H.S. Football: Playoff time!

For 32 of the 56 Nassau County high school football teams, the season continues into the playoffs where Freeport, Elmont, Bethpage and Seaford will try to defend their respective conference championships.

In Conference I, Freeport’s first hurdle is sure to be a difficult one. The top-seeded Red Devils host No. 8 Oceanside on Saturday at 2 p.m. These teams opened 2009 with a wild battle in Freeport and the Red Devils emerged with a 48-42 victory. Other first-round matchups are No. 7 Baldwin at No. 2 East Meadow (the Jets beat the Bruins 28-0 on Oct. 24), No. 6 Calhoun at No. 3 Farmingdale and No. 5 Syosset at No. 4 Massapequa.

In Conference II, Elmont’s title defense begins at home when the third-seeded Spartans take on Division. Top-seeded Garden City is a heavy favorite to win it all and is home to No. 8 Mepham, which won five games a year after going 1-7. Kennedy, the No. 7 seed, is a dangerous underdog going to second-seeded Wantagh. The Cougars, who rolled past Mepham last Saturday behind Joe Karo’s 252 yards rushing and two touchdowns, lost in triple overtime to the Warriors on Oct. 24. No. 4 Carey is home to No. 5 MacArthur in what should be a tight game.

Conference III is as wide open as any. Top-seeded Lynbrook comes off its only loss of the regular season and is home to Bethpage. No. 2 Plainedge, which rallied to beat the Owls last Saturday, gets No. 7 Great Neck North. Third-seeded Lawrence takes its explosive offense to sixth-seeded Manhasset for a 6 p.m. start on Friday night, and No. 5 Sewanhaka goes to fourth-seeded Hewlett. The Indians knocked off the Bulldogs on Sept. 17.

In Conference IV, if anyone has even the slightest chance to dethrone Seaford it’s second-seeded Roosevelt, which is home to No. 7 Clarke. The Rough Riders took care of the Rams in the regular-season finale. No. 1 Seaford is home to No. 8 Malverne, sixth-seeded East Rockaway visits No. 3 Locust Valley, and No. 4 Island Trees hosts No. 5 Floral Park.

Be sure to check LIHerald.com this weekend for recaps of some of the local action, including Sewanhaka-Hewlett, Oceanside-Freeport and Baldwin-East Meadow.