Seahawks, Bobcats hope to eliminate need for tiebreakers with wins tonight

With two weeks left in the Region 8-AAA season, what's left is nothing short of a jumbled mess.

On the bright side — well, for me at least — it looks as if my prediction of North Charleston to win the region is still the best bet (although you can bet Bluffton will try to change that tonight). But anything beyond that is up for grabs.

Over the weekend, I talked with Bluffton coach Jeremy West about something I'm sure haunts him to this day — tiebreakers. Of course, his Bobcats were left out of the playoffs two years ago because of a tiebreaker rule. Anyway, over the course of this particular conversation, the two of us came up with about two thousand (OK, maybe not quite that many) scenarios in which the tiebreaker rules will have to come into effect to not only decide playoff seeds but decide which teams even get into the postseason.

So, let's discuss them, shall we? I won't even get into a two-team tiebreaker rule for the hope that my thousands (OK, maybe not quite that many) of loyal readers understand that it's head-to-head. But, for a three-way tie, things get rather interesting. The first tiebreaker is a point system that may be confusing, so before I explain it, I'll tell you this — it likely won't solve anything anyway. The way it works: each team is awarded points for each victory; you get six points for defeating the first place team, five points for defeating the region's second place team and so on. The problem? Well, if you're in a three-way tie in the standings, outside of one another, you've likely defeated the same exact teams.

So, let's move on to the second tiebreaker — season win percentage. When you consider that all the involved teams will obviously be tied in the region standings, this basically comes down to out-of-conference win percentage. Don't even get me started about how much I hate this tiebreaker. (After all, it rewards teams who play easy schedules). Again, the problem with this is many of the Region 8-AAA teams wound up with the same out of conference marks (Battery Creek, Lake Marion and Bluffton, for example -- three teams that still have a chance of being tied after two weeks). So, finally, the third and ultimate tiebreaker would be a coin toss. That's right, heads or tails to decide your postseason fate.

Of course, the easiest scenario for the Bobcats and Seahawks would simply be to win tonight and clinch a postseason berth. So, with that said, let's look at their chances of doing that tonight.

HILTON HEAD HIGH AT BATTERY CREEK
I've been looking forward to this matchup for quite some time. It's interesting for a number of reasons, and now that we're three weeks into the Region 8-AAA season, nothing has changed there.

Hilton Head High, which still has an outside shot at successfully defending its region title, could take a giant step toward securing a home playoff game with a win tonight against the Dolphins — something, that when you consider it, is rather remarkable considering last year's region champions lost more than 20 seniors from a season ago. Battery Creek, on the other hand, is left fighting for its postseason lives after dropping a one-point game at Bluffton last week. So, what we're left with is two teams with a lot to play for tonight.

It's certainly an interesting matchup. Battery Creek likes to spread things out and use its four-receiver sets, along with running backs Josh Fields and Cecil Franklin, to pose difficult matchups for defenses. The spread offense has given the Seahawks fits this season — namely against James Island and region leader North Charleston. But the Seahawks' defense has improved a great deal as of late, thanks to the rather unexpected emergence of some younger players such as safety Lamond Williams and defensive end/linebacker Luke Barsness.

"We're playing a lot of young guys, and they've finally grown up. That's the difference," Seahawks coach Tim Singleton said. "Because they're being led by some of our seniors, they're starting to blossom. And it's a pleasant surprise."

Perhaps just as surprising is the way the offense has bounced back after the region-opening loss to North Charleston. Since that night, Jeff Homad has taken the reigns of the Seahawks' offense and responded with the two best starts of his career. Incredibly, he still remains without an interception this season.

Of course, Battery Creek has been susceptible to the run all season. But knowing the way coach Singleton calls plays, I wouldn't necessarily expect him to change the play-calling. The Seahawks' offense hasn't changed much over the years for anyone.

"Our offense is pretty comprehensive at times and can be pretty bland at times," he said. "We take what the defense is giving us. We're going to attack them in places they haven't seen before. We're going to work hard to make things happen."

BLUFFTON AT NORTH CHARLESTON
Let me start this off with an interesting fact you probably didn't think you'd read with just two weeks left in the regular season — Bluffton is one of only two teams in Region 8-AAA still controlling its own destiny for a region title.

Of course, the fine print — North Charleston is the other.

The Cougars have been dominant in region play this year other than one half against Battery Creek. Quarterback Denzel Myers and playmaker Corey Washington are the two reasons why. The duo tore up Hilton Head High's inexperienced secondary earlier this year on their way to dethroning the region champs.

"We can't have blown coverages against those guys," West said. "We've got to know our assignments and stick to them. We've got to tackle in the open field, and we've got to create some turnovers."

Bluffton's secondary is arguably its top-performing unit right now, so much so that last year's leader (Jimmy Tillman, five interceptions in 2008) has been moved up to play linebacker. The secondary was responsible for two of the three interceptions in last week's win against Battery Creek — all big plays. Stephen Bradley has improved a great deal in his senior year and Desmond Jenkins playing under center has allowed former quarterback Ryan Combs to play cornerback. I've never seen him look as comfortable as I did last week. The pressure is off and the talent is there.

"Our defense has given us a chance to win the game the last two weeks and we've come away 2-0," West said. "It's a good scheme and the kids have followed it."

They were helped last week by Zack Frazier's performance. Frazier topped 200 yards on 30-plus carries as the Bobcats' offense ate up the clock on every drive. Look for them to try to shorten the game tonight by winning the battle of time of possession.

They'll get some help back this week as well — Timmy Smith, who missed last week's game with a left quadriceps injury, is expected to return to the backfield to help share the load with Frazier tonight.

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