With four weeks left in the regular season, high school football's stretch run has officially begun.

For teams throughout the district, that means it's time to put on the playoff push.The good news on the area front is that eight of the nine teams are in serious playoff contention with only Panther Valley currently having a losing record and not competing for a postseason berth.If the season ended today, four teams (Marian, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Lehighton) would be in the playoffs. Four other teams (Palmerton, Tamaqua, Jim Thorpe and Pleasant Valley) are knocking on the door and with strong finishes could crash the postseason party.Coaches will tell you it's way too early to worry about scenarios and what has to happen with other playoff contenders, but for fans it's never too early. So we'll take a quick glance at the four classes and what needs to happen in each to give our area teams the best chance to qualify.As a reminder, Class A, AA and AAA are inclusive District 11 fields with the top four teams qualifying. Teams are rated with the district's new power formula that went into effect last season. Class AAAA is an eight-team subregional that includes Districts 2, 4 and 11. District 11 is guaranteed six of the berths.Class AMarian is the only local team in the class and is currently in fourth place. The Colts (3-3) have lost three straight, but with all the teams behind them currently with losing records it's a pretty good bet that Marian only needs a winning record or maybe even a .500 mark to qualify. Mahanoy Area and Schuylkill Haven sit second and third in the rankings, and Marian still has games with both of them. A strong finish will not only put the Colts in the playoffs, but could earn them a playoff home game.Class AAUndefeated and top-ranked Notre Dame seems like a sure bet to make the field, but after that it's wide open. Northwestern and Northern Lehigh are second and third respectively, while Palmerton is seventh and Tamaqua is eighth. The No. 2 through No. 8 ranked teams are separated by just one game in the loss column, so although the current power rankings are a little more spread out, that could quickly change. In addition to the four area teams contending for the final three playoff spots, Salisbury, Palisades and North Schuylkill are also in the mix.Of the contenders, Tamaqua appears to have the toughest path as the Raiders' remaining opponents have a combined record of 16-8. Northern Lehigh (15-9), Northwestern (13-11), Salisbury (13-11) and North Schuylkill (13-11) also face opponents with a combined winning record. Both Palmerton and Palisades face opponents whose combined record is 12-12.Our guess is that seven wins will almost assure a berth in the AA field, and that there is a decent chance that one team with six victories will also sneak into the postseason.Class AAAThis is the strongest of the inclusive District 11 fields. Among the top seven teams, there are three unbeatens (Saucon Valley, Lehighton and Jim Thorpe); three one-loss teams (Bethlehem Catholic, Blue Mountain and Southern Lehigh) and top-ranked Allentown Central Catholic (4-2).For Lehighton and Jim Thorpe, the only way to guarantee a spot is to win out and finish 10-0. If either team finishes 9-1, their chances are still pretty good considering ACC (Liberty) and Becahi (Stroudsburg) both have one strong AAAA opponent left and also have to play each other; Blue Mountain still has to play Jim Thorpe; Southern Lehigh still has Northwestern and Northern Lehigh; and Saucon Valley still has Notre Dame. That said, it is possible that a 9-1 AAA team misses the field.Class AAAAThe good news for Pleasant Valley (currently 11th overall and seventh among District 11 teams) is that it is only one spot out of the final playoff berth. The bad news is that it is 210 points behind Parkland, the sixth District 11 team.The Bears (3-3) are currently riding a three-game win streak and more than likely would have to win out to make it. Although with all six District 11 teams ahead of them playing each other numerous times down the stretch, there is a chance that a 6-4 Pleasant Valley team could sneak into the final spot.**********SIX-PACK ... Just like last season, Jim Thorpe stands at 6-0 after the first six weeks of the regular season.The Olympians aren't alone, though, as Lehighton is also perfect with a 6-0 mark.This marks just the fourth time in the last 38 years that two Times News area teams are undefeated six weeks into the season. Of those four times, Jim Thorpe has been involved in every one of them. And each time it's been with a different team.Last season, the Olympians and Northwestern both got off to 6-0 starts. In 2006, they did the same with Marian, and in 2004 it was Northern Lehigh that matched their perfect start.**********THORPE'S COMEBACK ... For Jim Thorpe to gain its sixth straight win, it had to rally from a huge deficit.Trailing 17-0 in the second quarter against Panther Valley, the Olympians posted 35 unanswered points to pull out the victory.Over the last 37 years, that comeback matched the second best in Thorpe's history.On Oct. 30, 2009 the Olympians overcame a 20-point deficit against Marian. Thorpe trailed 20-0 before pulling out a 37-34 win.And on Nov. 5, 1994, Pius X held a 24-7 advantage before Jim Thorpe rallied for a 27-24 victory.**********KICK OUT OF KRCIC ... Pleasant Valley's Dean Krcic booted three field goals during the Bears' win over East Stroudsburg South last Friday.The senior drilled kicks of 29, 28 and 36 yards.Krcic became just the fourth Times News area player (since 1989) to kick three field goals in one game.The last person to do it was Ryan Habick, also of Pleasant Valley. Habick accomplished his feat on Sept. 25, 2009. The other two were Northwestern's Chris Horn (Sept. 8, 2006) and Jim Thorpe's Tyler O'Shura (Sept. 30, 2005).**********PANTHER THREE-POINTER ... Panther Valley's Brendan Morgans connected for a 29-yard field goal during last week's game against Jim Thorpe.The three-pointer is a rare occurrence for the Panthers.While Pleasant Valley (see above) booted three field goals in one game, Panther Valley now has a total of just three over the past 15 seasons.Besides Morgans' kick, the only other Panther field goals since 2001 are the two Mark Williams made during PV's 2013 season.Also of note is that Morgans' 29-yarder was the longest Panther Valley field goal since Oct. 5, 1990, when Mark Krajcir nailed one from 32 yards out.