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The Collier County playoff picture goes something like this -- there's Naples, the unchallenged local power that's long since paved its path to the postseason, and everybody else.

Ready for the kicker?

Technically, it's not even that simple.

KEN LANE / Daily News

Like many other area football teams, Lely running back Fortinel Faustin (5) and the Trojans are still in contention for a playoff spot.

"If we take care of business, we'll be district champs," said Lely coach Steve Pricer, whose 5-3 Trojans travel to the 8-0 Golden Eagles for this week's Coconut Bowl. "My kids are pretty fired up because everyone's talking, everyone's writing in the newspaper that we'll finish tied for second. They're saying we have no chance of winning, and obviously, we believe we can win this football game."

If Lely were to beat Class 3A's second-ranked team and pull off the local upset of the season, it would only stir up some already murky playoff waters.

"It's confusing," Immokalee's John Weber said, "but I'm not really bothered by tiebreakers or shootouts or any of that yet. Most of these teams, including us, have to get through something on Friday first, and at my age, I have a hard time thinking of two things at once."

Don't fret, Coach.

It's liable to give the teenage players headaches, too.

Entering Friday, Naples, by virtue of its 3-0 record in Class 4A-15, is the only team in the Daily News' 11-school coverage area that's guaranteed of a trip to the postseason. St. John Neumann (6-1, 1-1) will play a win-and-you're-in Class 1A-6 game at 2-6 Evangelical Christian, while seven of the remaining nine will play for their playoff lives -- from titles to tiebreakers and a little math in between -- this week.

"It's been crazy," Gulf Coast coach Frank Tudryn said of the year in 4A-15. "I've been doing this for a long time and I'm always amazed that there are certain teams you struggle with, no matter how good or bad they are, and certain teams you just always seem to have success against. Everybody's got their bread and butter and we all like to think we out-scheme everybody, but it don't always work out like that."

Tudryn's team is proof of that, what with the Sharks losing their chance to clinch the district title by falling at home to Palmetto Ridge last week.

Their 34-23 loss, coupled with Barron Collier's epic 49-48 win at Cypress Lake, made for a three-way tie atop the division between the Sharks, Cougars and Bears, who are all 3-1 in league and 5-3 overall.

That means if Gulf Coast (at Cypress Lake), Palmetto Ridge (hosts East Lee County) and Barron Collier (at Lehigh) all win their respective district finales this week, the teams would play in a tiebreaker to decide the district champ and the runner-up on Monday, site to be determined.

"Without a win Friday, we don't have a chance at anything," Cougars coach Mark Ivey said. "But whatever happens on Monday, if it comes to that, we'll be excited. I'd much rather have a chance to play for first or for nothing than a guaranteed second. I'd rather have that shot, and we'd love to match up with the (Sharks and Bears) again."

It's just that the prospect of a tiebreaker isn't exactly a comforting thought to most coaches.

From the experienced (Weber, Golden Gate's Dave Tanner) to the newbies (Tudryn, who has never coached in one), the idea of your season riding on a single quarter is downright unsettling.

"It's a lot of luck," Weber said of the 12-minute tiebreakers. "You can't scheme like you do for a whole game, for the simple reason that everybody's gonna try something tricky because everybody wants to get on the board. If you get behind playing a quarter, it's worse than if you're playing from the 10. You're under the gun because you might get two possessions at best."

Then, of course, there's the fact that it makes for essentially three games in a single week for the teams that move on, with the runner-ups forced to the road to take on well-rested district champs the following Friday.

Weber hopes his team is preparing for one, anyway, what with the outcome of that Naples-Lely game to have a ripple effect on the rest of his district.

If the Golden Eagles win and Golden Gate (4-5) beats winless Estero, then the Titans, Trojans and Indians (4-4), all 2-2 in 4A-15, will play for second place. The highest seed would host and have a first-round bye, with the winner of No. 2 vs. No. 3 getting a short water break before going at it again.

"And that's the hardest part," Weber warned. "You've won and you have a tendency to relax, but now you've got to play another team. It's real hard to keep your kids at an even keel for two quarters."

South Fort Myers' Grant Redhead could be celebrating his school's first district title on Friday -- or scheduling a weekend practice to prepare for a tiebreak.

The Wolfpack (6-2) host 3A-13 leading LaBelle (6-2), and a win, coupled with a Dunbar (3-5) loss to Lemon Bay (1-7), would assure them of the championship, thanks to the head-to-head win over the Cowboys. If the Wolfpack and the Tigers both win, though, then South, LaBelle and Dunbar would play in a three-team tiebreaker to determine the champ and second-place next week. A South loss and the Wolfpack would be eliminated.

Got all that?

"You expect it to be tight like this, though," Tanner, the Golden Gate coach, said of the wild weekend ahead. "Collier plays such a good brand of football, and that's why you see this parity. It's tough, but you know that if you make it, even in second-place, you've got a pretty good chance of winning one or two playoff games."