NCU might have been Saturday's biggest winner

Saturday's games moved us to within one week of the end of the Vermont high school football regular season, and for the most part it was a good day for the favorites as St. Johnsbury, Hartford, Windsor and Lyndon strengthened their positions.

The day's best game saw Division III Mill River nip winless D-II team Otter Valley, 35-33. The win sends the Minutemen (5-2) in the playoffs on a high as they have a bye in Week 8, but the real winner of this result was North Country. Otter Valley's loss means it can't catch NCU in the standings when the Falcons visit Brandon next week, so barring a major upset -- Spaulding over Milton or Mt. Abraham over Fair Haven -- North Country will be in the Division II playoffs.

Saturday's other interesting game was the South Burlington showdown, and Rice overpowered SBHS 33-13. Mirroring their 2016 season, the Green Knights (2-5) have picked up their play down the stretch but it will need to pull a big upset in Week 8 -- they go to BFA -- to have a shot at a playoff spot.

The Wolves (2-5), meanwhile, have seen a season that started promisingly falter with losses five of the last six weeks. But they, too, could be playing in the playoffs if they can knock off MMU in the final.

I'll post more detailed playoff scenarios in the coming days. In the interim, here are the QPRs through Week 7:

Division I

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

1. St. Johnsbury (7-0 overall, 7-0 D1), 114 points, 16.29 QPR
2. Hartford (6-1 overall, 6-1 D1), 98 points, 14 QPR
3. Burlington (6-1 overall, 5-1 D1), 93 points, 13.29 QPR
4. BFA-St. Albans (5-2 overall, 5-2 D1), 78 points, 11.14 QPR
5. Middlebury (4-3 overall, 4-2 D1), 64 points, 9.14 QPR
6. Mt. Mansfield (4-3 overall, 3-3 D1), 51 points, 7.2 QPR
7. CVU (3-4 overall, 3-4 D1), 42 points, 6 QPR
8. Rutland (3-4 overall, 3-4 D1), 38 points, 5.43 QPR
9. Colchester (2-5 overall, 2-5 D1), 30 points, 4.29 QPR
10. Rice (2-5 overall, 2-5 D1), 26 points, 3.71 QPR
11. South Burlington (2-5 overall, 1-5 D1), 25 points, 3.57 QPR
12. Essex (1-6 overall, 1-6 D1), 14 points, 2 QPR
13. Brattleboro (1-6 overall, 0-5 D1), 13 points, 1.86 QPR

Division II

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

1. Burr and Burton (6-1 overall, 5-0 D2), 97 points, 13.86 QPR
2. Fair Haven (6-1 overall, 5-1 D2), 74 points, 10.57 QPR
3. Milton (6-1 overall, 5-1 D2), 69 points, 9.86 QPR
4. Bellows Falls (5-2 overall, 3-2 D2), 44 points, 6.29 QPR
5. Lyndon (4-3 overall, 3-3 D2), 38 points, 5.43 QPR
6. U-32 (4-3 overall, 4-3 D2), 36 points, 5.14 QPR
7. Mt. Anthony (3-4 overall, 3-4 D2), 33 points, 4.71 QPR
8. North Country (2-5 overall, 2-4 D2), 18 points, 2.57 QPR
9. Mt. Abraham (1-6 overall, 1-5 D2), 7 points, 1 QPR
10. Spaulding (1-5 overall, 0-5 D2), 5 points, 0.83 QPR
11. Otter Valley (0-7 overall, 0-7 D2), 0 points, 0 QPR

Division III

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

1. Woodstock (6-1* overall, 5-0 D3), 58 points, 9.67 QPR
2. Windsor (6-0 overall, 5-0 D3), 52 points, 8.67 QPR
3. Mill River (5-2 overall, 4-2 D3), 35 points, 5 QPR
4. BFA-Fairfax (2-4 overall, 2-3 D3), 14 points, 2.33 QPR
5T. Poultney/MSJ (1-5 overall, 1-4 D3), 5 points, 0.83 QPR
5T. Springfield (1-6* overall, 1-4 D3), 5 points, 0.83 QPR
7. Missisquoi (0-6* 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 win over 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.