Sports Desk

Almost everybody has trouble navigating through the dreaded Heal Points for field hockey and boys' and girls' soccer to determine the respective playoffs. Enter the Crab Trees for football in the Campbell Conferences -- most notably Mountain Valley and Dirigo in the River Valley.

The system is difficult to digest for most interested parties because of various amount of points that can be earned. Basically, each team is credited for the number of wins and strength of schedule; a factor is opponent's winning percentage.

Even before Mountain Valley set foot on Chet Bulger Field for its season finale against Cape Elizabeth, the word was out that a playoff berth had been secured. Regardless of the outcome, win, lose or draw, even with just two wins the Falcons were a lock. The major factor was the aforementioned opponents winning percentage. MV endured a brutal scheduled that included losses to Westbrook and Marshwood in the first two weeks of the season. The record was evened following wins against cellar dweller Gray-New Gloucester and then Spruce Mountain at home. A 14-12 setback at York in the rain was crushing, but back-to-back shutouts by Wells and Greely, further extended the tail spin. Still, there was actually a silver-lining because Westbrook, Marshwood, Wells and Greely each had won six games. Even York had compiled a winning record.

Although Spruce had three wins, MV had won the head-to-head battle. Therefore, the loser between Fryeburg and Spruce was out. Falmouth had a chance, but it had to beat Greely.

The path for Dirigo was crystal clean. A win against Oak Hill would clinch home-field advantage throughout the regional playoffs.

The first championship in the area was won by the Dirigo girls' cross country team. The Lady Cougars edged Boothbay, 66-70, to earn the Mountain Valley Conference crown.

Natalie Bolduc finished runner-up, seven seconds behind the leader, on the course at the University of Maine at Augusta. A trio of Sabrina Daoud, Jessica Conant and Silvia Lutickeach placed within the Top 20, while Megan Bradbury finished 26th. In x-c, scores of each team's top five runners are counted and scores are reversed. Bolduc, Daoud and Bradbury have done double-duty this fall as each also plays on the soccer team.