Three weeks remain on this year’s regular season schedule, with Sherburne-Earlville already in the Section III playoffs, while Norwich will need to win one of its last two games to qualify for the Section IV Class B playoffs. Below is a look at each of our local contests this week:

Norwich (3-3) at Susquehanna Valley (2-4), Saturday, 2 p.m.
As mentioned, the Tornado need to beat either Susquehanna Valley this week or Johnson City next week to earn a fifth straight Class B playoff spot. Coming off back-to-back blowout losses where it gave up over 1,100 combined yards, Norwich faces a like-minded ball club that wants to establish a running game. “As much as any team we’ve played this year, Sus Valley is that prototypical smash-mouth team that wants to run it down your throat,” said Norwich coach Mike Chrystie. “They will pass the ball and their quarterback (Dave Matthews) is an athletic kid, but based on what I’ve seen, they have had their most success running between the tackles.”
Norwich will also look to establish the run behind Chenango County’s top rusher, junior Mike Oralls (729 yards). Quarterback Mike Sutton is also among the best runners in the area, and has over 700 combined rushing and passing yards this season. Chrystie has addressed the defensive issues the past two weeks, and hopes to turn it around this week. “Yeah, the last two teams we played were pretty good, but at the same time, we want to compete every week,” Chrystie said. “We struggled moving the ball a bit and stopping teams, but we want to right the ship this week and hit the ground running toward the playoffs.”
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Sherburne-Earlville (6-0) at Clinton (3-3), Saturday, 2 p.m.
Clinton is not the patsy it used to be, and S-E head coach Mike Jasper knows it. “They certainly have a capable team this year and is no one we want to look past,” Jasper said. After a 3-1 start, Clinton has lost back-to-back games to Utica Notre Dame and Frankfort-Schuyler - both likely to make the Section III playoffs. Clinton does have a pair of former varsity head coaches on staff, and is much improved over recent incarnations. For S-E, it needs to guard against an emotional letdown after last week’s division-clinching win over Utica Notre Dame. “We want to stay hungry, and this game will be a test of our maturity,” Jasper said. “We can’t go through the motions. We need to go out there and do what we’re supposed to do.”
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Unatego (5-1) at Unadilla Valley (0-6), Friday, 7 p.m.
State-ranked Unatego and its high-powered offense enters Unadilla Valley country tonight. Quarterback Josh Feyerabend runs the spread offense look that has racked up its share of big-play scores this season. “Unatego will gives a lot more looks to prepare for,” said UV coach Mark Segina. “Unatego has exceptional team speed and the quarterback has a rifle for an arm. We certainly have to be focused to stay competitive against this level of competition.”

Elsewhere this week: Greene (2-4) has an eight-year streak of winning seasons on the line when it hosts Whitney Point tonight at 7 p.m. The Trojans need to win out to finish with a 5-4 record.... Harpursville is coming off its first loss of the season and invades Oxford (1-5) tonight, again a 7 p.m. start....and Bainbridge-Guilford (1-5) has had a couple of down-to-the-wire battles with Walton in recent seasons. Can the Bobcats break through tonight at home against the Warriors?