ORANGE PARK - Orange Park High football coach Marcus Wimberly has been stoic in his focus on maybe, just maybe, getting the Raiders into the playoffs and the last three games of a season that has been topsy-turvy at best can be a marker for a team that straps up their jock straps and completes Job One.

"We talked today (Monday) about that it simply is a matter of taking care of business these next three games and maybe getting lucky with someone else helping us," said Wimberly, noting Middleburg is one of the three upcoming games. "This team has been very resilient with our inconsistencies and I think they have been improving enough each of the last couple of games that I feel like we have as good a chance as anyone else in our position."

After Friday's 36-12 district 3-3S win over Ridgeview, with defensive back Tim Barfield snagging two interceptions to lead the Raider defense, Wimberly will next face a rejuvenated Ponte Vedra team (4S), then Middleburg (3-3S) and, finally, Fleming Island.

With the Raiders swiftly moving to a 22-6 first-half lead, as has been most of their earlier regular season games; led Clay lost 42-41; led Nease lost 27-14, Wimberly has had to bridge the inconsistency gap of his team which has had a strong run game (Joshua Johnson, 377 Yds, 10 pass catches, 7TDs), pretty good passing (Gabe Taylor, 1101 Yds, 10TDs, but 9INTs) and a late pass catching surge from Quinton Moore (9

"Gabe, remember just a sophomore, has improved his reads each week and is learning from his past mistakes," said Wimberly. "He has guys around him that can make plays and he is making good decisions."

Ponte Vedra comes in hot at 6-1 (6th in 4S) with the loss a season opener against Bartram Trail (5th in 4S) and wins over Middleburg (35-0), Bishop Kenny (55-20 and, on Friday, Tocoi Creek (38-6) with quarterback Benjamin Burk racking up three games with three or more TD passes (hint to Barfield) and four receivers with double-digit catches. Think they like to pass?

"I think our defense is at playoff level," said Wimberly. "Our offense has its lulls in the red zone and we have to connect there."

A solid game here, maybe an upset of magnitude, then Middleburg next in a district clash with identical records; 3-4, 1-1 in the district, making a final stab for the eighth seed in the region.

Middleburg, on the other hand, had one of its toughest grind games Friday with their 17-6 loss to Columbia, the district champion at this point, thus leaving just seven slots to contend for a region spot.

"Just like last year, we beat Bishop Kenny, we beat Orange Park and Fernandina Beach and we should be the seven or eight seed," said Middleburg coach Ryan Wolfe after his 17-6 loss to district champion Columbia.

Who would of thought the Middleburg vs. Orange Park game would have playoff ramifications, but it's possible?

Middleburg's defense, playing with enough go-get, had two near-miss interceptions; two fumbles and stopped a rugged Columbia run game with a 225-pound running back that only got some traction in the fourth quarter.

The problem was offense, except for a superb catch and run for a score of about 55 yards from Darren Rosier, on a field that looked like Mars with the mud and stomp holes impeding any of quarterback Jaydan Jenkins's ankle-break attempts.

Middleburg coach Ryan Wolfe had his gauntlet schedule in games 1-3 and now gets a rain-makeup game with Bishop Kenny (5-2), also on the Mars field, then Orange Park, then Fernandina Beach, to slip into the region playoffs.

Around the county, Ridgeview and Fleming Island were deemed out of the playoff race, according to the Florida High School Football Playoff rankings, and that leaves personal pride and the chance of "messing" up someone else's season some motivation to end their seasons on high notes. Fleming Island gave up 50 points in a loss to Mandarin and that is a question mark.

Clay got behind 20-7 early in their 20-13 loss to Menendez, but nearly pulled off another fourth-quarter thriller behind quarterback Landon Chadwick and wide receiver Payton Dykas (55-yard pass play to set up Chadwick TD run). That was a playoff dinger, but the Blue Devils have a David and Goliath 3S showdown in two weeks with a 6-0 St. Augustine (2nd in 3S behind Daytona Beach Mainland), but must take care of business against Matanzas (5-2, 35-0 over Gainesville).

Keystone Heights got caught with big plays against a superbly athletic Palatka team (6-1) in their 41-21 loss on Friday. Coach Steve Reynolds has the nucleus of next year's team playing hard with two fourth-quarter scores; passes from quarterback Jackson Parmeter to Zane Leger and Wyatt Van Zant, and taking its lumps.

And, finally, Oakleaf, still garnering a 21st ranking in Class 4S based on their schedule strength, is dangling on the edge of a playoff spot for first-year coach Chris Foy. The bad part is that, in the region, Buchholz, Bartram Trail and Ponte Vedra, all three in Oakleaf's district of doom 3-4S lineup, are all ahead of Oakleaf in region playoff points.

Ironically, Fleming Island could do Oakleaf a favor and beat Buchholz in two weeks.