Football · Preview · Class D3
Class D3 football playoff outlook: Archangels Catholic has clinched D3-2, and Central Valley-Burwell decides D3-4
Who has clinched in Class D3, the D3-4 and D3-7 title games, the three-way tie at Nos. 6-8, the bubble and a projected first round.
Archangels Catholic has clinched the D3-2 title, which NSAA's district standings page does not show. It is 4-0 in the district, and the two 3-1 teams behind it, Guardian Angels Central Catholic and Leigh, play each other Friday. Archangels beat both, 42-12 and 46-8, so the head-to-head step settles any tie (NSAA football manual, p. 59).
Seven D3 teams have clinched, and six more clinch with a Week 9 win: Dundy County Stratton, Hyannis, Deshler, Twin Loup, Brady and Wynot. Two of them meet Friday, so the Hyannis-Dundy County Stratton winner is in. The biggest game is Central Valley at Burwell on Friday, Oct. 23, for the D3-4 title.
Data as of 9:04 a.m. CT Monday, Oct. 19, from NSAA wildcard points and schedule exports. Every Week 1-8 final is posted, and Week 9 games are Oct. 22-23. Everything here is a NEB Preps projection until NSAA seeds the field. Clinched and eliminated calls are NEB Preps' math, which runs every Week 9 result through NSAA's full point formula (football manual, p. 40).
If the season ended today
NEB Preps projection, using NSAA's bracket (manual, p. 59). District leaders are counted as champions. Teams with identical averages are listed in NSAA's page order, which is not a tiebreak result. Burwell, Deshler and Twin Loup are tied at 42.6250 for Nos. 6-8. Head-to-head does not apply to a three-team tie (p. 42), so the 9-8, 11-6 and 7-10 games could swap opponents; that order is unresolved. Anselmo-Merna and Wynot are also tied (42.0000), so the 11-6 and 5-12 games could swap opponents.
- No. 1 Lawrence-Nelson vs. No. 16 Leigh
- No. 9 Wausa vs. No. 8 Twin Loup (tie, unresolved)
- No. 5 Dundy County Stratton vs. No. 12 Wynot
- No. 13 Cambridge vs. No. 4 Pleasanton, a rematch of Pleasanton's 34-8 win on Oct. 16
- No. 3 Central Valley vs. No. 14 Guardian Angels Central Catholic
- No. 11 Anselmo-Merna vs. No. 6 Burwell (tie, unresolved), a rematch of Burwell's 41-38 win on Aug. 28
- No. 7 Deshler (tie, unresolved) vs. No. 10 Brady
- No. 15 Falls City Sacred Heart vs. No. 2 Archangels Catholic
How D3 qualifies
The seven district champions qualify, plus the nine highest averages among teams that did not win a district (manual, p. 59). The 16th-best average is not automatically in.
Who's in
District champions: Lawrence-Nelson (D3-1), Archangels Catholic (D3-2), Wausa (D3-3), Pleasanton (D3-5) and Anselmo-Merna (D3-6).
By math: Central Valley and Burwell, both in whatever happens Friday. Fifteen teams are out in every outcome.
The bubble
Ranks and points are NSAA's. Status is NEB Preps' projection math.
| Team | Pts (rank) | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Dundy County Stratton | 43.0000 (5) | In with a win |
| Deshler | 42.6250 (T-6) | In with a win |
| Twin Loup | 42.6250 (T-6) | In with a win |
| Brady | 42.2500 (10) | In with a win |
| Wynot | 42.0000 (T-11) | In with a win |
| Cambridge | 41.6250 (13) | Not yet determined |
| Guardian Angels CC | 40.8750 (14) | Not yet determined |
| Falls City Sacred Heart | 40.7500 (15) | Not yet determined |
| Leigh | 39.8750 (16) | Not yet determined |
| St. Mary's | 39.7500 (17) | Not yet determined |
| Southern Valley | 39.6250 (18) | Not yet determined |
| Hyannis | 36.0000 (30) | Win: in. Loss: out |
Hyannis is 30th by points but 3-0 in D3-7, so its title game is its path. Clarkson, Sandhills/Thedford, Elgin Public-Pope John and Weeping Water are out with a loss.
Games that matter
Central Valley at Burwell, Friday. Central Valley (4-0 in D3-4) clinches the title with a win. A Burwell win takes the title if Twin Loup loses to Elgin Public-Pope John. If Twin Loup wins, all three are 4-1, each 1-1 against the others; Burwell and Twin Loup would both be 8-1, and Twin Loup takes the title on its 26-20 win over Burwell (manual, p. 59). Both Central Valley and Burwell are in either way.
Hyannis at Dundy County Stratton, Friday. Both are 3-0 in D3-7, and the winner takes the title and a spot. A Dundy County Stratton loss leaves it not yet determined as a wild card.
Leigh at Guardian Angels Central Catholic, Friday. A GACC win clinches it if Archangels or Cambridge loses. Leigh holds the 16th projected spot but cannot clinch on its own result.
Twin Loup, Deshler, Brady and Wynot, Friday. Each clinches with a win: Twin Loup vs. Elgin Public-Pope John, Deshler at Weeping Water, Brady vs. Sandhills Valley and Wynot at Randolph.
Possible quarterfinals
If every higher seed wins in the first round (a NEB Preps projection):
- No. 1 Lawrence-Nelson vs. No. 8 Twin Loup (tie, unresolved)
- No. 4 Pleasanton vs. No. 5 Dundy County Stratton
- No. 3 Central Valley vs. No. 6 Burwell (tie, unresolved)
- No. 2 Archangels Catholic vs. No. 7 Deshler (tie, unresolved)
Still unknown
The Nos. 6-8 tie, the D3-4 and D3-7 titles, the last wild cards and every seed are not yet determined. NSAA's district standings page does not mark clinches; Archangels' rests on the head-to-head step (p. 59).
Every class: Wildcard Watch: Week 9.
Sources
Nebraska football scores and schedules → · Football playoff tracker →