Waukon football team falls short of qualifying for Class 2A State Play-Offs

The Waukon High School football team took its Class 2A State Play-Off hopes right down to the final seconds, but was ultimately denied a fourth play-off qualification in the past five years with a 34-16 loss at Class 2A top-rated North Fayette Valley Friday, October 21. With that loss, the Indians fell out of automatic play-off contention by finishing as the third-place team in Class 2A District 4.
However, with two wild-card spots available in Class 2A to teams that did not automatically qualify as district champions or runners-up, the Indians were locked in a tie-breaking situation with several other Class 2A teams that finished third in their district with 5-2 records in their respective district play that would force implementation of a point differential tie-breaker. The loss to North Fayette Valley dropped the Indians’ point differential tie-breaker average to 5.71 points, but just two other teams in that tie-breaker situation were able to finish with a point differential average higher than the Indians and, thus, grab those final two wild-card play-off spots.
Centerville from District 6 also finished with a 5-2 district record, but their 24-6 win over Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont boosted their point differential average to 8.29 points. Southeast Valley from District 7 was in a similar situation as the Indians, but in falling to its undefeated district foe, Carroll Kuemper, by just a 31-20 margin also finished with a 5-2 district record and a point differential average of 8.29 points. West Liberty was the only other Class 2A team that finished with a third-place 5-2 district record, but with its 8-6 win over winless Camanche only finished with a point differential average of 3.71 points and was also eliminated as a play-off qualifier.
Thus, based on those point differential tie-breaker averages, both Centerville and Southeast Valley earned the final two wild-card spots to fill out the 16-team Class 2A State Play-Off field, with the Indians being the next team in line but falling just short based on that final point differential in their respective district games. Instead, the Indians end their season with a 6-3 overall record that includes a 5-2 mark in Class 2A District 4. Fellow District 4 opponents North Fayette Valley and Union will begin State Play-Off action this Friday, October 29.
A full listing of State Play-Off qualifiers and final team standings can be found under the Football link at www.iahsaa.org. Full coverage of the Indians' valiant effort against top-rated North Fayette Valley to try and make their way back to the Class 2A State Play-Offs will be published in the October 26 edition of The Standard.