It's hard to believe, but we're entering the final week of 9-man and Class A regular-season football for the 2008 season.

Most 9-man teams will play their final regular- season games Thursday. The rest will finish up on Friday, as will all of the Class A teams.

It will be a meaningful last weekend as many of those regular-season finales will decide playoff berths, as well as playoff seedings and regional championships.

Here's how things stand in area regions.

9-man

Region 1: At 6-0 (region play), Napoleon-Gackle-Streeter is the region's top seed. The Imperials will finish against 2-4 Strasburg-Zeeland on Thursday. Napoleon-GS has won the last three regional titles and is riding a 20-game regional winning streak.

Oakes is 5-1 and will be the No. 2 seed. Napoleon-GS handed the Tornadoes their only loss of the season, 26-20 on Sept. 12.

Ellendale, 4-2, is locked in at No. 3. The No. 4 spot will be decided on Thursday. Kidder County is 3-3, and South Border, Edgeley-Kulm and Strasburg-Zeeland all are 2-4.

Kidder County will host South Border, while Edgeley-Kulm will host Oakes, and Strasburg-Zeeland will entertain Napoleon-GS.

In regular season meetings, Kidder County beat Edgeley-Kulm and Strasburg-Zeeland; South Border beat Edgeley-Kulm; Edgeley-Kulm beat Strasburg-Zeeland, and Strasburg-Zeeland beat South Border.

Region 6: Central McLean, Richardton-Taylor-Hebron, Mott-Regent and Hettinger are in.

Central McLean is the No. 1 seed at 7-0. It handed second-place RTH (6-1) its only loss of the season, 16-14 on Sept. 5.

Central McLean will play at 1-6 Wilton-Wing on Thursday, while RTH travels to 2-5 Center-Stanton. Mott-Regent is sitting at No. 3 with a 5-2 record, and Hettinger is at No. 4 with a 4-3 mark. The two teams will meet on Thursday at Hettinger, with the winner getting the No. 3 seed. Mott-Regent, the defending state champion, opened the season with losses to Central McLean and RTH, but has won five straight since.

Washburn and Heart River are both 3-4 and will meet on Thursday.

However, neither one can qualify for the playoffs with a win because Hettinger defeated both in the regular season.

Class A

Region 1: Linton-HMB, Milnor-North Sargent, Lisbon and Maple Valley-Enderlin will advance to the postseason.

Linton-HMB, Milnor-NS and Lisbon are 3-1 in region play, with Linton-HMB holding the tie-breaker for the No. 1 seed. Linton-HMB defeated Milnor-NS 20-6, Milnor-NS topped Lisbon 20-12, and Lisbon beat Linton-HMB 7-0, leaving Linton-HMB with the best point-differential at plus 7. Head-to-head comes into play in determining the No. 2 seed. Milnor-NS would get the nod by virtue of its win over Lisbon.

Maple Valley-Enderlin is 2-2.

Linton-HMB will host winless LaMoure-LM (0-4) on Friday, Lisbon will host 1-3 Kindred, and Milnor-NS will travel to Maple Valley-Enderlin.

Lisbon can jump to No. 1 with a win and a Milnor-NS loss. A Milnor-NS win and a Linton-HMB loss would give the Bulldogs the top seed.

Region 3: Velva (4-0) is locked in at No. 1. Harvey and North Prairie are tied for No. 2 at 3-1. The tie-breaker belongs to Harvey, which defeated North Prairie on Sept. 26.

Harvey plays at 1-3 New Rockford-Sheyenne on Friday, and North Prairie hosts Velva.

Des Lacs-Burlington, 1-3 in region play, can grab the No. 4 spot with a win over 0-4 Kenmare-Bowbells on Friday, or a New Rockford-Sheyenne loss. DL-B defeated NR-S on Sept. 26.

Region 4: New Salem-Glen Ullin is No. 1 at 4-0, and Beach and Killdeer are tied for No. 2 at 3-1. Beach defeated Killdeer 24-15 on Sept. 19.

New Salem-Glen Ullin, which defeated Beach 18-0 on Oct. 3, will host Killdeer on Friday. Beach will host 1-3 Stanley-Powers Lake.

Killdeer can jump to No. 1 with a win over the Holsteins, and a Beach loss. If Beach wins, the Cowboys can still take the No. 1 seed with at least a 13-point decision over the Holsteins.

Grant County-Flasher and Stanley-Powers Lake are tied for No. 4 at 1-3, but GC-F has a win over S-PL. GC-F plays at 0-4 Garrison-Max on Friday.

Class AA

The state's Class AA teams all have two games remaining and will finish out the regular season on Oct. 21.

In Region 2 (West Region), Watford City is alone at the top with a 4-0 record. The Wolves own victories over 3-1 Hazen and 3-1 Beulah.

Watford City will close out the regular season at 2-3 Minot Ryan, and 1-3 Bowman County.

Hazen hosts 0-4 Standing Rock on Friday, and Beulah travels to Bowman County. Hazen and Beulah will meet on Oct. 21, possibly with second place on the line.

Dickinson Trinity and Ryan are tied for No. 4 at 2-3. Trinity defeated Ryan 14-8 in their regular-season meeting. The Titans have Turtle Mountain (non-region) and Standing Rock left on their schedule. Ryan will take on Watford City and Turtle Mountain. A Ryan loss on Friday would clinch a playoff berth for Trinity.

In Region 1 (East Region), No. 2-ranked Valley City downed No. 1 Devils Lake 30-6 last Friday to take over sole possession of first.

The Hi-Liners improved to 5-0 in region play, while the Firebirds fell to 4-1. Valley City will host 2-3 Central Cass on Friday, and will travel to 1-4 Carrington on Oct. 21. Devils Lake will close out the regular season at 0-5 Rugby, and against 3-2 Grafton.

Grafton and Bottineau are tied for No. 3 at 3-2, but defending state champion Fargo Oak Grove and Central Cass are close behind with 2-3 marks. Grafton and Bottineau will meet on Friday, with the winner clinching a playoff berth. Central and Oak Grove will meet on Oct. 21.

(Michael Weber is a Tribune sportswriter)