It was an exciting day of competition in Division III Vermont high school football Saturday, with two thrillers and a shocker.
The headline game pitted league leaders Windsor and Woodstock against each other, and it lived up to the hype with Windsor escaping with a 12-9 victory in overtime. That gives the Wasps the top seed.
The matchup of 1-5 teams was a great one, too, and Springfield earned a 30-28 victory over Poultney/MSJ. The matchup decided the fifth seed, with the Cosmos earning a trip to BFA-Fairfax in the quarterfinals.
But the biggest news of the day probably came from Swanton, where Missisquoi shocked Fairfax 54-24. It was the first varsity win for the Thunderbirds in their second varsity season, and they were rewarded. MVU earns enough points to edge Poultney/MSJ for the sixth seed, meaning they avoid a first-round trip to Woodstock.
Elsewhere, Middlebury ran past CVU to lock up the fifth seed in Division I. The loss leaves CVU and Colchester tied for seventh and eighth, and since the Lakers won head to head, they should get the seventh spot.
Also, kudos to Spaulding for giving high-flying Milton all it could handle in a 36-30 loss Saturday night that decided the final playoff spot in Division II. The Crimson Tide (1-6) would have sneaked in with a victory but instead it's North Country that will get the eighth seed and the unenviable task of trying to knock off Burr and Burton.
Anyway, here are the final unofficial QPR standings as I see them:
Division I
(Includes all games vs. in-state opponents. Games vs. out-of-state teams are ignored)1. St. Johnsbury (8-0 overall, 7-0 D1), 135 points, 16.88 QPR
2. Hartford (7-1 overall, 7-1 D1), 116 points, 14.5 QPR
3. Burlington (7-1 overall, 6-1 D1), 113 points, 14.13 QPR
4. BFA-St. Albans (6-2 overall, 6-2 D1), 96 points, 12 QPR
5. Middlebury (5-3 overall, 5-2 D1), 84 points, 10.5 QPR
6. Mt. Mansfield (5-3 overall, 4-3 D1), 69 points, 8.63 QPR
7T. Colchester (3-5 overall, 3-4 D1), 42 points, 5.25 QPR (Colchester won head to head)
7T. CVU (3-5 overall, 3-5 D1), 42 points, 5.25 QPR
9. Rutland (3-5 overall, 3-5 D1), 38 points, 4.75 QPR
10. Rice (2-6 overall, 2-6 D1), 26 points, 3.25 QPR
11. South Burlington (2-6 overall, 1-6 D1), 25 points, 3.13 QPR
12. Essex (1-7 overall, 1-7 D1), 16 points, 2 QPR
13. Brattleboro (1-7 overall, 0-6 D1), 13 points, 1.63 QPR
Division II
(Includes all games vs. in-state opponents. Games vs. out-of-state teams are ignored)1. Burr and Burton (7-1 overall, 6-0 D2), 118 points, 14.75 QPR
2. Fair Haven (7-1 overall, 6-1 D2), 85 points, 10.63 QPR
3. Milton (7-1 overall, 6-1 D2), 82 points, 10.25 QPR
4. Bellows Falls (6-2 overall, 4-2 D2), 61 points, 7.63 QPR
5. Lyndon (4-4 overall, 3-3 D2), 40 points, 5 QPR
6. U-32 (4-4 overall, 4-4 D2), 38 points, 4.75 QPR
7. Mt. Anthony (3-5 overall, 3-5 D2), 35 points, 4.38 QPR
8. North Country (3-5 overall, 3-4 D2), 25 points, 3.13 QPR
9. Spaulding (1-6 overall, 0-6 D2), 7 points, 1 QPR
10. Mt. Abraham (1-7 overall, 1-6 D2), 7 points, 0.88 QPR
11. Otter Valley (0-8 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. Windsor (7-0 overall, 6-0 D3), 73 points, 10.43 QPR
2. Woodstock (6-2* overall, 5-1 D3), 62 points, 8.86 QPR
3. Mill River (5-2 overall, 4-2 D3), 39 points, 5.57 QPR
4. BFA-Fairfax (2-5 overall, 2-4 D3), 16 points, 2.29 QPR
5. Springfield (2-6* overall, 2-4 D3), 14 points, 2 QPR
6. Missisquoi (1-6* overall, 1-5 D3), 9 points, 1.29 QPR
7. Poultney/MSJ (1-6 overall, 1-5 D3), 7 points, 1 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.