It’s about that time again…Indiana high school football playoffs are nearly here. Though we have to wait another week before it’s officially time to get started, the sectional pairings were released last night and there are some interesting possibilities lurking for teams in Central Indiana with hopes of a state championship.

Here are some of the notable pairings/comments:

Class 5A:

Sectional 4: Anderson Highland at McCutcheon; Lafayette Jeff at Harrison; Carmel at Anderson; Noblesville at Kokomo.

Sectional 5: Lawrence Central at Fishers; Hamilton Southeastern at Richmond; North Central at Arlington; Warren Central at Lawrence North.

Sectional 6: Perry Meridian at Avon; Southport at Franklin Central; Tech at Pike; Brownsburg at Ben Davis.

Sectional 7: Bloomington South at Decatur Central; Martinsville at Terre Haute North; Columbus North at Terre Haute South; Center Grove at Bloomington North.

Comments: The trio of early favorites, No. 1 Center Grove, No. 3 Carmel and No. 8 Warren Central all have interesting match-ups looming in sectional play, should they advance. Center Grove could possibly face No. 6 Columbus North (7-1), Carmel could face No. 10 Kokomo (7-1) – whom the Greyhounds beat 42-3 early in the season – and four-time defending champion Warren could perhaps face Hamilton Southeastern, ranked No. 14.

Look at the talent in Sectional 6, it might be the hardest sectional in the state, with No. 4 Pike (8-0), No. 9 Franklin Central (7-1), Avon (6-2) and Perry Meridian. Whew! Whoever survives Sectional 6 has to feel like they’ve really accomplished something big.

Class 4A:

Sectional 13: Plainfield at Frankfort; Northwest at Lebanon; Mooresville at Zionsville; Westfield at Broad Ripple.

Sectional 14: Roncalli at Cathedral; New Palestine at Greenwood; Greenfield-Central at Franklin; Manual at Whiteland.

Comments: No. 4 and unbeaten Mooresville really faces some pressure against Zionsville in the opening game. The Pioneers haven’t beaten the Eagles in their last three tries. Plus, another showdown with No. 12 Plainfield looms waiting.

2-6 Roncalli gets another shot at its rival, No. 3 Cathedral (7-1). The Irish beat the Rebels in Week 6, 31-0. Whiteland could also challenge.

Class 3A:

Sectional 21: Crawfordsville at West Vigo; Danville at Greencastle;Southmont at North Montgomery; Western Boone at Brebeuf Jesuit.

Sectional 22: Hamilton Heights (bye); Beech Grove at Rushville; Bishop Chatard at Greensburg; Batesville at Howe.

Comments: At some point, I think we’d all love to see No.3 Chatard (5-3) take on either No. 9 Brebeuf (7-1) or No. 5 Danville (7-1).

Class 2A:

Sectional 29: Shenandoah at Centerville; Lawrenceburg at Indianapolis Washington; Heritage Christian at Union County; Knightstown at co-5 Triton Central.

Sectional 30: Speedway at Tri-West; South Vermillion at North Putnam; Cascade at Cloverdale; South Putnam at Monrovia.

Sectional 31: Clarksville at Paoli; Brownstown Central at Indian Creek; Eastern (Pekin) at Providence; Mitchell at Eastern Greene.

Comments: No. 5 Triton Central (8-0) in a rematch against Heritage Christian later in sectional play. This was possibly the game of the regular season in 2A, when Triton won 21-14. I’ve personally seen both teams and Heritage, with its explosive offense led by Garrett Meador, against Triton’s equally impressive trio of running backs and quarterback Jordan Martin, should be fun.

No. 10 Speedway certainly has an interesting game lurking against No. 2 North Putnam. And Indian Creek should challenge in Sectional 31, if they can get past old foe and sectional rival, No. 14 Brownstown Central.

Class A:

Sectional 36: Sheridan at Eastern (Howard); Lafayette Catholic at Clinton Central; Park Tudor at Clinton Prairie; Tri-Central at Guerin Catholic.

Sectional 37: Edinburgh at Lutheran; North Decatur at Indiana Deaf; Scecina at Milan; South Decatur at Ritter.

Comments: Defending state champion and No. 1 Sheridan (8-0) could face No. 3 Lafayette Catholic (8-0) – and that would probably be one of the best games to see in any class. Also looming in sectional play: No. 10 Scecina against No. 9 Ritter (last year’s Class A runner up).

It’s certainly going to be highly anticipated and mutually exciting when sectionals kick off next Friday, Oct. 19. We’ll find out who’s hard work…paid off.