Just one title on the line in final week

Adam Candee

Monday, Oct. 20, 2003 | 9:49 a.m.

The big drama is limited to one-quarter of the city.

Just one division crown remains to be decided on the final weekend of the prep football regular season. Here's a look at what to expect on finishing Friday on the gridiron ...

Valley (3-5, 2-2) holds down the third spot, a precarious playoff location because of potential matchups with such Southeast foes as Foothill. Rancho (4-4, 1-3) and Eldorado (2-6, 1-3) both need victories to improve their standing. For tiebreaking purposes (and this gets more complicated if more than two teams are tied), Valley defeated Rancho, while the Rams downed the Sundevils and Eldorado meets Valley this week. Only Chaparral (2-6, 0-4) is eliminated from contention.

All but locked into the fourth and final playoff spot from the division is Basic (6-2, 1-2), which needed its 28-14 win Friday against Green Valley just to qualify. The Wolves draw a very difficult first-round road game at either Las Vegas or Desert Pines. That is not what they had in mind for Chris Montano's senior year. The eliminated Gators (1-7, 0-4) are probably just happy to see the final curtain drop on a disappointing season.

Cheyenne (4-4, 2-2) hopes for a Centennial win and some magic in the combined-points tiebreaker to earn a first-round home game. If Cimarron wins and earns second place, Cheyenne will be locked into third and Centennial into fourth. Mojave (1-7, 0-3) cannot make the playoffs no matter what. The Northwest showed its strength last season by sweeping the Southwest out of the playoffs in the first round, including Cimarron's whipping of Bishop Gorman.

Sierra Vista (3-5, 2-2) played itself into much better position to make the playoffs by beating Bonanza on Friday and should finish third in the division with a win. The Lions can eliminate rival Durango (3-5, 1-3) from playoff contention with a victory this week. If the Blazers win, Sierra Vista could still miss the postseason entirely. Winless Clark (0-8, 0-4) cannot get into the playoffs this week. com