Had everything broken just right, the Jersey Sports Now area could have seen as many as 11 of its 14 teams qualify for the state playoffs. As it turned out, seven squads will make it into the states. It turns out the playoff spots are locked up, but games this week will still have a major impact on the scenarios for all the local qualifiers.

Here is each team's situation:

North Jersey Section 1, Group 3:

Five JSN-area teams were still alive in this section prior to this past weekend, but only two ended up qualifying. Wayne Hills moved up to second place, just one point behind Tenafly for the top spot. While both the Patriots and Tigers have played their eight qualifying games, Wayne Hills can still gain points this weekend. So if Teaneck beats Bayonne, or St. Joe's tops Bergen Catholic, the Patriots will move into the #1 spot.

Lakeland won its fourth straight game this past week, but could not move up in the standings. The Lancers are still in 5th place, and cannot move any higher--but they could drop down one or even two spots depending on this weekend's results.

Wayne Valley and Montville were knocked out of contention with their losses last Friday, but West Milford came painfully close to reaching the playoffs. The Highlanders did their part with an impressive win at North Bergen. Wayne Valley's loss also helped West Milford's cause, and a Ramapo loss to undefeated Pascack Valley would have put the Highlanders in. But Ramapo rallied from 13 points down to upset Pascack Valley, putting the Green Raiders in the post-season. West Milford's only other hope was for Paramus to lose two games, but the Spartans ended that dream with a win Saturday against Ferris.

North Jersey Section 1, Group 2:

Pequannock won its fourth straight game, but still dropped from 4th position to 5th place. And the Panthers will fall further, because Pascack Hills will definitely pass them and Ramsey has a solid chance to do so as well. It appears Pequannock will either play West Essex, Glen Rock or Ramsey on the road in the first round of the state playoffs.

North Jersey Section 1, Group 1:

Mountain Lakes iced first place in this bracket with its win over Butler, giving the Herd an impressive 152 power points. That means they'll get two home games in the states, assuming they keep winning, before playing the sectional final at a neutral site.

Butler remains in second for the moment, but will fall to third place if Hasbrouck Heights wins its game this weekend (the Bulldogs could drop even in the unlikely event of a loss by the Aviators). It's still unclear where Butler would play its first-round state game, since its field remains unavailable, but most likely the Bulldogs will have to go through Hasbrouck Heights to earn a rematch with Mountain Lakes.

Boonton and Pompton Lakes were eliminated from playoff contention with their losses this past weekend.

North Jersey Section 2, Group 3:

Passaic Valley is safely in the field, and currently holds down third place in the power points. It appears the Hornets are assured a first-round home game, but that doesn't mean this Saturday's game with Paramus is meaningless. As the only JSN-area team having played just seven games thus far, this week's game counts in the standings. A win moves the Hornets up to either first or second spot; a loss most likely drops them to fourth place and possibly into a very tough first-round game with Morristown.

Non-Public Group 3:

Last year 6-2 wasn't good enough to get DePaul into the states. This year that same record could give the Spartans a first-round home game in this difficult section. DePaul is currently third, but could fall as far as sixth. Even as they play Lakeland for the league title, the Spartans will be keeping an eye on what happens this week with Bishop Eustace and Holy Spirit in south Jersey.

Bishop Eustace has a winnable game; if they do win, it will be a close race between the Crusaders and DePaul. Holy Spirit has a very difficult game against unbeaten St. Augustine, but if it does win, the Spartans from Absecon will almost surely pass the Spartans from Wayne. And even Immaculata, which like DePaul has played its eight games, could theoretically catch DePaul if an unlikely series of events took place. -- Paul Mencher for Jersey Sports Now