Mercer County Athletic Conference champ Sharpsville and Iroquois of the Erie County League already have berths in the postseason. After that, however, it gets kind of crazy.

Both Kennedy Christian and West Middlesex have a shot at a second spot coming out of the MCAC and a lot will depend on what happens tonight when the two go at it at West Middlesex.

A win by Kennedy (0-1, 6-2) would secure the MCAC No. 2 spot and a D-10 bid. A West Middlesex (0-1, 5-3) upset would keep the Big Reds alive, but only if Linesville and Conneaut Lake of the French Creek Valley Conference lose.

West Middlesex hasn't beaten Kennedy since an 18-14 verdict in 1991, a span of 10 games. In fact, the Golden Eagles have shut out the Big Reds in three of their past four meetings, including 48-0 last year.

Kennedy's defense is one of the area's stingiest this season, allowing 12.8 points per game. The offense has been just as productive, accumulating 351 yards on average.

The spearhead is Jason Cecil, who last week upped his season total to 1,227 yards. He needs 13 yards to become the 13th back to surpass the 3,000-yard plateau in county history. And he has an area-best 22 TDs for the season.

West Middlesex will look to counter the Golden Eagles' offense with a wide-open attack style of their own. After missing two games with an injury, QB Clint Doolin returned to the helm two weeks ago to lead the Big Reds to a 17-0 win over Saegertown. But last week West Middlesex struggled against Sharpsville and lost its shot to knock the Blue Devils from the MCAC A crown, and Doolin threw for just 70 yards.

• Grove City (3-2, 3-5) at Mercer (1-4, 1-7) -- Grove City is looking for its third consecutive win and its second consecutive outright MCAC Class AAA title.

  It might not matter, however, because the Eagles are in a no-win situation. They've been denied a playoff spot for, among other things, having a losing record. Then there's also the Northwest Confer-ence, which is solid from spots one to three.

  Nonetheless, the Eagles will be playing for pride as is always the case when they go up against rival Mercer. Grove City won 28-14 last year to gain a bit of revenge coming off a 27-26 loss to the Mustangs in '96. Mercer scored 13 fourth-quarter points to pull off that win.

• Slippery Rock (2-3, 2-6) at Sharon (5-0, 7-1) -- Sharon had a big night last Friday, snapping a four-game losing streak to Wilmington and having star running back T.J. Phillips bring the county's all-time rushing record back to Sharon High School.

  After Greenville's Joe Korcinsky took the title from former Tiger standout Mike Archie a year ago, Phillips had 109 yards to move into first place past Korcinsky by a yard with 5,198.

  The Tigers are ranked third in the state in Class AA and have a first-round District 10 meeting with the Northwestern-Fort LeBoeuf loser wrapped up.

  Should Slippery Rock even post a point it would be somewhat of an upset. The Rockets have yet to score on the Tigers in the '90s, being outscored 345-0.

• Reynolds (0-5, 0-8) at Wilmington (4-1, 4-3) -- The Hounds have lost as many games so far this year than they have the last three combined and they've lost their last two games.

  Still, Wilmington's reputation precedes it and the Hounds are already assured of a post-season bid as the MCAC's No. 2 AA team. Even if Reynolds should pull off one of the biggest upsets this decade for its first win of the season, Wilmington will play the Northwestern-Fort LeBoeuf winner in the D-10 opener.

  Reynolds, with a victory, will avoid going winless for the first time since the program was instituted in 1960.

• Laurel (3-5) at Hickory (3-5) -- Laurel hasn't made quite the impact it hoped it would when the Spartans made the move to the WPIAL Big Seven. But they step out of WPIAL play this week to go up against Hickory.

  Hickory snapped a four-game losing streak with a 24-22 victory over Mercer last week, but the win did nothing for the Hornets' playoff aspirations. Their four-game skid, which included losses to Grove City, Sharon and Wilmington, did them in.

• Strong Vincent (1-5, 2-6) at Greenville (5-1, 7-1) -- The Trojans had several streaks broken in their 19-6 loss to Oil City last week. It was their first regular season loss in 31 games, which had been the second longest in the state, and their first conference loss in 35 outings.

  Also, the Trojans lost their grasp on the Northwest Conference title for the first time in five seasons. That is, unless Franklin can upset Oil City tonight.

  Despite the loss, the Trojans' playoff streak may not be in jeopardy, however. Greenville is on the bubble, but if Oil City defeats Franklin and the Trojans down Strong Vincent, they would likely be awarded a Class AAA at-large bid.

• Brookfield (5-3) at Campbell (3-5) -- Coming off one of their most emotional victories in years, 22-19 over rival Hubbard, the Warriors go up against the Red Devils in a non-league game.

  Not to overlook Campbell, but Brookfield will be gearing up for next Friday's showdown with LaBrae. A win in that game would give the Warriors the outright TAC-8 crown.

  Campbell defeated Mercyhurst last week, 22-8, and has now won three consecutive games after beginning the season 0-5.

• Newton Falls (2-2, 5-3) at Hubbard (3-2, 4-4) -- A victory will give Newton Falls an outside shot at a share of the TAC title with Brookfield, if the Warriors lose to LaBrae. A win by Hubbard tonight, coupled with a loss by Brookfield next week would give the Eagles a co-championship with the Warriors.

  Last week against the Warriors, Hubbard quarterback Matt Kanetsky had one of his best games of the season, completing 9 of 18 for 100 yards and a TD. John Schiraldi added 108 yards rushing.

  Newton Falls was upset by LaBrae last week, 35-27, behind QB Kevin Huber who threw for 138 yards and a TD. He also rushed for a score as well.

• Lakeview (2-5, 2-6) at Conneaut Lake (5-2, 6-2) -- Lakeview's Justin George had a record-setting performance in last week's narrow 34-33 victory over French Creek Valley Conference doormat Cochranton.

  George turned in the best single-game FCVC rushing performance ever, and the third best in Herald coverage area history with his 39-carry, 335-yard outing. He scored on runs of 51, 11, 7 and 56 yards.

  A win would give the Sailors their first season with three or more victories since they went 4-6 in 1994.

  SATURDAY

• Farrell (6-1, 6-2) at South Side Beaver (5-2, 5-2) -- The Steelers suffered their first league loss of the season last week, 35-20 to Rochester. With a playoff spot guaranteed, Farrell is now fighting to not to finish in fourth place, where they would go up against a higher-seeded team on the road in the opening round of the playoffs.

  Currently in fourth place is South Side Beaver and a win by the Steelers would give them a lock on third place and possibly second place should Rochester beat Monaca tonight. If Rochester beats Monaca and Farrell wins, there is a three-way tie for first with Rochester in the top spot with 70 points, followed by Monaca (54) and Farrell (41), using tiebreaker points.

  If Rochester beats Monaca and Farrell loses then there will be a three-way tie between Monaca, South Side Beaver and Farrell. Tiebreaker points would be used again. South Side Beaver has 27.

• Sharpsville (8-0) at St. Marys (2-6) -- The Blue Devils trek to St. Marys for a Halloween showdown with a team struggling in District 9.

  The Blue Devils will use the game to prepare for what they hope to be a long playoff run. Junior running back Justin Napotnik will look to add to his school record totals of 2,327 yards rushing and 52 TDs. He's currently the seventh on The Herald's all-time touchdown list, trailing Sharon's Marko Jackson by two.

  Quarterback Adam Fox leads St. Marys. Running the ball he has 533 yards on 100 carries with a pair of TDs, while throwing the ball he is 22 of 67 for 228 yards and 6 interceptions.