Two rematches from the regular season in the semifinals; a rematch from the 2008 title in the finals.

That's how I foresee the Class A playoffs unfolding, starting Friday with the top four teams in the Top 10 winning their quarterfinals. The semifinals then would be sequels to two of the more influential games of this season: Millard South-Elkhorn and Millard West-Lincoln Southeast.

Millard South's closest call has been against Elkhorn, the Patriots wiping out a three-touchdown Antler lead in the fourth quarter for an improbable 47-41 win. Two weeks earlier, Lincoln Southeast outplayed defending state champion Millard West in a 24-7 win that sparked the Knights to a 8-1 turnaround season.

If those semifinals happen, the forecast is for Millard South to play Millard West in the Class A final for the second straight year, and this time to beat the Wildcats. The Patriots own a 28-0 win over their rival, but that was before the Wildcats shook up lineups and started a winning streak that has reached seven games. Only Millard South's 10-gamer is longer in Class A.

What could consign these predictions to the litter box as soon as Friday? Lincoln Southwest reversing a 17-12 loss to Southeast is the best possibility in the quarterfinals, followed in likelihood by Grand Island over Elkhorn, Norfolk over Millard West and Papillion-La Vista over Millard South.

Millard South is one of the five current No. 1 teams projected to be state champions. The others are Aurora in Class B, Boys Town in Class C-1, Blue Hill in C-2 and Humphrey St. Francis in Eight Man-2.

Defending champion Howells, ranked third, is the pick in Eight Man-1. Starting quarterback Brian Prusa is back for the Bobcats after an injury that kept him out of their only loss, 28-26 at Bancroft-Rosalie.

Here's how each class should shake out:

Class A
Quarterfinals: Millard South over Papillion-La Vista, Elkhorn over Grand Island, Millard West over Norfolk, Lincoln Southeast over Lincoln Southwest. Semifinals: Millard South over Elkhorn, Millard West over Lincoln Southeast. Final: Millard South over Millard West. Sleeper: Lincoln Southwest.

Class B
Anything other than an Aurora-Skutt final would be a shocker. None of the other three teams in the west bracket are the Huskies' equal. Skutt needs to be nervous about a young Crete team on the rise before a probable semifinal rematch with Waverly, which couldn't stay with the SkyHawks last month in Omaha.
Quarterfinals: Aurora over McCook, Adams Central over Gering, Omaha Skutt over Crete, Waverly over Blair. Semifinals: Aurora over Adams Central, Skutt over Waverly. Final: Aurora over Skutt. Sleeper: Crete.

Class C-1
Hastings St. Cecilia hasn't been to a state final since winning C-1 in 2000, but it's unforeseeable that the Bluehawks get tripped up before getting to Lincoln. There's no team like Pierce the previous two years with them in the west bracket.
The favorite, Boys Town, could have to mow down three undefeateds — Syracuse, Norfolk Catholic and finally St. Cecilia — to win its first playoff title after losing 20-10 to Pierce last year.
Second round: Norfolk Catholic over David City, Wahoo Neumann over Wahoo, Boys Town over Ashland-Greenwood, Syracuse over Bennington, Chadron over St. Paul, Broken Bow over Gothenburg, Grand Island CC over Crofton, Hastings St. Cecilia over Gordon-Rushville. Quarterfinals: Norfolk Catholic over Neumann, Boys Town over Syracuse, Broken Bow over Chadron, St. Cecilia over Grand Island CC. Semifinals: Boys Town over Norfolk Catholic, St. Cecilia over Broken Bow. Final: Boys Town over St. Cecilia. Sleeper: Gothenburg.

Class C-2
With three ratings matchups in Wednesday's games — Creighton-Elm Creek, Hartington Cedar Catholic-Ravenna and Blue Hill-Sutherland — this class could be most unpredictable. Blue Hill and Ponca should advance to the final, where Blue Hill's defense prevails once again.
Second round: Creighton over Elm Creek, Hartington Cedar Catholic over Ravenna, Cambridge over Perkins County, Blue Hill over Sutherland, Ponca over Nebraska City Lourdes, Fremont Bergan over Elmwood-Murdock, Oakland-Craig over Humboldt-TRS, David City Aquinas over Wilber-Clatonia. Quarterfinals: Hartington CC over Creighton, Blue Hill over Cambridge, Ponca over Bergan, Aquinas over Oakland-Craig. Semifinals: Blue Hill over Hartington CC, Ponca over Aquinas. Final: Blue Hill over Ponca. Sleeper: Ravenna.

Eight Man-1
Four teams have been No. 1 at some point, with the scepter handled from Howells to Axtell to Shelby to Palmer. With Prusa available for Howells, he should be the difference in a semifinal against Bancroft-Rosalie. In the west bracket semifinal, look for Palmer to beat eight-man career passing leader Nate Most and Giltner for the second time, only to hand back No. 1 to Howells at Memorial Stadium.
Second round: Shelby over Johnson-Brock, Bancroft-Rosalie over Pawnee City, Exeter-Milligan over Emerson-Hubbard, Howells over Osmond, Giltner over Axtell, Overton over Garden County, Maxwell over Amherst, Palmer over Eustis-Farnam. Quarterfinals: Bancroft-Rosalie over Shelby, Howells over Exeter-Milligan, Giltner over Overton, Palmer over Maxwell. Semifinals: Howells over Bancroft-Rosalie, Palmer over Giltner. Final: Howells over Palmer. Sleeper: Axtell.

Eight Man-2
While Pleasanton should emerge from the west, it's a Humphrey St. Francis-Ewing semifinal that produces the state champion. Ewing in the quarterfinals could meet Sterling, which denied the Tigers their grand slam of state titles last season in the D-2 boys basketball final.
Second round: Hayes Center over Spalding/Spalding Academy, Chambers over Anselmo-Merna, Sargent over Mullen, Pleasanton over Loomis, Ewing over Wynot, Sterling over Hampton, Humphrey St. Francis over Allen, Bloomfield over Elgin Pope John. Quarterfinals: Hayes Center over Chambers, Pleasanton over Sargent, Ewing over Sterling, St. Francis over Bloomfield. Semifinals: Pleasanton over Hayes Center, St. Francis over Ewing. Final: St. Francis over Pleasanton. Sleeper: Anselmo-Merna.

Contact the writer:
444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com

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