PrepsNow Playbook: Steps to making, projecting the football playoffs

At some point in the next two weeks, the N.C. High School Athletic Association will release each school’s ADM (average daily membership) numbers. It’s the last step in clarifying the playoff picture, but it’s a critical one.

Like other sports, the NCHSAA uses an intricate seeding process to determine its matchups. But unlike other sports, the NCHSAA subdivides its four classifications into eight playoff brackets.

Here are your not-so-easy steps to mapping out the playoff picture:

Step 1: Adjust team’s 11-game schedules to 10-game records. For seeding purposes only, the NCHSAA allows football teams who played an endowment game, thus ending up with 11 games on the schedule, to drop a nonconference loss. If the team was perfect against nonconference teams, it must drop a win.

Step 2: Find 64 playoff teams in each classification. You start with finding the automatic playoff bids – the top three teams in each normal conference, plus the top seed in each half of a split conference. For instance, in the Mideastern 4A/3A, the top three teams are in the playoffs, but if all three are 4A teams, then the top 3A team in that league also gets a bid as a 1-seed.

The rest of the playoffs are wild-card teams. Much like the NFL, overall record is how the wild-cards are selected.

If there is a tie for the last spot among teams with equal 10-game records, conference winning percentage is used to break the tie.

Step 3: Use the ADMs to split the teams into 32-team brackets: 4AA and 4A, 3AA and 3A and so on.

Step 4: Use longitude to split the 32-team brackets into a 16-team East and 16-team West.

Step 5: Figure out the seeds. This can be a confusing part. If there was a 3-way tie for first, but one team is going into the 3A playoffs and another in the 3AA, then two of those teams will be 1-seeds and the loser of the 3AA tiebreaker will be a 2-seed.

Step 6: Group the 1-seeds in each bracket half and order by 10-game record. Do the same for the 2s and 3s and wild-cards. At no point can even the highest No. 2 seed jump the lowest No. 1 seed. If there are ties for a seed, then they are broken by finding a direct head-to-head result or a random draw.

Step 7: Play the games.

The ADMs will also be used for the realignment process, which will begin this winter. Conferences for 2017-21 will be finalized in the spring.

Jordan rallies for fallen teammate

In preparing his team for Friday, Jordan coach LaDwaun Harrison didn’t need to bring up Brandon Massey, his player who suffered a broken neck the week before on a goal-line tackle against Cardinal Gibbons.

Massey’s number was stenciled onto both ends of Jordan’s field in a 10-7 win against Riverside. He was given a moment of silence prior to Friday’s contest. The moment of silence was held simultaneously at all three PAC-6 games this week.

“Before the game the guys told me, ‘Coach, we don’t need to talk, we know what we’re doing this for,’” Harrison said. “We continued to fight … and we’re still fighting and we’re trying to get better.”

Jordan had little success all night, but on the game-winning drive the Falcons went 80 yards on 16 plays in just 2 minutes, 10 seconds with no timeouts

“We had so much riding on it,” quarterback Ben Miller said of his game winning 80-yard drive. “I was playing for Brandon, he’s my brother and I wanted to win it for him.”

Massey underwent surgery after the injury and is recovering.

Carrboro loses game, wins the night

Even with a 40-18 win against Carrboro, Graham couldn’t ruin the Jaguars’ homecoming night.

A week earlier, Carrboro (0-9, 0-3) was forced to forfeit a game last week due to a lack of healthy players, but took the field with 19 players suited up Friday.

“It was very important that we played this game,” Carrboro head coach Melvin Griffin said. “I think not only was the school down, the whole community was down. We had to play this game to finish the season strong and to get a good start for next year.”

Just playing Friday’s Mid-State 2A Conference game was a victory for Carrboro’s program.

“A little bit of me died last week. In all my years of playing football, we never had to forfeit a game because of a lack of healthy players,” Carrboro senior Greyson Magee said. “We really needed this game. We just needed to say as a team ‘We’re going to step out on that field and play, no matter what.’”

The Starting 11: players of the week

(Times named to Starting 11 in parentheses)

Marius Cooper, Wakefield (3): Nine catches, 153 yards, four touchdowns.

Caleb Cross, Panther Creek (2): Ten catches, 228 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

Montel Goods, Northwood (4): Carried the ball 39 times for 258 yards and three touchdowns.

Reid Herring, Millbrook (2): Completed 19 of 23 passes for 268 yards and four touchdowns, adding a TD run.

Jordan Logan, Sanderson (1): Ran 22 times for 202 yards and two touchdowns.

Alex Long, Orange (1): Responsible for four touchdowns – two receiving (two catches, 53 yards) and two rushing (12 rushes for 68 yards)

Matt McKay, Wakefield (3): Was responsible for more than 470 yards of offense and eight total touchdowns – three rushing (158 yards on 24 carries), five passing (21 of 23 passing for 320 yards).

Dom Samson, Panther Creek (3): Completed 36 of 52 passes for 571 yards and six touchdowns.

Tevin Perry, Bunn (2): Had 17 carries for 283 yards and three touchdowns; added an interception for TD.

Blake Joyner, Clayton (2): Caught five passes for 150 yards and one touchdown, also had two kickoff returns for TD

Justin Smalls, Panther Creek (3): Nine catches, 170 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

3-point stance: top defenses

Corinth Holders: Didn’t allow a Western Harnett offensive touchdown in a 40-6 win, despite the Eagles getting the ball in Corinth Holders territory to start four drives. Held Western to minus-15 yards of total offense.

Garner: Held Knightdale to just 79 yards passing and 65 on the ground in a 45-7 victory.

Ravenscroft: Didn’t allow an offensive touchdown from Word of God in a 49-6 win, holding the Holy Rams to 47 yards rushing on 23 attempts and 3 of 28 passing for no yards.

Quick hits

▪ The N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association’s regular season ends this week. Wake Christian (6-3) likely has a postseason spot in the 11-man Division III playoffs, while Ravenscroft (6-3) does in the Division II. Cary Christian (2-6 entering the week) will take the last spot in the 8-man 2A playoffs while St. David’s (9-0) is heading for the No. 1 seed.

▪ Dom Samson’s 571 yards through the air places him sixth on the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s all-time list for most passing yards in a single game. He is six yards ahead of Athens Drive graduate Nick DeMuro.

Postcard

Garner HOF night: Not only will Friday’s game at Garner be for first place in the Greater Neuse River 4A, it’s also the school’s Hall of Fame night. The inductees are educator and administrator Wayne Bare, baseball standout Johnny Beck (class of 1990), multisport athlete and World War II veteran B.A. Corbett (1941), softball standout Lauren Pleasants Bridgers (2003) and contributor Greg Pleasants (1987).

This story was originally published October 26, 2015 at 4:56 PM with the headline "PrepsNow Playbook: Steps to making, projecting the football playoffs."