seen.
Pioneer — Even though Pioneer enters the week in the fourth spot in Division IV-A, the Panthers do not appear to be in control of their own destiny. Pioneer travels to Mohawk on Friday night at 7, and a win would help the Panthers but might not be enough if Lee High School (currently 3-4 overall) beats McCann Technical High School (1-6), a very real possibility. If Lee wins, the Wildcats would become tournament-eligible at 4-4, and their strength of schedule may be enough for them to overtake Pioneer in the Walker System, which takes winning percentage, strength of schedule, and record vs. qualifiers into account.
Mohawk — Mohawk’s postseason hopes took a major hit in Saturday’s loss to Drury, but the Warriors may still have a chance. If Mohawk beats Pioneer it will become tournament-eligible at 4-4, and if Lee loses, the Warriors could still get in.
Frontier and Athol — A huge question mark looms in the Division IV field, where Frontier and Athol are currently fifth and sixth. What’s interesting is that Hoosac Valley is currently seeded fourth in Division IV at 3-3 overall, but the Hurricanes are facing top-seeded Wahconah Regional High School (6-1) in the finale, and could very well lose, which would make them ineligible for the tournament. That opens the door for the two local teams. Frontier would likely lock up the spot if it can hand Turners Falls its first loss of the season, while Athol may get the nod if it beats Greenfield and both Frontier and Hoosac lose. One other possibility is that Palmer High School (which is currently second in Division IV at 7-0), could lose to Ware High School, which would drastically hurt Palmer’s ranking.
Here’s the standings:
Division IV
1. Wahconah (6-1 overall, 127.67 Walker rating)
2. Palmer (7-0, 101.98)
3. South Hadley (4-3, 101.67)
4. Hoosac Valley (3-3, 92.42)
5. Frontier (5-1, 90.68)
6. Athol (4-3, 85.58)
Division IV-A
1. Turners Falls (7-0, 117.99)
2. Mt. Greylock (7-0, 104.43)
3. Ware (5-1, 95.14)
4. Pioneer (4-2, 82.45)
Still alive: Lee (3-4), Mohawk (3-4)