SWEET SPRINGS -- Friday will make the end of the 2007 football season for all three Saline Area Class 1 teams, but only Sweet Springs has a chance to finish with a winning record.

After back-to-back 4-6 campaigns, the Greyhounds are looking to wind up in the I-70 Conference's first division during their finale at winless St. Paul, which won last year's Class 1, District 8 tilt, 48-0.

That won't happen this time around, the Saints (0-9, 0-6 I-70, 0-2 district) -- who had only a handful of starters back from last year's 5-5 club, not to mention the 2005 playoff team -- have struggled to be competitive. They have been out-scored 227-43 by league foes, even with some garbage-time points last week during a 42-24 loss to No. 7 Concordia.

Not that things have been going well for Sweet Springs (5-4, 3-3, 0-2) lately. The ‘Hounds have been shut out the last two weeks, although did give the Orioles a battle during a 13-0 loss. After scoring 98 points the first three games of the season, they have tallied only 65 points the six outings -- four of them losses.

ALMA -- For the last three years, Wellington-Napoleon's program has undergone a revival into being among the best in the I-70 Conference, although will not place higher than third this season.

The Tigers (7-2, 4-2 I-70, 1-1 district) lost most of the key players who took them to the playoffs two years ago, as well as the coach and the single-wing offensive system which racked up huge numbers. However, Wellington will still bring a solid club to Alma for Friday's Class 1, District 13 clash with Santa Fe, which lost last year's meeting, 25-8.

The best the Chiefs (4-5, 2-4, 1-1) can do is salvage a .500 season, which would be a substantial improvement from the 2-8 mark of a year ago. A win would also indicate that Santa Fe, under first-year head coach Andy Frerking, is on a par with the league's first-division teams -- excluding, at least for this year, the state-ranked powerhouses from Concordia and Orrick.

SLATER -- Two years ago, Slater went to Salisbury and battled the heavily-favored Panthers for a post-season bid.

The Wildcats lost that Lewis and Clark Conference contest, 28-12, and haven't won a game since, a losing streak of 20 games. The picture hasn't been entirely bleak for Slater; after being shut out three times during the first six games, managing only 26 points, it's scored 34 points over its recent three-game span.

This will be an unusual situation for Salisbury, the defending Class 1, District 14 champion. After seven straight playoff campaigns, the Panthers (4-5, 1-3 L&C, 1-1 district) are out.

Even if it beats the ‘Cats (0-10, 0-5, 0-2), Salisbury has no chance of winning a three-way tie should Westran knock off Fayette, since the Panthers come into the finale with minus-9 marginal points and the Hornets -- also 1-1 -- are at plus-9. If Salisbury wins and Westran can defeat Fayette by nine or more points, the Hornets would extend their season for the first time since 2000.