ST. THOMAS - After a wild Week 5, in which fans witnessed the highest and lowest scoring games of the 2009 IAA tackle football season, the championship picture has begun to take shape. But even though some teams may technically be out of the hunt, it doesn't mean they aren't going down without a fight.

This fright-filled Halloween football weekend begins early with the Educational Complex Barracudas hosting the Central High Caribs at 3 p.m. today at Educational Complex field. On St. Thomas, the Ivanna Eudora Kean High Devil Rays welcome the St. Croix Private Schools Pirates to St. Thomas for the first time this season for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Lionel Roberts Stadium tonight.

The Barracudas (4-1) all but sealed up their second straight St. Croix title last Saturday with a 20-0 win. This afternoon's game against Central is their last game against a St. Croix opponent. The Caribs will be looking for the upset, though, after they played one of their best games of their season in a 30-50 loss to the St. Thomas Private Schools Arawaks.

Central High's strong rushing attack has finally started to put the pieces together and should give the territory's top defense a run for their money. Complex has three shutouts this season, including a 42-0 blowout win over Central (1-4) in Week 1.

Last week, Kean (1-4) fell just short of their upset bid against rival Charlotte Amalie, losing 14-8. After a rough stretch of play through their first three games, the Devil Rays have turned it around the last two weeks. Led by a rushing attack that features Maleek Leonard and Andre Smith, Kean High put up a 46-22 win over Central High two weeks ago that saw three players score twice.

For the Pirates, 0-5, it has been a tough year for the young group, but they still have two games to turn things around. Their final two games - including tonight - are against one-loss teams. Quarterback Michael Nelthropp went down with an injury and his status for this week is uncertain, but Jon Pierre Modeste stepped in and built up ample playing time at the position last Saturday.

Week 6 concludes at 5 p.m. on Monday with the St. Thomas championship up for grabs when the CAHS Chickenhawks host the Arawaks at CAHS field. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m., but the Education Department rescheduled the contest because of safety concerns on Halloween night.

The game will be one for the ages when CAHS head coach Francisco Jarvis goes up against what he called "a hell of a team" after the Chickenhawks won their first meeting 20-6 in Week 2. The Arawaks are coached by a former Jarvis protege from when he coached the Arawaks: Luke Neely.

Coach Neely almost saw his own two school records get broken in last weekend's game when senior Arawaks running back Kyle Richardson ran for 264 yards and six touchdowns on 21 carries. Richardson put himself into the record books by tying his coach's touchdown mark, but just missed the yards mark by 12.

One of the other big stories of the game will be the health of two of each team's top players. The Arawaks were without running back Matt Cook and corner back Shaiman Lalich last week. Cook had 93 yards on 16 carries in their first matchup.

Last week, the Chickenhawks also had a depleted staff when they lost star running back Devin Pruitt and linebacker Shaquille Peterson in the first quarter against Kean. In their last meeting with the Arawaks, Pruitt had 113 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.

- Contact reporter Chris Walsh at 774-8772 ext. 310 or e-mail cwalsh@dailynews.vi.