Cranston East beat East Greenwich 34-7 on Friday to stay unbeaten, Central defeated Cumberland 13-3, and Westerly topped the Pawtucket co-op 42-21 as Rhode Island high school football approached its November playoffs.

The results, listed on the Rhode Island Interscholastic League football page, carried different consequences across the divisions. Cranston East reached 8-0 against a previously unbeaten opponent. Central stood sixth in Division I's published rankings. Westerly stood second in Division II after beating another team in that division's top six.

The league had posted all three Saturday results when these rankings were checked at 5:07 p.m. Eastern on Oct. 31. These are published standings, not an announcement of final playoff pairings.

Cranston East wins the unbeaten matchup

East Greenwich entered Friday without a loss and finished it 7-1. The 27-point victory left Cranston East 8-0, but the unbeaten record did not put it first in the league's Division III ranking. Davies, at 7-1, held that position, followed by Cranston East and East Greenwich.

Davies beat the Mount Pleasant/T2 co-op 40-0 Friday. The published order illustrates why the league's rating matters more to seeding than a simple comparison of wins and losses. Cranston East had also beaten Davies earlier in the season, according to the official ranking page.

Chariho finished Saturday with a 29-6 win over the Moses Brown/Excel co-op, leaving it 6-2 and fourth in the published rankings. Mount Hope followed at 4-4 after beating North Providence 42-22 Saturday. North Providence stood sixth at 4-4, with a 1.870 rating, ahead of seventh-place Pilgrim, also 4-4, at 1.846. The two had shown the same rounded rating earlier Saturday, but the updated table separated them.

Central beats Cumberland at the cut line

Central's 13-3 win left it 2-5 and Cumberland 2-6 in the Division I rankings. Central stood sixth, immediately ahead of Cumberland, after a game between teams near the cutoff for a six-team playoff.

Bishop Hendricken led the division after beating Portsmouth 26-0. La Salle followed after a 34-7 victory over Massachusetts' Bishop Feehan. North Kingstown, which beat Connecticut's Fitch 42-6, stood third. Cranston West beat South Kingstown 40-20 Saturday and stood fourth at 5-3. St. Raphael, also 5-3, slipped to fifth behind Cranston West; it lost 24-21 to Barrington on Friday. Central's rating was 3.641, ahead of Cumberland's 3.488.

Hendricken had an 8.118 rating and La Salle 8.084 in the updated table. Those figures reflect the standings at the time of the check; the league's final seeding announcement determines the bracket.

The postseason format gives the first two seeds a quarterfinal bye. The distinction between second and third therefore means an additional elimination game for the lower seed, subject to the league's final qualification and seeding decisions.

Westerly follows East Providence

East Providence remained atop Division II at 8-0 after defeating Woonsocket 34-13. Westerly followed at 5-3. Burrillville, a 7-6 winner over Classical, stood third; Johnston, which beat Coventry 56-6, was fourth. The Pawtucket co-op and Woonsocket completed the published top six.

Westerly's placement ahead of teams with better records is another reason not to substitute win-loss standings for the official rating. The league ranks teams within their division by its RPI calculation.

In Division IV, Central Falls/BVP/AF led Narragansett and Scituate. Juanita Sanchez/Providence Country Day was fourth after Thursday's 34-22 victory over Exeter-West Greenwich/Prout. Smithfield and North Smithfield followed with identical published ratings, 1.079. If the league treats them as tied, the handbook's first tiebreaker is head-to-head, and North Smithfield beat Smithfield, according to the ranking page. The fifth seed plays the fourth; the sixth plays the third. Scituate beat North Smithfield 10-7 Friday.

What happens next

The RIIL football handbook calls for seven league games for postseason eligibility and places the top six eligible teams by RPI into each division's tournament. The third seed plays the sixth and the fourth plays the fifth, while the first two receive byes. The brackets are single elimination and do not reseed.

The league lists quarterfinal weekend beginning Nov. 6, semifinals beginning Nov. 13 and championship weekend Nov. 20-21. Fans should check the official tournament listings for final seeds, sites and kickoff times when the league posts its playoff brackets.