It is customary in Connecticut high school football for Thanksgiving to engender unparalleled excitement for the regular season, through rivalry games and the finality of season’s end.

And yet there may never be another like 2024, at least for some schools in the Eastern Connecticut Conference, whose rivalry games also come with playoff implications. Several schools will experience “win-and-in” scenarios, while others need to win and get help across the state. Here is a list:

• Ledyard at Fitch: Ledyard (6-3) is in with a victory. The Colonels, currently No. 7 in Class SS — and left for dead after some midseason malaise — have rebounded and control their circumstances. Fitch, meanwhile, sits ninth in Class L and needs help.

The Falcons have 985 points, just 10 behind No. 7 Maloney and No. 8 Notre Dame of West Haven. They’ll get more points for defeating six-win Ledyard than Maloney will for defeating 4-5 Platt and Notre Dame for defeating 2-7 Hamden. It would come down to bonus points to determine the final seed.

Schools get bonus points for each win earned by a school it has already defeated. Hence, the Falcons need as many wins on Thanksgiving from Simsbury, East Lyme, Windham, Stonington and NFA as possible.

• New London at NFA: It is likely that the Whalers, No. 8 in Class M, are in if they win, although bonus points could get dicey. New London, 10 points clear of No. 9 Quinebaug Valley, would get more points for defeating NFA than Quinebaug Valley would Thames River. The Whalers get 10 guaranteed points from the Ledyard/Fitch game (it has defeated both) but should still root for Thames River, Griswold and East Lyme to be safe.

• Waterford at East Lyme: The Lancers, No. 5 in Class SS, are in if they win. The more interesting question is whether a victory would get Waterford a home game in the SS quarterfinals. If Waterford wins and No. 4 Bullard-Havens defeats Prince Tech, the quarterfinal matchup would in all likelihood be Waterford vs. Bullard-Havens. But where? The schools are tied with 1,100 points (Bullard-Havens has the tiebreaker, essentially based on strength of schedule with Scheduling Alliance losses to Bethel (7-2) and Brookfield (9-0).

But the Lancers will earn more points for defeating East Lyme than Bullard-Havens will for defeating Prince Tech. They’ll also get 10 guaranteed points from the Griswold/Plainfield game. That could leave the location of the quarterfinal game up to the outcomes of Bacon-RHAM, Montville-Windham, Ledyard-Fitch, Foran-Jonathan Law and Woodstock-Killingly.

• Westerly at Stonington: The Bears, No. 10 in Class S, need the most help of any ECC school. They are 65 points behind No. 8 Northwest Catholic, meaning they need to defeat Westerly and hope all the teams they’ve defeated this season win on Thanksgiving.

A reminder that Killingly and Windham have qualified unofficially.

News and notes

GameDay will stream Waterford at East Lyme on Thanksgiving as well as potential playoff games the following week. … Montville won its first game last weekend, rallying to defeat Woodstock Academy. Aidan Johnson threw for 105 yards and a touchdown for the Wolves, while Hector Aponte had 155 rushing yards, two touchdowns and 10 tackles on defense. Ky Bossa returned an interception for a touchdown that gave the Wolves the lead for good. “We are most happy for the kids,” Montville coach Tanner Grove said. “They have handled so much adversity, and they found a way to win.”

Manchester’s win over New Britain last Friday came thanks in part to wide receiver Joseph Mugovero, whose dad, Joe, is a New London graduate. Mugovero the younger had 17 receptions for 184 yards and a touchdown. In his career, he has 2,482 receiving yards and 29 touchdowns. He’s also in the top 10% of his class academically. … The unofficial Ellis Family Bowl went to Uncle Mike last Friday, after Fitch’s 48-28 win over Stonington. Fitch coach Mike Ellis is the uncle of Stonington senior Patrick McGugan.

m.dimauro@theday.com