Storylines to watch during final week of prep football regular season

The final week of prep football’s regular season is here.

Most Whatcom County teams know their fate, but some playoff positioning will be on the line when games get under way Friday night.

Squalicum has the NWC’s No. 1 seed all locked up and will face either Shorecrest or Lakewood in its district game. Lynden is also in, and is most likely looking at either a tough matchup against undefeated Archbishop Murphy or a rematch with Sedro-Woolley in its district game.

Sehome, Blaine and Anacortes have each been eliminated from postseason play.

In the 1As, Mount Baker has the NWC’s top spot locked up and will play the Cascade Conference’s No. 3 seed in a district game next week. Meridian is the No. 2 seed and will face Cedar Park Christian and Lynden Christian will face King’s

Here are a few storylines to watch on the final night of the regular season:

Can Jed Schleimer top 2,000 rush yards?

Is it plausible? No. Is it possible? Sure.

Eight weeks into the season Mount Baker’s bruising back has ran for 1,621 yards. Four times he’s ran for more than 200 yards, including his state-record-setting 521-yard effort against Nooksack Valley Week 4.

Last time the Mountaineers faced the Lyncs, Schleimer ran for 235 yards and four TDs, so he could be in for a big game.

Can Lynden establish its run game?

As good as the Lions have looked the past few weeks, Lynden has still relied heavily on its pass game to get the job done offensively.

And for good reason. Lynden has the best quarterback in the NWC and one of the best groups of pass-catchers.

Sterling Somers has ran the ball well when given the chance. He has 347 yards and six TDs on 59 carries, but the Lions will need good production out of their backs moving forward.

Dalton Ohligschlager has 243 yards on 58 carries, and Ben Colwell has 121 yards on 16 rushes.

With rain predicted in the forecast, the Lions matchup with Blaine will present a good challenge for Lynden to see how effectively it can play a ground-and-pound game.

Can Sehome salvage its season with a win against Burlington-Edison?

It seems ever since Gavin Kaepernick went down Week 1 against Cascade Christian at Husky Stadium, a seemingly promising season turned sour.

But a league win against a talented Burlington-Edison team would go a long way in building momentum toward next season, and would be a good way to send off some of Sehome’s talented seniors.

If anything, this game will give county football fans one of two final chances to see Taylor Rapp play before he takes off to Seattle to play for the University of Washington.

This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 11:03 PM with the headline "Storylines to watch during final week of prep football regular season."