PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend High School’s football team deals with the definite tonight.
After weeks of speculation on playoff positioning, the Redskins (4-2, 6-3) host winless Life Christian (0-6, 0-8) this evening with an eye on the playoffs and an ear on simultaneous contests in Sumner and Tacoma.
Port Townsend currently sits fourth in a race for three playoff spots but has the chance to leapfrog some teams for a berth.
Class 1A Nisqually League contests between Cascade Christian (6-0, 9-0) and Vashon Island (5-1, 8-1) for league championship and Orting (4-2, 6-3) and Charles Wright have a chance to impact Port Townsend’s future.
Playoff scenarios
There are a variety of playoff scenarios that will solve the playoff riddle.
• If either Port Townsend or Orting lose (both are favored) and the other squad wins the loser falls out of the playoff picture with the winner advancing.
• If both Port Townsend and Orting win and Vashon knocks off Cascade Christian, Vashon is No. 1 to the playoffs, Cascade is No. 2, Orting is No. 3 and the Redskins are done.
• If Cascade Christian, Port Townsend and Orting all win, a three-way tie for second place exists between the Redskins, Vashon and Orting.
This potential scenario would bring about a Kansas City Plan tiebreaker between the three squads at 7 p.m. Saturday at Franklin Pierce High School, 11002 18th Ave. East in Tacoma.
Vashon won the coin flip and would face the winner of Port Townsend and Orting for the second and third seeds to the first round of the state playoffs.
Tonight’s game is also the second annual Andy Palmer Classic, in honor of 2008 Port Townsend graduate and former Redskin football player Andy Palmer.
Palmer, a National Park Service firefighter, was killed while fighting a wildfire in northern California just weeks after graduating from Port Townsend High School.