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The Wildcats are in a unique position. Playing 8-man football means all teams go to the playoffs, but seeding will be everything with six teams playing. 

The top two teams get a bye week for Game 1 of the playoffs, meaning they only have to win two games to be the champs. Currently, Springwood sits in the third spot, behind undefeated Cornerstone Christian and Macon East Academy. However, the top two have not played each other yet. 

While they, like everyone else, lost to Cornerstone earlier in the season, the Macon East game will be played on Oct. 18. 

Before then, Springwood has to win this week against Meadowview Christian. The season so far, suggests the Wildcats will make easy work of the Trojans. However, crazy things can happen in the final third of the season. Meadowview is currently 2-4 sitting near the bottom of the table. 

“We played two games last week. We played a Monday game and Friday game, and we’re all tired and kind of beat up,” said Joey Burch, the head coach. “So we hope that we can go in Meadowview game and come out and really play strong and maybe take care of a business first half, and then that’ll give our preserves a chance to play in the second half and hopefully rest up some of our guys going into the big game.”

The Wildcats have only improved over the season. In order to continue their strong performance they need to keep some key players healthy. The offense has relied on the playmaking ability of two players, C.J. and Greg Johnson. 

That being said, other players have stepped up as the season progresses, including new quarterback Wes Carden and wideout Clarence Moore. The Wildcats will need to keep these guys healthy for a playoff run.  

“We’ve really developed as a team since the start of the year, which I knew were, we were a very young team going into this season…Our offensive line, you know, was very young. They really came on recently,” Burch said. 

The coach adds that Carden has come a long way since the beginning of the season when the quarterback was averaging two interceptions a game. 

“I think he’s taking care of the football real well. He’s making better decisions,” Burch said. 

Going into the final stretch, Burch said the defense still needs fine-tuning. 

“We just got to get better defensively,  when we gave up way too many points last week and the week before. So we’re going to really work defensively, on fundamentals, tackling,” he said. 

Meadowview, despite a losing record, is an athletic team says Burch. The defense will be tested by the Trojans quarterback who has been effective for the Selma team.