The Valley Regional/Old Lyme football co-op should send rival Cromwell/Portland a few boxes of pizza, gift cards or some other token of its appreciation.

Cromwell/Portland beat Rocky Hill on Wednesday night, 38-7, to unofficially earn the Warriors (9-1) a CIAC Class SS playoff berth.

Now it’s Ledyard’s turn to try to qualify in Class SS. It would clinch a spot with a win over Fitch (5-4) on Thanksgiving morning in the battle of Colonel Ledyard’s sword on the final day of the regular season.

Ledyard (8-1) could still qualify if it lost to the Falcons but that’s never the preferred method of making states because it would be relying on outside help.

No team officially qualifies for the playoffs until the CIAC’s football committee approves everything the day after the end of the regular season.

The top eight teams qualify in each of the six divisions.

Valley/Old Lyme (9-1) put itself in position to qualify when it knocked off Haddam-Killingworth on Tuesday night, 28-7. It will be the eighth seed.

The Warriors would play at Foran (9-0) if the latter beats Law (8-1) on Thanksgiving.

A Foran loss would make Cromwell/Portland (9-1) the top seed and set up a rematch between it and Valley/Old Lyme. The Panthers edged the latter, 28-27, on Oct. 28.

The quarterfinals are on Tuesday night, Nov. 29 and the semifinals are on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 4. Both rounds will be hosted by the higher seeds.

The finals are Saturday, Dec. 10 at Arute Field at Central Connecticut State and Rentschler Field. Each site will have games at 10:30 a.m., 2 and 5 p.m.

n.griffen@theday.com