Football Friday ... end of regular season

The best game of the night might be Caldwell County's visit to Mayfield. Like last year, this could be an indication of what to expect from both teams of the playoffs — the Cardinals won 25-6 at Princeton last season, then avenged a regular-season loss to Fulton City to win the district title before falling at highly-ranked Frankfort in the state quarterfinals. Caldwell's subpar showing foreshadowed a first-round upset loss to Heath.

Mayfield coach Joe Morris, whose club could face a second-round playoff showdown at state-ranked Louisville Holy Cross, sees the Tigers as a comparable opponent. Caldwell is coming off a 21-7 won over the same Crittenden County club that humbled the Cardinals 27-14 at Mayfield earlier this season.

"They're a good playoff-caliber team, a solid opponent. The reason we play Marshall County and them at the end of the regular season is to get us ready for the playoffs," Morris said. "They're not real big on defense but they're quick to the ball. The way they got after (Crittenden County quarterback J.D.) Gray was the biggest difference between our game with Crittenden and theirs. They were able to contain him."

Morris is also impressed with Caldwell quarterback Will Barnes, who runs the Tigers' spread offense and constitutes a tough test for Mayfield's young defense, especially a secondary that has been victimized a few times this fall.

"He's not what you call a running quarterback, but he doesn't get sacked very often because he can move in the pocket, finds his checkdowns and finds his running backs," Morris said. "It doesn't look pretty, but a two-yard pass to the back looks better if the back can get five or six extra yards. And on screen passes, he puts the ball on the receiver's upfield shoulder and gets them going down the field.

"He's been in that system for four years and he knows how to get the ball to different people. We counted five or six receivers that caught the ball last week and their running game is the most underrated part of their team. They've got two good backs (in Brandon Sigler and Jaquan Glover)."

• Graves County has the worst playoff assignment of any area team, a first-round visit to powerful Louisville Trinity, which has won three consecutive state titles and six in the last seven years.

It's also a homecoming of sorts for Eagles coach Mike Rogers, a Louisville native who played at Fern Creek.

"I've got a lot of connections there and a lot of requests for tickets," Rogers said. "I think everybody up there realizes more than people do down here how much the deck is stacked against us."

First of all, the Eagles will try to get by Calloway County, a team it has beaten three times since the rivalry was reborn in 2005.

"Someone reminded me that we're 7-1 against Mayfield, Paducah Tilghman and Calloway the last three years," Rogers said. "That's great because those are great programs, but those aren't the teams we have to beat to win a state championship. As crazy as it sounds, I'm glad we're getting the opportunity to play Trinity because that is one of the teams we have to beat. It's a measuring-stick game for us."

• Don't be surprised if Lone Oak sports a new look (for a few plays, at least) when the Purple Flash hosts Heath. Lone Oak's coaching staff liked what it saw from backup quarterback Cameron Looper in last week's win at Fulton City and might experiment with moving incumbent Jamarielle Brown back to wide receiver, his natural position.

Brown was suspended for the Fulton City game for violating team rules, and the Purple Flash moved Looper in from receiver in his stead. Using Brown at receiver would give Lone Oak a bonafide deep threat in the passing game and give playoff opponents one more offensive set for which to prepare.

• Massac County coach Kelly Glass has noticed something about teams that run the spread offense — notably Breese Mater Dei, who is 10-0 and ranked third in Illinois Class 4A and hosts the Patriots in Saturday's second-round playoff game.

"Teams that run this offense, like us, tend to be better on offense than on defense," Glass said. "I don't know if that's because you have to devote so much practice time to it or what."

One of the knocks on the spread is that it can leave teams ill-prepared for smashmouth running teams because a defense faces the spread virtually every day in practice.

A Massac win would pit the Patriots against a familiar foe, either Herrin or Mascoutah. Herrin is a River-to-River Conference rival, while Mascoutah knocked Massac out of the playoffs a year ago.

The Patriots would have to travel to Herrin, which has been a house of horrors for them in years past. They would host Mascoutah, which went 6-3 (as did Massac) during the regular season and is seeded lower than the Patriots.

• Russell County, which travels to Calloway County for a Class 4A playoff game last week, had an emotional week. Luke Evans, a junior running back and linebacker whose father is a coach in the Lakers' program, was killed in an automobile accident last week.

Calloway coach Josh McKeel also figures that facing Graves County's Wing-T offense helps better prepare his team for Russell County, which runs a smimilar scheme.

"They do a little throwing out of the spread, too," McKeel said of Russell County. "It's a good way for us to get an extra week of practice against it, especially because we don't see it in western Kentucky except against Graves. Plus, you don't see many teams that run it as well as Graves does. We'll see it run and run well."