The postseason is up for grabs, and the Auburn Maroons - as well as every other Section III, Class AA football team #- have their hands in the air.

For Auburn it's simple: Win and you're in. Where they'll be seeded is another story.

Right now, the playoff picture looks like it was drawn up by Picasso, with teams all over the place.

In fact, the teams are so knotted, if Auburn (3-3 overall, 2-2 league) tops Central Square (2-4, 2-2) at Holland Stadium on Friday, the Maroons could land anywhere from a No. 2 seed with a home-field advantage for the first round to a No. 4 seed that will hit the road throughout.

The one thing that is certain is that a loss means the Maroons gear up for a crossover game. The only team that has clinched a sectional spot is Rome Free Academy. After that, a bevy of tiebreakers will come into play to determine the final three spots.

But Auburn coach Dave Moskov doesn't want to get caught up in what-ifs.

“We could talk about scenarios all we want,” Moskov said. “But we go to practice, get better each day and get ready for game night.”

So far, he said it's worked. The team has looked “solid” in this week's workouts. At least, as solid as it can look while being decimated by injuries.

“In 18 years I've never seen the string of injuries that have hit this team,” Moskov said. “We're just constantly rotating kids in. It's really had an extremely hard impact on the consistency of the run offense. It's certainly been bogged down of late.”

You could say that.

Last week the Maroons fell to a weaker Baldwinsville team 19-14. The Bees' first league win of the season came when Auburn couldn't hold a lead in the fourth quarter.

The injuries took an obvious toll on the Maroons#, offense, which mustered just 147 total yards.

That's what happens with a running-back-by-committee approach.

Starting running back Ismail Brooks went down in Week 3, then Lamar Henry separated his shoulder. That meant shuffling the lineup.

“We've been taking our top receivers and putting them in the backfield,” Moskov said.

“We try to plug one hole and that creates other holes.”

It doesn't help that quarterback Chris Gomez hurt his elbow and is still in a brace, either. And the Maroons suffered an injury at center, too.

But they received some good news this week when Brooks was cleared to play in Friday night's contest. It's unclear how big of a role the tailback will have in the game - he hasn't practiced in three weeks #- but Moskov is optimistic that just having him back in the mix will be a positive force.

So far this season, Brooks has 65 carries for 321 yards (4.9 yards per carry) and has five receptions for 38 yards. He has made eight trips to the end zone.

The Central Square offense, meanwhile, has been firing on all cylinders, averaging 30 points a game in its last three games (2-1), including a 31-24 win over Corcoran with less than a minute remaining.

But that's nothing new to the Maroons.

“(The players) know the magnitude of this game. It's been like that every season,” Moskov said. “It#'s another battle like we've been in all year.”