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Playoff scenarios still muddled

If you thought the District 11 football playoffs were going to be a bit clearer heading into week 10, think again.

While the Class A and AA scenarios seem to be a bit more cut and dry, Classes AAA and AAAA have plenty of narratives heading into the final weekend of the regular season.Here what's we know in each of the four classifications:Classs AAAAWyoming Valley West (9-0), Parkland (8-1), Freedom (8-1) and Liberty (7-2) have clinched four of the eight spots. That leaves three spots available to District 11 teams and one spot available to a District 2 counterpart.As far as the District 11 scenarios are concerned, currently, Easton (6-3), Stroudsburg (7-2), and Nazareth (5-4) are in the field, but that could change this week.If Easton beats Nazareth this week and Stroudsburg knocks off Pleasant Valley (6-3), both of those teams will clinch. A scenario where Nazareth and Pleasant Valley find their way to victory, could knock Easton or Stroudsburg out of the tournament. Nazareth can lose and still possibly hold on to the eighth spot.Both Pleasant Valley and Emmaus, currently on the outside looking in, can still qualify.Pleasant Valley is the seventh District 11 team at the moment but has a couple of ways to grab one of the six D-11 spot in the field.The Bears are in if they beat Stroudsburg on Friday night. If they lose, they can still grab the final spot if Nazareth and Emmaus both lose. If that happens, Pleasant Valley and Nazareth will be extremely close in points with the berth decided by how the teams' defeated opponents fare on the final weekend.Emmaus (5-4) needs an upset of Parkland and Pleasant Valley and Nazareth to both lose to sneak in.Delaware Valley (6-3) clinches the other District 2/4 spot in the field with a win over Wallenpaupack.As you can see, a lot of variables on the table here.Class AAAThe only team that has clinched so far is Bethlehem Catholic (8-1). The Hawks play Central Catholic (5-4) on Saturday. The Vikings currently are ranked fifth. The Vikes need to win in order to jump into the top four to clinch a berth. Saucon Valley (9-0), Lehighton (9-0) and Blue Mountain (8-1) round out the order in between both Catholic schools.Victories by the top four teams would clinch a spot for all them and leave out Central Catholic and Jim Thorpe.Lehighton has all but clinched a spot. The Indians would need to lose to Jim Thorpe this week and have several other upsets happen for them to miss the field.If the Indians beat Jim Thorpe (8-1), they will more than likely be the top seed, regardless of how any other games play out.Jim Thorpe's path into the field is contingent on it beating Lehighton. If that happens, Thorpe will still need help. The Olympians would get in as the fourth and final team if Schuylkill Haven upsets Blue Mountain or Palisades upsets Saucon Valley. Thorpe's other path would be Bethlehem Catholic beating Central Catholic. If that happens and Blue Mountain beats Haven, the Olympians and Eagles would be extremely close for the final berth. During a teleconference on Monday, however, District 11 officials said it appeared Jim Thorpe would have a slight edge. That is a change from the previous week's projections that had Blue Mountain more than likely edging Thorpe if both finished with 9-1 records.Class AAIt gets a bit simpler here as Notre Dame-Green Pond (8-1) and Northwestern (7-2) have both clinched. That leaves two spots up for grabs with Salisbury (6-3) and North Schuylkill (5-4) leading the charge at the moment. Salisbury, even with a loss to Southern Lehigh this week, looks like they have all but clinched a berth. North Schuylkill takes on Panther Valley (2-7) this week and with a win would clinch as well.The only other team in AA that has a chance is Northern Lehigh (4-5), which needs to beat Palmerton and see North Schuylkill and Palisades (5-4) lose. Even in that scenario, the point margin for the Bulldogs to get in would be very close.Class ATri-Valley (8-1) and Marian Catholic (6-3) both have clinched. Mahanoy Area (5-4) and Williams Valley (5-4) currently hold the final two spots. Both teams clinch with wins. Schuylkill Haven (5-4) still has a chance if it upsets Blue Mountain this week. The Hurricanes would then need either Mahanoy Area or Williams Valley to lose.Marian locks up a home game with a victory over Tamaqua or a Mahanoy Area loss to Shenandoah.