Mike Vukovcan It’s GameDay and it’s a big one as the Hopewell Vikings host Central Valley in a big conference game on Homecoming.
The million-dollar question that I’ve been asked numerous times over the last week, ‘Can Hopewell clinch a playoff spot tonight? What do they have to do to clinch a playoff spot?
Let me answer the first question, No. Regardless of the outcome tonight, Hopewell can neither clinch a playoff spot nor be eliminated from the playoffs?
Now let’s get to the complicated question and with two weeks left in the season, there’s plenty of moving parts.
Talking to numerous people about this, here is what my best understanding of things are.
*If Hopewell wins their last 2 games against Central Valley and North Catholic, they clinch a spot and will likely be the 2nd place team in the conference.
*Hopewell’s most important game is next Friday; it’s essentially a win and in game. If the Vikings win next Friday, they clinch a spot in the playoffs.
*If Hopewell loses the last two games, they will still have a chance to earn a spot via a wild card spot. Class AAA receives two wild card bids and because of their convincing non-conference wins over both Freeport and New Castle, plus the overall strength of their conference, there’s a belief that Hopewell will receive one of those bids.
That’s obviously not how they want to get in but it’s a possible scenario.
Something else to keep in mind depending on what place Hopewell finishes in is them possibly hosting a playoff game. But that’s way down the line and they need to earn a spot first. I’m just throwing out scenarios.
The focus now is to finish the season strong, but it won’t be easy as both CV and North Catholic are two of the better teams in AAA.
Hopewell currently has a record of 6-2 and a win tonight would give them their first 7-win season since 2011.
