Vermont HS football QPRs after Friday's games

Essex, Burlington and Otter Valley were the big winners on Friday night as the Vermont high school football season moved into Week 6.

In Division I, Essex's defense stymied Middlebury, giving the Hornets (4-2) the edge in the race for a top-four seed and home field in the quarterfinals. Rutland could be a factor in that race, too, after shutting out Brattleboro, but the Raiders will probably need to beat Hartford in Week 8 to get there.

The Seahorses (5-1) rolled past Milton in Division II, earning their fourth league win and joining Burr and Burton and Bellows Falls as presumptive playoff teams. That leaves Saturday's game between Mt. Mansfield and Fair Haven as what could be the final matchup in deciding the postseason picture. The Slaters all but clinch with a win while an MMU victory would open up the race for the last spot.

In D3, Otter Valley rebounded from its loss to Windsor and got past U-32. That moves the Otters to 4-2 and ahead of the Raiders (3-3) in what could be another tight race for the #4 seed. If the season ended now, these teams would meet again in the quarterfinals at OVU.

Anyway, here are the QPR rankings midway through Week 6 (Please note, I'm heading out of town tomorrow night so I likely won't be able to update these ratings again until Monday):

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 (5-0 overall, 5-0 D1), 76 points, 15.2 QPR
2. Hartford (5-1* overall, 5-0 D1), 64 points, 12.8 QPR
3. CVU (4-1 overall, 4-1 D1), 56 points, 11.2 QPR
4. Essex (4-2 overall, 4-2 D1), 56 points, 9.33 QPR
5. Middlebury (4-2 overall, 4-2 D1), 48 points, 8 QPR
6. Rutland (3-3* overall, 3-2 D1), 34 points, 6.8 QPR
7. Colchester (2-3 overall, 2-3 D1), 24 points, 4.8 QPR
8. Brattleboro (2-4 overall, 2-4 D1), 28 points, 4.67 QPR
9. BFA-St. Albans (2-4 overall, 2-3 D1), 22 points, 3.67 QPR
10. Rice (1-4 overall, 1-3 D1), 10 points, 2 QPR
11T. South Burlington (0-6 overall, 0-6 D1), 0 points, 0 QPR
11T. Mt. Anthony (0-6 overall, 0-6 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 (6-0 overall, 6-0 D2), 66 points, 11 QPR
2. Bellows Falls (5-0 overall, 4-0 D2), 38 points, 9.5 QPR
3. Burlington (5-1 overall, 4-1 D2), 36 points, 7.2 QPR
4. Fair Haven (4-1 overall, 3-1 D2), 27 points, 6.75 QPR
5. Mt. Abraham (2-4 overall, 2-4 D2), 16 points, 2.67 QPR
6. Mt. Mansfield (2-3 overall, 1-3 D2), 9 points, 2.25 QPR
7T. Milton (2-4 overall, 1-4 D2), 7 points, 1.4 QPR
7T. North Country (2-4 overall, 1-4 D2), 7 points, 1.4 QPR
9. Lyndon (0-5 overall, 0-5 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), 49 points, 9.8 QPR
2. Windsor (5-0 overall, 5-0 D3), 45 points, 9 QPR
3. Mill River (4-1 overall, 4-1 D3), 28 points, 5.6 QPR
4. Otter Valley (4-2 overall, 4-2 D3), 26 points, 4.33 QPR
5. U-32 (3-3 overall, 3-3 D3), 19 points, 3.17 QPR
6. BFA-Fairfax (2-2 overall, 2-1 D3), 10 points, 2.5 QPR
7. Oxbow (2-4 overall, 2-3 D3), 12 points, 2 QPR
8. Springfield (1-4 overall, 1-3 D3), 5 points, 1 QPR
9T. Missisquoi (0-4 overall, 0-4 D3), 0 points, 0 QPR
9T. Poultney/MSJ (0-5 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.