QPR Gaps Widen in Friday Night's Games

Widening gaps was the big theme of Friday night in the Vermont high school football QPR standings. With Colchester stopping Brattleboro's surge in Division I and with key wins for Burlington, Woodstock and Windsor in divisions II and III, there's a lot more separation in the standings than there was a week ago.

That's the most pronounced in D3, where there were two top-four showdowns that saw Woodstock roll past Mill River and Windsor edge U-32. That leaves the undefeated Wasps and Yellow Jackets well ahead of the field as they seemingly roll toward their showdown in the last week of the regular season.

In Division II, Burlington blanked Mt. Mansfield to draw a stark contrast in those standings, too. With four teams at 3-1 or better and five at 1-3 or worse, someone from the bottom half of the standings is probably going to need to win out to prevent the Burr and Burton, Bellows Falls, Burlington and Fair Haven from sweeping the playoff berths.

The Division I standings were already quite stratified with three teams out in front with unbeaten records in state but Colchester's 25-22 win over Brattleboro in a back-and-forth thriller was a bit blow for a Colonels team that looked like a strong candidate for home field in the quarterfinals. The Colonels (2-3) still have a shot, but with the teams ahead of them, Essex and Middlebury, playing next week, another loss is all but certain to send BUHS on the road in Week 9.

Anyway, here are the Vermont high school football QPR rankings midway through Week 5:

Division I

(Includes all games vs. in-state opponents. Games vs. out-of-state teams, including losses for Rutland and Hartford), are ignored)

1. St. Johnsbury (4-0 overall, 4-0 D1), 54 points, 13.5 QPR
2. Hartford (3-1* overall, 3-0 D1), 40 points, 13.33 QPR
3. CVU (4-0 overall, 4-0 D1), 52 points, 13 QPR
4. Middlebury (4-1 overall, 4-1 D1), 46 points, 9.2 QPR
5. Essex (3-2 overall, 3-2 D1), 36 points, 7.2 QPR
6. Brattleboro (2-3 overall, 2-3 D1), 28 points, 5.6 QPR
7. Rutland (2-3* overall, 2-2 D1), 20 points, 5 QPR
8. Colchester (2-3 overall, 2-3 D1), 24 points, 4.8 QPR
9. Rice (1-3 overall, 1-2 D1), 10 points, 2.5 QPR
10. BFA-St. Albans (1-4 overall, 1-3 D1), 12 points, 2.4 QPR
11T. South Burlington (0-5 overall, 0-5 D1), 0 points, 0 QPR
11T. Mt. Anthony (0-5 overall, 0-5 D1), 0 points, 0 QPR

Division II

(QPR includes only Division II games. Games against teams in other Vermont divisions are only counted for tiebreaker purposes.)

1. Burr and Burton (4-0 overall, 4-0 D2), 44 points, 11 QPR
2. Bellows Falls (5-0 overall, 4-0 D2), 36 points, 9 QPR
3T. Burlington (3-1 overall, 3-1 D2), 25 points, 6.25 QPR
3T. Fair Haven (3-1 overall, 3-1 D2), 25 points, 6.25 QPR
5T. Mt. Mansfield (2-3 overall, 1-3 D2), 9 points, 2.25 QPR
5T. Mt. Abraham (1-3 overall, 1-3 D2), 9 points, 2.25 QPR
7T. Milton (2-3 overall, 1-3 D2), 7 points, 1.75 QPR
7T. North Country (1-3 overall, 1-3 D2), 7 points, 1.75 QPR
9. Lyndon (0-4 overall, 0-4 D2), 0 points, 0 QPR

Division III

(Includes all games vs. in-state opponents. Games vs. out-of-state teams are ignored)

1. Woodstock (5-0 overall, 5-0 D3), 45 points, 9 QPR
2. Windsor (5-0 overall, 5-0 D3), 41 points, 8.2 QPR
3. Mill River (4-1 overall, 4-1 D3), 28 points, 5.6 QPR
4. U-32 (3-2 overall, 3-2 D3), 19 points, 3.8 QPR
5T. BFA-Fairfax (2-2 overall, 2-1 D3), 10 points, 2.5 QPR
5T. Otter Valley (2-2 overall, 2-2 D3), 10 points, 2.5 QPR
7. Oxbow (2-3 overall, 2-3 D3), 12 points, 2.4 QPR
8. Springfield (1-4 overall, 1-3 D3), 5 points, 1 QPR
9T. Missisquoi (0-3 overall, 0-3 D3), 0 points, 0 QPR
9T. Poultney/MSJ (0-4 overall, 0-4 D3), 0 points, 0 QPR
9T. Spaulding (0-5 overall, 0-5 D3), 0 points, 0 QPR

How do these numbers work? Teams receive 10 points for a win over a D1 opponent, 7 points for a win over a D2 opponent and 5 points for a D3 opponent. Teams also receive 2 points for every game won by the teams they have beaten. QPR is total points divided by games played.