BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – The Section 4 football season has 1 week remaining in the regular season which will begin on Friday.

The games in Week 8 will determine who will make the Section 4 playoffs and who those teams will have to play.

In multiple divisions, a tiebreaker may need to be used to determine the final standings.

The primary tiebreaker in section 4 is the winner of the head-to-head matchup between the 2 sides in the regular season, in the case of a 3-team tie that cannot be determined by head-to-head, a points system is used to determine the winner.

“We always want to try to settle it on the field as much as possible,” Section 4 Football Coordinator Jeff Paske said. “So that’s why our number 1 criteria is always head-to-head. And we do have a 3-way tie for Class A, with Vestal, Horseheads and Union-Endicott. So those 3, we’re already putting the numbers together to see who would be the number 1 seed for the playoffs and then once we declare the number 1 seed based on that points system, then 2 and 3 would be a head-to-head matchup.”

The Class A tie is already decided with all divisional games already played; all 3 teams have a 1-1 record in those games.

Class B and Class D may also end in a 3-team tie depending on results in Week 8.

In Class B, Windsor (2-2) will face Johnson City (1-3), while Owego (2-2) will host Chenango Valley (0-4).

Windsor, Johnson City and Owego all still have a chance to make the playoffs with a Johnson City win and Owego loss creating the need for the points system.

In Class D, Newark Valley (4-2), Walton (3-3), Spencer-Van Etten/Candor (3-3) and Bainbridge-Guilford (2-4) all play crucial games, with ties at 3-4 or 4-3 possible.

In Class C, Susquehanna Valley (2-2) will host the Schuyler Storm (2-2) to determine who will be the number 3 team in the tournament.

According to the Section 4 Football Handbook, the points system adds the total points earned before dividing that total by the number of games played, with Week 0 games not counting towards the tiebreaker.

Teams are awarded points based on their results and who their opponent is.

“For the most part, you get 2 points for a win,” Paske said. “Unless you play a smaller classification team, then you get 1 point or an independent team you would get 1 point as well. And then you can accumulate bonus points based on how many wins your opponent had and if you beat them or if you lost to them. So, it’s a pretty intricate system, but we have ways to calculate it and figure it out.”

Paske also discussed the schedule of the Section 4 playoffs which will begin on November 3rd.

A change to the locations this year, Class B and Class C finals will now be played at neutral locations, which was not the case in 2022.

“This past year we took some feedback from our coaches and athletic directors and they wanted to go back to try to get as many games at one site,” Paske said. “So the (Class) B, the (Class) C, and (Class) D and 8-man are gonna be neutral site championships.”

The final standings and matchups will be determined following the conclusion of this weekend’s games.