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Tonight's Showcase Games
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Published: November 7, 2008
ST. STEPHENS (6-4, 4-4) at FOARD (9-1, 7-1), 7:30 p.m.
There's a lot riding on this Catawba Valley Athletic 2A-3A Conference game for both teams, and the stakes are huge for the homestanding Tigers.
Foard needs a victory over the Indians, which would be its fifth straight in the series, to assure it would do no worse than share the final CVAC football title.
The Tigers are tied atop the standings with Newton-Conover, which entertains Bandys, and Hibriten, which gets a visit from winless West Caldwell.
Foard has not won a league title since 1983, when it won the Southern District 7 2A championship.
The Tigers locked up the CVAC's No. 1 3A playoff berth with a win at Bandys last Friday, but the No. 2 berth the Indians had the inside track on (because of an earlier win over Hickory) could be riding on what happens at Foard.
St. Stephens and Hickory are tied at 4-4 in the CVAC and Hickory is at home against Bunker Hill, a one-win team.
So if Foard wins and Hickory beats the Bears, Hickory will move into the No. 2 3A slot, the league's last automatic one, and the Indians will go into the wild card pool and should still get into the postseason.
Tonight's game is a matchup of the league's two top defenses, both against the run (Foard 140.1 yards allowed per game, St. Stephens 163.0) and overall (Foard 247.2, St. Stephens 248.1).
BANDYS (5-5, 4-4) at N-C (9-1, 7-1), 7:30 p.m.
Newton-Conover can exit the Catawba Valley Athletic 2A-3A Conference having won a piece of the title three times in the league's four years with a fourth straight series victory over the Trojans.
The Red Devils share the league lead with Hibriten and Fred T. Foard, but their playoff seed will depend on if they end up in the 2A or 2AA bracket.
If there is a three-way tie, Foard gets a No. 1 seed into the 3A bracket. Hibriten is definitely headed to the 2AA bracket and, in a tie with Newton-Conover, the Panthers would get a No. 1 seed because they beat the Red Devils.
Newton-Conover's only path to a No. 1 seed would have to be in 2A, and the Red Devils won't know if they are going 2A or 2AA until the full 64-team field is determined.
Newton-Conover is in the middle of the average daily membership (ADM) pack and will slide up or down based on which teams qualify for the postseason.
Win or lose, Bandys is expected to gain its seventh straight trip to the playoffs but is in the same situation as Newton-Conover –- it could go 2A or 2AA depending on the field.
Tonight's game features two of the CVAC's top running backs, the league's rushing leader in Josh McCombs of Bandys (144.6 yards per game) and Dorian Jones of Newton-Conover (121.9 yards, fourth).
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