While the college program it emulates struggles, Washtenaw Junior Football has preserved the mystique of the winged helmet.

Five of the Ann Arbor-based youth football program’s six teams won playoff games last weekend and will compete in Downriver Junior Football League division championship games on Saturday.

The program has two “units,” called Maize and Blue. Geographically split by State Street, kids from the east side of Ann Arbor and other eastern Washtenaw County school districts play on the Maize unit and kids from the west side of Ann Arbor and other western Washtenaw County school districts play on the Blue unit. Each unit is split into freshman (8-9 years old), junior varsity (10-11) and varsity (12-13) teams.

“To have five out of the six teams in it is kind of unusual,” said Mike Bertoia, who coaches the WJF Blue freshman team. “On average, one or two per unit make the playoffs every year. To have five of six in the championship is a pretty good accomplishment.”

It helped that the Maize unit (part of the nine-team AFC Division) and Blue unit (in the nine-team NFC Division) didn’t compete against each other this season.

All three Blue unit teams will face undefeated opponents in their NFC Division championship games at Romulus Middle School on Saturday. The schedule:

Freshman: Washtenaw Blue (7-2) vs. Huron River Yellowjackets (9-0), 10:30 a.m. Junior varsity: Washtenaw Blue (8-1) vs. Romulus Flyers (9-0), 1 p.m. Varsity: Washtenaw Blue (8-1) vs. Southgate Vikings (9-0), 3:30 p.m.

The Maize freshman team, playing its AFC Division championship game, at Woodhaven High School, is the only Washtenaw Junior Football team to enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed. The AFC schedule:

Freshman: Washtenaw Maize (9-0) vs. River Rouge (7-2), 10:30 a.m. Junior varsity: Washtenaw Maize (8-1) vs. Woodhaven (9-0), 1 p.m. Varsity: Grosse Ile (7-2) vs. Woodhaven (9-0), 3:30 p.m.