Westside and Wyoming East, seen here playing each other on Aug. 31, are both in the playoff picture as the final two weeks of the high school football season approach.

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Seven spots in the Class AA playoffs have already been clinched, by some calculations, and that leaves Wyoming East and Westside, among others, trying to grab two of the remaining slots.

The Warriors (5-3) who held at No. 9 after a loss to Shady Spring, dropped to No. 13 in the latest SSAC ratings after an open date.

Westside (4-4) also did not play but improved its position, moving up to No. 17.

East finishes the season with two teams with playoff hopes of their own. The Warriors host Independence, a long shot for the post-season at 4-4, this Friday.

WEHS finishes the season at No. 15 Liberty Raleigh (5-3). The Warriors have to win both to have any chance at a home game.

Westside entertains Mount View (3-5) this Friday. The Golden Knights ended a 33-game losing streak with an upset of Wyoming East and have now won three straight games.

“They’ve got a lot of good quickness and speed to the outside,” said Westside coach Darren Thonas. “They pursue the ball really well.

“We’ve got to get back to running the ball like we did the first few games,” he continued. “We’ve go to get to the outside and the edges, and we have to throw a little bit. And we have to tackle a lot better. Our defense has not done well the last couple of games against Scott and Bluefield.”

The Renegades end the season against No. 26 River View (4-4), which is now a long shot for the playoffs. Seven teams in the AA rankings have sewn up playoff spots: Wayne, Keyser, Bluefield, Bridgeport, Robert C. Byrd, Scott and Frankfort. But there are still big games to come, including Keyser against Frankfort this week and Wayne taking on Bluefield adn RCB facing Scott in the final week of the regular season.

“To me, this what you want all year long, this what you play for, to get into the playoffs,” Thomas commented. “We knew River View would be a battle (in the last game). We knew what we were getting into.

“But we can’t assume we will be in the playoffs if we win the last two, because some of the teams ranked below us have games that would give them more bonus points if they win,” he pointed out. “But we have Mount View this week, and we just need to concentrate on getting back to playing good football.”

Thomas says he is still waiting to see a complete game from his club.

“We haven’t played four good quarters,” he remarked. “We’ve been inconsistent, and some of that is because we’re young. We’re only playing six or seven seniors.

“We’re just going to try to have four good practices this week and see what happens,” the coach added.