RICHARD STEPHENS / PVT Tonopah, in the white and red uniforms, will be in the Nevada Class A Eight-Man football playoffs next weekend, regardless of how the Muckers fared in a Thursday night game at Indian Springs. Beatty, with Junior Dare returning a kickoff, was eliminated after bowing to the Muckers last week. Advertisement

Tonopah will be assured of a No. 1 seed in the Nevada Class A football playoffs, if the Muckers defeated homestanding Indian Springs in a Central Division title showdown Thursday night.

Tonopah was 3-0 in the division, 7-1 in all games, when coach Curt McElroy's team played the Thunderbirds (6-2, 3-0).

The Muckers were after their fourth consecutive Central title, as well as extending their unbeaten streak to 18 games in the division.

A Tonopah win would mean a first-round playoff game at home against Las Vegas Mountain View Christian, the No. 2 team in the South Division. Mountain View handed Tonopah a 16-0 defeat in the second game of the season on the Saints' field on a hot Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas.

Tonopah assured its berth in the post-season by defeating Beatty 78-8 on the Hornets' field last Friday. The loss eliminated Beatty from playoff contention.

The Muckers are 3-3 in the post-season since they moved into eight-man football.

They were 1-1 in 2004, when they defeated Laughlin, then lost to Pahranagat Valley Alamo; 0-1 in 2005, when Laughlin pulled off an upset win on the Tonopah field, and 2-1 in 2006, when they defeated Las Vegas Calvary Chapel and Carlin, before bowing to Alamo, now a two-time defending champion.

Other 1-A teams going to the playoffs include Wells, unbeaten Coleville (Calif.), Smith Valley, Carlin, Alamo, as well as Indian Springs.

The playoff dates are Nov. 3, Nov. 10, and Nov. 17 (when the title game will be contested in Reno).