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Kenny Fey | For The Journal

West-Oak High School’s Ethan Partee (11) looks for running room against Daniel last Friday in Central.

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Kenny Fey | For The Journal

Seneca High School’s Kyle Edwards looks to throw to Kenny Watt during the Bobcats’ win over Woodmont earlier this month in Piedmont. This Friday, the playoff-bound ’Cats travel to county and region rival West-Oak.

WESTMINSTER — When the final whistle blows on Friday night, either West-Oak or Seneca High School will have finished the regular season in third place. The other team will be right below in fourth place.

And while that seems significant, and it could turn out to be, there is no certainty about what either of those positions actually mean.

Because while Seneca and West-Oak are both in the playoffs out of Western 3A, so are J.L. Mann and Greenville out of Peach Blossom 3A.

And just like Seneca and West-Oak, J.L. Mann and Greenville will be fighting for playoff positioning on Friday, with the winner of that game also winning the region while the other falls to second place.

In turn, whoever finishes first in the Peach Blossom will take on the loser of the West-Oak and Seneca game, with the runner-up in the Peach Blossom taking on the winner in the first round of the playoffs next week.

With that uncertainty surrounding Friday night’s contest, there seems to be no other way to approach it other than playing for a win.

Seneca, however, has seen both of the potential opponents already this season. It scrimmaged J.L. Mann in the preseason before losing to Greenville 22-0 in the third game of the season. Yet, even that doesn’t change the team’s approach.

“We don’t know who’s going to win the Greenville-J.L. Mann game,” Seneca coach Ron Duncan said. “We’ve seen both of them already this year and we had a whole lot of success against J.L. Mann and not as much against Greenville, but they’re different teams and we’re a different team now. We’ve just got to concentrate on what we can control and try to play well.”

On the other side of the spectrum, West-Oak head coach Jay Brannon is looking beyond what a win would mean in terms of whom his team would be playing.

Instead, he views it as a way to better the season as a whole, due to the fact that it would give the Warriors a final record above .500 and a stronger overall showing within their region.

“From a seeding standpoint I don’t think third or fourth is that important from a playoff situation as it is just from a program situation,” Brannon said. “If you can finish third, that’s obviously better than finishing fourth. I just think the importance of the game is just winning.”

There is also the factor of momentum, which the winning team will be riding as the postseason opens, despite West-Oak losing to Daniel and Seneca losing to Belton-Honea Path a week ago.

“Each game offers its own identity,” Brannon said. “Regardless of who we play (in the playoffs), their style and their scheme will be a little bit different than what Seneca plays. That being said, you want to end on a good note and carry some positive momentum into the playoffs.”

All of that doesn’t even take into account the importance of the game when it comes to bragging rights.

The two schools are closer than any other schools on their schedules, and that is obvious through the way the players regard the game no matter what the stakes are at the time.

“It’s the Oconee County championship,” Seneca center Casey Baldwin said. “We win this game, we’re Oconee County champions.”

If that is the case — a fact the Walhalla Razorbacks might dispute — then Seneca is no stranger to being the king of Oconee County, as it has controlled the series between the two schools since West-Oak’s last win in 1988, including a 40-7 victory last year.

But those numbers have little to do with this year’s groups, and Brannon is hoping to use the opportunity to make the rivalry a little less one-sided.

“I think it’s not a rivalry until you actually start beating somebody,” Brannon said. “We don’t have a great history of beating Seneca. Now, what’s happened in the past is in the past, that’s what I try and tell these guys. This will go a long way for us to show how far we’ve come.”

And of course, the main reward could be the victor getting a slightly easier path through the playoffs.

“We weren’t able to clinch a home (playoff game),” Seneca kicker Seth Rothell said. “But with a win here, our opponent — wherever we have to go — should be easier than the alternative.”