Here we are, about halfway through the 2008 football season, and there is still a lot of excitement ahead.

Mainland pretty much put the American Conference race to rest last Friday with its dominating win in Hammonton. Egg Harbor Township is still alive and, if the Eagles can beat Ocean City and Hammonton, they could at least make Thanksgiving interesting in Linwood.

But the National Conference is a different story.

All we know for sure is that Holy Spirit is four points better than St. Joseph. The other two challengers – St. Augustine and Buena – have not played any of the others. But things will soon get interesting in the National Conference.

The Prep goes to St. Joseph on Saturday. (By the way, this is an example of the advantages of having some Saturday football games. There will be more people at the St. Joe field Saturday than there would have been if the game was played Friday night. The entire league is curious about this one.)

One reason they are curious is that St. Augustine was in this position last year. The Hermits were 5-0 and then lost to Holy Spirit and St. Joe on consecutive weekends. A lot of players are back this year at The Prep. Do they have enough to beat St. Joe? Can they knock off Spirit on Nov. 7? And, if so, will the Thanksgiving eve game with Buena be more important than ever?

There is a lot of excitement ahead.

And that is just in the regular season battles of the Cape-Atlantic League. The NJSIAA playoff picture is starting to form.

Mainland is No. 1 and EHT No. 4 in the Group 4 standings with Atlantic City a close No. 9. In Group 3, Hammonton is No. 2 and Ocean City is No. 5. In Group 2, Buena is No. 1 and Bridgeton is No. 7. In Non-Public 2, St. Joseph is No. 3 (and has already clinched a spot). In Non-Public 3, Holy Spirit is No. 8. And in Non-Public 4, St. Augustine is No. 5.

We could have 10 teams in the playoffs from the CAL. Beginning next week, and in the final few weeks before the Nov. 10 qualifying deadline, we will take a more detailed look at the playoff picture in each group involving CAL contenders.

While all of these team showdowns are still ahead, there are some individual questions that are interesting.

One of them is, who has been the most versatile football player in the CAL over the first six weeks?

If you use stats as a guideline, you’d have to consider Ken Miles of Buena, one of the league’s top receivers, who has rushed for a TD, caught six TD passes, has a defensive touchdown and has kicked 10 extra points.

Or Bill Giberson of St. Augustine, with four receiving touchdowns, a league-leading three punt returns for TDs and a defensive touchdown.

Or Tejay Johnson of Egg Harbor Township, who has run for six touchdowns and scored on both a kickoff and punt return.

Or Ocean City’s Chris Curran, who has run for two TDs, caught one TD pass, thrown three TD passes, kicked a league-leading three field goals and is 12 for 12 kicking extra points.

All are great choices. Each has contributed to his team in many ways. And there are certainly others who don’t have the same level of statistical versatility right now but who are important on both sides of the line – players like Leavander Jones of Atlantic City, Charles Wynn of Absegami, Casey Dillon of Mainland and Andrew Dremow of Hammonton.

But clearly, the most versatile and most significant player in the CAL this year has been Brent Caprio.

He hasn’t caught any TDs, returned any kicks, kicked any field goals or played defense but he has the rare distinction of leading the CAL in passing efficiency and ranking as one of the leaders in rushing yards, as well. He has lots of receivers from whom to choose and a talented line to protect him.

But there should be no doubt about it. Brent Caprio is influencing Cape-Atlantic League football this year like very few before him.