Ishpeming head coach Jeff Olson talks to his players during a timeout in their game against Munising on Oct. 13 at the Hematites’ field. (Journal photo by Trinity Carey)

MHSAA football playoffs

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Districts, regions involving U.P. teams

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11 PLAYER

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Division 4

Region 1, District 1 — Ludington (7-2) at Escanaba (7-2), 1 p.m. Saturday; Big Rapids (5-4) at Alma (8-1), 7 p.m. Friday

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Division 6

Region 1, District 1 — Westwood (7-2) at Calumet (9-0), 7 p.m. Friday; Elk Rapids (7-2) at Traverse City St. Francis (9-0), 1 p.m. Saturday

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Division 7

Region 1, District 1 — Oscoda (8-1) at Iron Mountain (7-2), 1 p.m. EDT Saturday; Harbor Springs (7-2) at Roscommon (8-1), TBA

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Division 8

Region 1, District 1 — Gwinn (6-3) at Ishpeming (9-0), 7 p.m. Friday; West Iron County (7-2) at Rogers City (8-1), 6 p.m. Friday

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8 PLAYER

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Division 1

Region 1 — Fife Lake Forest Area (4-5) at Pickford (9-0), TBA; Onaway (5-4) at Suttons Bay (8-1), TBA

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Division 2

Region 1 — Forest Park (5-4) at North Central (8-1), TBA; Rapid River (6-3) at Engadine (8-1), TBA

Region 2 — Cedarville (5-4) at Hillman (8-1), TBA; Kinde North Huron (5-4) at Posen (7-2), TBA

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Source: www.mhsaa.com

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MARQUETTE — And now there are three.

Ishpeming, Westwood and Gwinn are the area schools that survived a regular season that began 10 days before Labor Day to play up to five more games in the MHSAA playoffs.

The three schools will be involved in two 7 p.m. Friday games, with only the Hematites getting to host in the first round, also known as the predistricts.

Ishpeming (9-0) hosts Gwinn (6-3) in Division 8, while Westwood (7-2) goes to Calumet in a Division 6 game.

“Any time you make the playoffs, it’s a good thing,” said Modeltowners head coach Dion Brown, who is leading Gwinn to its second playoff appearance in three seasons.

Previous to that, GHS hadn’t been in the postseason since 1999, the second of two straight playoff appearances when the Modeltowners went all the way to the Division 6 semifinals.

In fact, the future of Gwinn football was in jeopardy in 2011 when the school had to suspend the second half of its season due to a lack of players.

“Two years ago, everybody who watched our program was just happy to make the playoffs after all the struggles,” Brown said. “This year, the guys won’t be satisfied just making the playoffs.

“They’re saying that we don’t care who we play, we can win.”

That’s something that’s been true in Ishpeming for quite awhile under veteran head coach Jeff Olson, who is guiding the Hematites to the playoffs for the 17th time in the past 20 years since the MHSAA doubled the size of the playoff field in 1999.

But it will also be the Hematites’ first postseason berth since 2015 when IHS won its third Division 7 state championship and made its fourth finals appearance in four seasons.

“It’s always good to make the playoffs,” Olson said. “When you start the season, qualifying for the playoffs is always one of our goals. It’s something you can feel proud about.

“There’s more eyes on you and you’re always playing good teams now.”

Westwood’s circumstance resemble Gwinn’s more than Ishpeming’s, though the Patriots are the only one of these three schools that can say it’s been in the playoffs three times in the last four years.

For Westwood, it’s actually four times in the five years, equaling the total number of appearances in the playoffs for the four decades that preceded the current string.

Last year, the Patriots won their second playoff game ever — a 30-0 victory at Elk Rapids — but this year will be a new experience stepping up to Division 6.

Calumet has generally played in that division in its numerous appearances in the past two decades, with several encounters with Negaunee.

The Miners were the only area team on the playoff bubble before the Sunday Selection Show on Fox Sports Detroit announced all the playoff teams and first-round pairings.

At 5-4, Negaunee hoped to grab a spot after all the teams that were 6-3 or better took their places in the field.

Announcers on the TV show said there were 43 spots available statewide over all the 11-player divisions for 5-4 and 4-4 teams.

Taking a proportional number of teams from each of classes A, B, C and D, the MHSAA used traditional playoff points to determine who the 43 would be.

Three other schools had at least a mathematical chance of also getting in the playoffs before Friday’s final regular-season games, but losses that night dashed those hopes.

They were Marquette and Munising in 11-player football and Superior Central in eight-player.

Once the field of 256 teams in the 11-player playoffs was set, the MHSAA broke it into eight divisions of 32 teams strictly by enrollment, according to the MHSAA.

Then those 32-team divisions were broken into four-school districts and eight-school regions to determine the matchups in the first three rounds.

In each district, the playoffs open with the No. 1 school based on playoff points hosting the No. 4 school, while No. 2 hosts No. 3.

The winners play in the second week, the higher playoff-point team hosting. In Week 3, the district winners of each region face each other, again with the higher playoff points hosting.

Week 4 is the semifinals to be played at neutral sites and the fifth round are the state championship games to be played Thanksgiving weekend at Ford Field in Detroit.

By virtue of having the most playoff points in the region, Ishpeming would host three playoff games if it keeps winning.

Gwinn, on the other hand, can’t host in either of the first two weeks as it has the fewest playoff points in District 1.

But if the Modeltowners reach the third-round regional final, the two lower-seeded teams coming out of District 2 — Frankfort and Merrill — have fewer playoff points and would give Gwinn a home playoff game.

Westwood has a more realistic chance of hosting a game. If the Patriots win and Elk Rapids beats undefeated Traverse City St. Francis in the first round, an Elk Rapids-Westwood rematch from last year would be played in Ishpeming Township.

And for the regional finals, three of the four teams coming out of District 2 — all but Kingsley — have fewer playoff points than Westwood and would again put a game at the Pats’ field.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.