It's simple: In with win; out with loss

The schedule has backed off, a little. The Stormin' Pointers have come on, a lot.

"It took us some time to jell, but we've gotten on a bit of a roll," said Center Point-Urbana football coach Dan Burke.

As a result, CPU (3-5 overall, 3-3 Class 3A District 5) is in a position that seemed unthinkable three weeks ago. Win Friday, and the Stormin' Pointers are in the playoffs.

CPU's date with DeWitt Central (4-4, 4-2) is one of three in the area that basically amount to postseason play-in games. Maquoketa Valley travels to Bellevue in Class 1A District 5 and Meskwaki Settlement is at Twin Cedars in Eight-Man District 5.

The theme is the same: Winner is in, loser is out.

As it approached its Week 6 game with Marion, Center Point-Urbana was 0-5 and seemingly headed nowhere. The Stormin' Pointers hadn't reached double-figure scoring in the first five weeks. But Burke elevated Ryan Wilkin from the sophomore team to the varsity quarterback, and the scoring -- and the winning -- followed.

CPU shocked Marion, 24-19, then followed that up with wins over Vinton-Shellsburg and Anamosa.

"We had a lot of tough (opponents) early in the schedule, and we thought that if we could weather the storm, we could win a few," Burke said. "We stayed healthy, and we stuck with it. We've got some momentum going, and there's a buzz around the school."

The same goes at Maquoketa Valley. The Wildcats (5-3 overall, 3-3 1A-5) needed a win last week and a loss by Bellevue (6-2, 4-2) against Starmont. They got both.

"There were a lot of people on their phones, keeping an eye on Bellevue's score," said first-year Wildcats coach Wes Wilson. "But, like we told the kids all week, it didn't matter if Bellevue lost if we didn't care of our own business."

They did. As a reward, they'll try to slow a strong ground team.

"We've got to contain them," Wilson said. "We've got to play defense like we've played all year."

Meskwaki (4-5, 3-3) made the eight-man playoffs last year, in its second year as a sanctioned program. The Warriors can make it back-to-back appearances if they prevail at Twin Cedars (3-5, 3-3).

The playoff field will be announced early around midnight after Friday's games. The first round is Wednesday in each class.