New London - Norwich Free Academy was 2-2 in early October, having endured embarrassing back-to-back home losses to Glastonbury (24-0) and Griswold (27-24).

The Wildcats began this week ranked 14th in the Class LL point standings, way out of the top eight which qualify for the state playoffs.

Not only is NFA going to the postseason now - it may get to host a semifinal on Saturday, Dec. 6.

Everything broke the Wildcats' way on Thanksgiving. They beat New London, 63-40. They got a much needed win from Bacon Academy, which boosted its point total. Then Fairfield Prep, Greenwich and McMahon were all upset victims, allowing the Wildcats to shoot up the rankings.

"Hopefully we don't have to play anybody with a 'G'," NFA coach Jemal Davis said with a smile.

The Wildcats (7-2) will be the No. 2 or 3 seed in Class LL-Large, depending on what happens Saturday in games involving Bristol Central and Cheshire.

If Cheshire upsets Southington, the Wildcats will play at Southington, which beat them in last year's Class LL playoffs (52-14) en route to the championship.

NFA will also be seeded third if Bristol Central defeats Bristol Eastern to qualify, coupled with a Cheshire loss.

The Wildcats will be No. 2 if Central and Cheshire lose and would host New Britain (8-3).

The playoffs seemed unlikely over a month ago after the Griswold loss.

"We were all down, and coach came in (the locker room) and brought us back up," NFA sophomore quarterback Jawaun Johnson said. "We've just started coming out in the first half scoring and putting points on the board."

Davis said, "We took ownership, the coaches ... me primarily ... thinking about what we need to do differently. We just took it as, hey, we have an opportunity to get better. Let's get better and go out and play well, and we were able to do that."

New London (7-3) can still qualify for the Class M-Large playoffs, but is at the mercy of other teams.

The Whalers, Bethel, Cheney Tech and Abbott Tech/Immaculate are vying for the two final spots in the division.

Bethel (7-3) plays at Brookfield (9-2) today. AT/I (7-3) plays at Wolcott Tech (1-9) on Saturday. Cheney (8-3) finished its regular season last week.

Odds are that AT/I will beat Wolcott Tech. If that happens, New London can qualify if either of the following occurs:

• Bethel and Quinebaug Valley both lose today. Quinebaug (5-5) plays host to Killingly (1-9) and can give both AT/I and Cheney 10 bonus points if it wins. The Whalers need Killingly to win to earn those bonus points.

• Wins by Hartford Capital/Achievement First, Griswold and Killingly. That would give New London 30 extra bonus points and a 99-point average, which would top AT/I and Cheney's.

Capital (9-1) plays Prince Tech (8-2) on Saturday with the winner qualifying for Class S. Griswold (5-5) plays at Plainfield, which can earn a Class S berth by defeating the Wolverines on Saturday.

"One thing about this team is that we've never made it easy on ourselves. Ever," Whalers coach Duane Maranda said. "Now we have to play the waiting game and see what happens elsewhere. Saturday, we'll be here no matter what. Hopefully, it's practicing."

Ledyard and St. Joseph are the top two seeds, respectively, in Class M-Small. The Ellington/Somers co-op and Wolcott round out the field, but their seedings won't be determined until they play their respective games on Saturday.

E/S (8-2) plays host to Coventry/Windham Tech/Bolton (1-9). Wolcott (8-2) plays at Holy Cross (7-3).

Valley Regional/Old Lyme (11-0) is the top seed in Class S-Large and Ansonia is second. The rest of that division is on hold until Saturday's games are completed.

n.griffen@theday.com

Twitter: @MetalNED