It’s unlikely that Fitch, New London and Norwich Free Academy will qualify for the CIAC football playoffs now that they have three losses each.

Valley Regional/Old Lyme is trying to avoid being in such peril.

The Warriors’ 21-14 overtime loss at home to Cromwell/Portland dropped them to 10th in the Class S rankings. They might not be able to withstand another loss.

The top eight teams qualify in each of the CIAC’s four divisions.

Valley/Old Lyme (5-1) has three games left, two of which should be their toughest of the season. It plays Friday at Rockville (5-2), which is ninth in Class M.

The Rams’ losses were against two of the top teams in the Pequot Football League — Cromwell/Portland (35-21, Sept. 7), and unbeaten Stafford/East Windsor/Somers (30-15).

The Warriors host winless Lewis Mills on Nov. 9. They end the regular season at home on Nov. 20 against rival Haddam-Killingworth (6-1), ranked seventh in Class S.

Plainfield (6-1) is ranked 11th in Class S. It plays at one-win Smithfield, R.I. on Friday, at Windham (4-2, Nov. 9), and hosts Griswold (4-3) on Thanksgiving.

Here’s a look at the other three divisions:

CLASS L

Fitch (4-3) is ranked 16th, followed by New London (3-3).

Three-loss teams have rarely qualified since the CIAC expanded to four, eight-team divisions in 2010. Just 18 out of 192 playoff qualifiers had three losses (9.4 percent) during 10-game seasons. Two three-loss teams have qualified in Class LL, and three in L.

Fitch and New London aren’t eliminated yet, but better run the table in case fortune begins smiling upon them.

Fitch plays Friday at Capital Prep/Achievement First (1-5), and at home against East Lyme (3-4, Nov. 9) and Ledyard (2-5, Thanksgiving).

The Whalers play at Ledyard on Friday, and at Stonington (1-6) on Nov. 9. Their final two games will be rough — at unbeaten Middletown (Nov. 15), and at home on Thanksgiving against NFA (4-3).

CLASS LL

NFA is 12th in the division and plays its final three games on the road at Waterford (2-5, Friday), Killingly (6-1, Nov. 9), and New London.

The top nine teams are all either unbeaten or have one loss, and it’s unlikely that more than six of them will finish with three losses or more.

The Wildcats need a number of teams to hit the skids, and should root for East Hartford and St. Joseph on Friday.

Ninth-ranked East Hartford (6-1) plays at No. 8 New Britain (6-1). Both are in NFA’s way in the LL rankings, but New Britain has a tougher end to its season because it plays at unbeaten Berlin on Nov. 16.

The Hurricanes did thrash Berlin last season though, 51-6, and they were only a 5-5 team. Their lone loss this year was to unbeaten Southington on a last-minute touchdown, 27-24 (Oct. 5).

No. 7 Staples (6-1) hosts Class M favorite St. Joseph (6-1), ranked fourth in The Day's Top 10 state coaches’ poll. The Wreckers host unbeaten Greenwich on Thanksgiving, so a loss to St. Joseph puts them in jeopardy of finishing 7-3.

CLASS M

Defending champion Killingly (6-1) is fifth. Its date with NFA should be a doozy, but its other two games are against one-win teams — Friday at Trinity Catholic (1-6) and Nov. 16 at Capital/Achievement. It has a good shot to qualify even with a loss to NFA.

The state quarterfinals (Tuesday, Nov. 27) and semifinals (Sunday, Dec. 2) are hosted by the higher seeds. The finals are on Saturday, Dec. 8 at sites to be determined.

n.griffen@theday.com