FOOTBALL FRIDAY: Uniontown vs. Pleasanton -- Senior Night is tonight in Uniontown

Uniontown and Waverly should be able to stay on course for a potential winner-take-all Eight-Man I District 1 contest next week if they both win tonight.

It's Uniontown's senior night and Pleasanton, led by former Fort Scott Tiger Trent Stepps, will be the opponent. Meanwhile, Waverly will be playing at Marmaton Valley.

Since the Eagles (2-1 district, 4-3 overall) and Waverly (2-1, 6-1) are both facing teams with losing records (Pleasanton is 0-3, 1-6 while Marmaton Valley is 1-2, 2-5), they would be the picks to win their games. Then next week, at Waverly, it'll be simple: winning team in the playoffs, losing team out.

Marais des Cygnes Valley (3-0, 5-2) has beaten both Waverly and Uniontown. The only way the Trojans will not win the district is to lose both their remaining games versus St. Paul (1-2, 2-5) tonight and Pleasanton next week. So although MdCV is in the driver's seat, there's no guarantee for the Trojans quite yet.

Pleasanton's only victory this season has come over Three Rivers League opponent Altoona-Midway, which the Blu-Jays beat, 76-0, in Week Two. That's not too surprising considering the 0-7 Jets have allowed at least 50 points in every game they've been able to field a team.

But other than the Altoona-Midway game, Pleasanton hasn't been competitive. The Blu-Jays have been outscored 344-50 in their other six games. In those games, they haven't scored more than 18 points nor allowed fewer than 45, and that was in the season opener versus Crest.

Meanwhile, Uniontown has been an up-and-down team. They've outscored the teams they've beaten -- Midway, Crest, St. Paul and Marmaton Valley -- by a combined total of 228-35. But those four teams also have just 7 wins among them in seven weeks.

But the Eagles have also been outscored in their three losses by a combined 141-66, although Chetopa is ranked No. 1 in Eight-Man II and still undefeated and Madison/Hamilton is 5-2 with losses coming to teams -- Spearville and Peabody -- which are ranked in at least one of the several polls in Kansas. And the Marais des Cygnes Valley game was an extra point away from overtime.

Simply put, the Eagles are aware that they can compete with the top teams in the area. They look for a win tonight to propel them into an expected tough road game at Waverly next Thursday.

The Eagles won't be eliminated with a loss -- neither will Waverly if it should suffer an upset tonight --but a win over Pleasanton will help with the playoff push ... no matter the margin of victory.