I always find myself ready for basketball season once Week 10 of high school football conlcludes. That is not the case this year.

We have six area teams -- Amherst, Avon, Avon Lake, Clearview, Huron and St. Paul -- in the football playoffs. All six could win this weekend, although I think Huron has the toughest chore at undefeated Genoa Area. Then again, I'd never bet against a Tony Legando-coached team.

I could argue back and forth with myself on this forever.

The point is football playoffs are actually more exciting than the prospects of basketball season this year. The reason being the chances area teams have, and that's saying something with considerable talent returning to the basketball court in Lorain County.

Like I've said, St. Paul, Avon and Clearview could make considerable runs (in that order). I'm confident Avon Lake will win a slugfest Friday night at Medina Highland. I will be there and can't wait for that one.

As for Amherst and Huron, I'm 50-50. I just get this feeling the last two weeks have taken too much out of the Comets, but the defense isn't going down without the fight. If Amherst loses at Twinsburg, it will be something like 14-13. But, if you put me to it and say "MAKE A PICK GOUL!" then I'm going with Amherst, 27-18.

On a side note, rumor has it Amherst is changing helmets next year. The yellow helmet will be replaced with a green one. Although, it sounds unlikely that Comet with the face, reminiscent of Meat Wad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, will make a return.

Well, here we are. After all that, Amherst still gets into the playoffs -- which is more than deserved after the Comets' start and overcoming an ankle injury to Brandon Kish.

As I look over the playoff projections on JoeEitel.com, I wonder a few things. Here they are:

* If Amherst and Admiral King had swapped schedules, would King be in and Amherst be out? After seeing the two teams play a half of football in August, the Admirals looked like the better team. I will grant you Amherst's defense is much better than then, but Admiral King's big offense would still be too much for the Comets to handle.

* How about this matchup: Huron wins its first-round game, as a fifth seed, and plays Clearview in the second round. I'm hoping for this matchup. For the Journal's sake, matchups between eastern coverage area schools and western area schools are great. Plus, Dan Gilles, a former Journal reporter who recently became the Sandusky Register's sports editor, made a recent claim that sports, teams, whatever, are superior in Erie and Huron counties. A Clearview-Huron matchup would do wonders in making Gilles back his words.

* Avon Lake at Highland should be awesome. Highland has one of its best teams ever, while Avon Lake is on some kind of high the way it's been playing since the Brecksville loss (by the way, I got a kick out of the Avon Lake bias comments I read on MorningJournal.com from a few Amherst fans).

* Home games! Avon, Clearview and St. Paul will be at home. At the Oberlin-Wellington game Friday night, I was asked if this is a down year for teams making the playoffs. It's quite the opposite. I think this might be one of the best playoff years in recent memory. The difference is having area teams playing at home. Think about recent playoff teams. Other than Avon Lake, most had to play on the road in the opening round. Clearview and Midview had to travel to places like Defiance and Macedonia in recent years. Elyria Catholic had to go to Coldwater back in 2005, while Elyria had to play at Toledo. Three area teams, including TWO in Lorain County, playing at home in the first round is big.

It should be fun, and I'd like to make a few quick predictions. St. Paul will win state. Not to put any pressure on the Flyers, but I'm that impressed with the way they play. Watching them is like playing NCAA Football 09 with the difficulty set to J.V. Also, don't be surprised if Clearview makes a deep run. The Clippers could go 9-1 or 10-0 again next year, but this is the team built for a tournament run. They can stretch teams with the pass and have hard-nosed leaders on defense.

If anything has been missing the last few years, it's a long playoff run from any team not named Norwalk St. Paul.

The Flyers have made a habit of producing in the playoffs, and that should continue this season the way things are going. But, what about everyone else? There should be a steady diet of area teams in the playoffs, and not just that, but many of them are looking at first-round home games.

Avon will be at home, as will Clearview. The winner of the Amherst-Avon Lake game may play at home in the first round. Typically, when area teams make the playoffs, specifically anyone other than Avon Lake or St. Paul, these teams have needed to win their first game on the road.

That won't be the case this year.

I read a discussion board topic the other day asking if Clearview is for real and if it will be able to do anything in the playoffs. I say yes, and the reason the why is the defense. This defense has speed and is aggressive. The Clippers won their big games, against Vermilion, Buckeye and Lutheran West, with defense. They can create turnovers and control the tempo of the game, which will be critical after Week 10.

With this reasoning, don't be surprised if Clearview lasts the longest among Lorain County teams in the playoffs. No one may be able to match what St. Paul can do in Division VI, but that's another topic for another time.

The Amherst-Avon Lake rivalry hasn't had so much riding on it in the last few years. Not since both teams made the playoffs in 2004, when Avon Lake handed Amherst both of its losses, have these two teams played with the Southwestern Conference title on the line.

But, it's still not the same.

The reason I say this is Brecksville. If it wasn't for former Clearview coach Matt Wilson and his Berea Braves' upset of the Bees on their homecoming night, this game would mean nothing when it comes to the SWC title. Brecksville beat both Amherst and Avon Lake this season, giving the Bees a moral tiebreaker with the winner of next week's Amherst-Avon Lake game, when the two teams will likely share the SWC title.

Even if Brecksville would have beat Berea this season, Amherst vs. Avon Lake would still have great significance. It's still what I would argue is the more important aspect of this game, which is playoff standing. Avon Lake is playing for a chance at a first-round home game. Amherst is playing just to make sure it doesn't get shut out of the playoffs -- and a second loss would likely spell the end of the Comets' chances to make the Division I playoffs.

So, Friday night, a lot will be on the line when Amherst visits Avon Lake. Most importantly, playoff implications. But, the winner of this game ought to send a nice gift and a big thank you to Berea if it plans to celebrate sharing the SWC title with a team that beat it this season.

If you weren't at George Daniel Field last Friday or read Tuesday's page 2 of The Morning Journal sports section, then you probably don't know 14-year sports reporter Dan Gilles is leaving to become sports editor at The Sandusky Register (I'm unsure if the "The" is capitalized, but Gilles claims it is).

As I'm writing this, Gilles is going through some papers, taking some handshakes from co-workers and finishing up his last night at the Journal.

Gilles' departure is especially a big blow to the Lorain County wrestling community, but a definite boost for anyone who loves their wrestling coverage around Sandusky. Gilles has been a hard-nosed worker since I met him back in August 2000. We'll definitely miss him around here, especially after everyone has left and there is Gilles typing up the high school football scorebook and updating standings.

When almost everyone -- coaches, players and fans -- is asleep, resting up for their next day at school or on the job, Gilles was hard at work, trying to produce something they'd enjoy.

So, it comes down to this.

Brecksville and Avon Lake.

The two teams trailing Amherst by a game in the Southwestern Conference standings play the Comets in the final two weeks. First, Amherst gets Brecksville at home and then Avon Lake on the road.

Can they win both? Sure. Can they lose both? Yeah. Anything can happen in these final two weeks of the regular season.

A few weeks ago, I would have predicted a loss to Brecksville and a win against Avon Lake. Now, I'm not so sure about that; not with the way Avon Lake has been running the football with Mike Mansnerus getting most of the carries.

I'll leave my predictions at this: Avon Lake wins out. As for the Amherst-Brecksville game, my opinion will change all the way up to Friday.

A quick glance at the area passing leaders shows something quite interesting.

Yeah, Ryan O'Rourke is up there with 1,338 yards passing, 20 touchdowns and no interceptions -- yes, NO interceptions -- but someone else is up there, too. He has thrown a few picks, which is to be expected from a sophomore, but Elyria Catholic's Danny Reaser has matched O'Rourke's passing yards through seven weeks.

What makes this impressive is Reaser wasn't even the clear-cut starter at the beginning of the season. Still, Reaser has 1,340 yards passing and 11 touchdowns.

Why do I bring this up? Well, we're getting to a point in the season where some teams have their eyes on Week 11. Others might as well have their eyes on Week 1 of 2009. EC, with its recent losses in the stiff North Coast League, has become one of those teams that has to look ahead past Week 11.

And, if you look ahead, things look good. Not only will Reaser be back as a junior, but leading rusher Alex Alicea, key linemen like Jared Schuster and receivers like Josh Russ will be back. The biggest loss will likely be linebacker Zach Drews, but Drews missed the first few games because of injury. The Panthers showed then they could win without the preseason All-Journal selection, although the schedule has gotten much tougher.

Next year, the Panthers should be the reason those teams have a tough schedule. In fact, it's reasonable to believe they'll be a preseson No. 1.

Usually, by this time of the year, we're talking about the conference title and playoff implications of big games. I don't see that this week -- at least in Lorain County.
Now, don't get me wrong: this week's games have playoff implications, but it's not like any of them are going to decide a conference title.
When Amherst and Brecksville play, of course, that will change. But, Avon already has the West Shore Conference in hand, while Admiral King is on the outside looking in for the Lake Erie League Erie Division title.
The two most intriguing games this week in Lorain County are Lutheran West at Oberlin and North Ridgeville at Vermilion.
If Oberlin wins, next week's Clearview-Oberlin game will be huge. North Ridgeville-Vermilion is interesting just because it's two strong defenses and will likely determine who's second in the WSC. Although, North Ridgeville still has a say in the matter.
Out west, in Erie and Huron counties, it's the exact opposite, though.
St. Paul-Western Reserve will decide the Firelands Conference, while Perkins puts its unbeaten Sandusky Bay Conference record on the line at Huron. Perkins has yet to play Clyde, also unbeaten in the SBC with a win over Huron, which makes this week very interesting.
Anyone who knows me knows I'm a Lorain County guy, but this week definitely takes a bow to Erie and Huron counties on Friday night.

Don't feel sorry for Amherst now that it will play without Brandon Kish for the rest of the season. Feel sorry for Kish himself.
The Comets have plenty of pieces to take on the personnel loss. They can play on without him. Kish can't.
For the second straight year, a leg injury has spelled the demise of Kish's season. Last year, it was a hamstring injury. This year, it's a broken bone around his ankle. That's the first broken bone of his career, which means the injuries are unrelated. Fortunately for Kish, he already committed to Ball State before the season.
The question for Amherst is can it withstand the loss? I think so. The Comets match up better against Brecksville, which was a frontrunner for the Southwestern Conference title before a loss last week to Berea. Coincidentally, Amherst plays the same Berea team Friday night.
That will go a long way in telling how the Comets will fare.