NOTHING BUT GREEN: Ranking all 16 high school football games I covered in 2022 (Part 1)

Dec. 22—The 2022 high school football season has come to a close, and you know what that means.

It is time to rank every game I covered in 2022 from the worst to the best.

My list isn't the right list, it's just my list, and I would love to see yours. With that in mind, you can join me in this endeavor by sending me an email to kgreen@claremoreprogress.com and sharing your rankings for every game you saw.

Although ranking games seems like a fairly easy task, it was tricky this year because most of them weren't very competitive. Of the 16 games I covered, 11 maintained a one-score differential for less than a half.

Only two games were decided by single digits, and the overall average margin of victory was 22.06 points. So yeah, noncompetitive.

However, there is more to games than point differential. I ranked the following contests based on several factors, including competitive balance (how long they remained one-score games), quality of play (turnovers and penalties), number of standout performances and my personal enjoyment of the games.

I will include where each game landed in every category — 1 being the best and 16 being the worst — alongside a recap of what transpired.

With all of that out of the way, let's get started:

16. McLain 25, Oologah 13 (Week 10)

Competitive Balance: 13

Quality of Play: 15

Standout Performances: 11

Personal Enjoyment: 16

Given how much was at stake in this game, both teams were surprisingly sloppy.

Oologah was into the playoffs with a win or a loss by six point or less, while McLain's only path to its first postseason since 2015 was a victory. However, it felt like neither team wanted to win.

After five possessions, the Mustangs had nearly minus-100 yards of offense because of several errant shotgun snaps. By halftime, the teams combined for minus-88 yards rushing and minus-10 yards total.

Oologah muffed the opening kickoff, and things only got worse from there thanks to a combo of botched snaps, three missed extra points, punts of 9 and 7 yards and eight total turnovers.

Pick-sixes are some of the most entertaining sequences in all of football, but not even two of those could save this atrocity of a game.

In the end, both teams finished with negative rushing yards (Oologah -1, McLain -2) and combined for only 189 total yards (Oologah 101, McLain 88).

15. Bixby 69, Owasso 6 (6A-II Championship)

Competitive Balance: 15

Quality of Play: 13

Standout Performances: 7

Personal Enjoyment: 15

I can't say this outcome was surprising because Bixby was a buzzsaw all season, but a 63-point difference in a championship setting isn't the epitome of excitement.

Owasso actually kept this competitive for more than half a quarter thanks to a 54-yard touchdown run from quarterback Mason Willingham — formerly of Skiatook — but is served to only delay the inevitable.

Bixby led 42-6 at halftime, and though it might seem weird that I enjoyed this annihilation more than a 12-point game between Oologah and McLain, what elevates this game is the execution and precision of the Spartans.

Bixby looked like a machine out there, doing little wrong all night. Score notwithstanding, it was nice to see one of the best teams in the entire country put in work.

14. Bartlesville 20, Claremore 9 (Week 1)

Competitive Balance: 6

Quality of Play: 10

Standout Performances: 13

Personal Enjoyment: 13

Even when things went Claremore's way, the next misfire was never too far behind.

As a result, the Zebras surrendered two defensive touchdowns and four total giveaways while also turning the ball over on downs twice near the red zone.

It wasn't only Claremore, though.

Bartlesville ran for a 55-yard gain on the game's first play but threw an interception three plays later. The Bruins also lost two fumbles in the red zone, one that was recovered in the end zone in the second quarter, and another at the Zebra 15 in the third.

Both teams were understandably rusty to start the season and it showed, overshadowing any sort of excitement.

13. Verdigris 17, Cascia Hall 0 (Week 7)

Competitive Balance: 16

Quality of Play: 8

Standout Performances: 16

Personal Enjoyment: 10

This is the one game that exposes the glitch in the 'Competitive Balance' category.

Clearly this game was more competitive than Bixby's 69-6 shellacking of Owasso, but believe it or not, the Rams stayed within one possession against the Spartans for longer than Cascia Hall did against Verdigris.

The Cardinals scored 10 of their 17 points by the 6:33 mark of the first quarter, and though it stayed at 10-0 until 1:07 remaining in the third, the Commandos never really threatened.

Reese Roller tallied 5.5 sacks as Verdigris held Cascia Hall to 144 yards of offense on 55 plays and 0.8 yards per rush, but the Cardinals didn't do much better.

Caden Parnell's 43-yard touchdown run — the only offensive TD of the game — accounted for nearly 31% of Verdigris' 140 total yards. It had only 48 yards at halftime.

If you like a good defensive battle, this game might land at the top of your list of favorite games. Not for me, though.

I like explosive plays and points, and this game — which decided the District 3A-4 champion — had neither.

12. Woodland 29, Chelsea 14 (Week 4)

Competitive Balance: 12

Quality of Play: 12

Standout Performances: 10

Personal Enjoyment: 12

Chelsea came into the game averaging 41.3 points and was off to its best start (3-0) since 2011, so I decided I should pay a visit to Rogers County's northernmost school.

Boy, was I disappointed by what transpired.

The Green Dragons reached Woodland territory on five of nine possessions, including three of their first four drives, but scored in only one of those situations. Two of those possessions saw them get as close as the Cougar 28- and 8-yard lines — the latter of which resulted in an interception — but finish with no points.

A minus-4-yard punt and a pick-six contributed to a 29-0 halftime deficit for Chelsea, but the second half was a much better showing as it kept Woodland scoreless while holding it to 75 yards during that stretch as senior quarterback Chase Smith made things interesting late with a pair of touchdowns.

But unfortunately for him and the Green Dragons, the bad overshadowed the good.

11. Verdigris 47, Catoosa 14 (Week 2)

Competitive Balance: 14

Quality of Play: 4

Standout Performances: 2

Personal Enjoyment: 14

The inaugural "Battle of the Blue Whale" wasn't much of a battle at all.

Now don't get me wrong — there was some stellar football in this game. Verdigris experienced resounding success in every facet, but at the expense of excitement.

Catoosa was simply outmatched, and its inability to be competitive took away from what was one of the best games of the season in terms of overall standout performances.

The Cardinals outgained the Indians 344-40 through the first half, forcing two turnovers in the process.

And after Dylan White guided them to 34 points in just under 18 minutes of game time with 93 yards and a touchdown on 8-of-11 passing, Parnell took over and completed 3 of 5 passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 45 yards on five carries.

Parnell caught a touchdown pass from White earlier in the game as well.

10. Heritage Hall 41, Verdigris 20 (3A semifinals)

Competitive Balance: 11

Quality of Play: 3

Standout Performances: 6

Personal Enjoyment: 11

First off — let's be frank — the game fell flat.

Although the Cardinals kept things competitive for a good chunk of the first half, it never really felt like Heritage Hall was in danger. The effort Verdigris had to put forth for big plays was noticeably more than the Chargers, who used quarterback Andy Bass to carve through the defense for three — yes, THREE — first-quarter touchdown passes.

Bass, who accounting for 322 yards and five touchdowns with 230 yards passing while rushing for another 92, scored at the halftime buzzer to give Heritage Hall a 14-point lead, and the Cardinals were never able to make up ground in the second half.

9. Sequoyah 35, Eufaula 7 (2A second round)

Competitive Balance: 8

Quality of Play: 11

Standout Performances: 8

Personal Enjoyment: 7

This game stands out to me for a couple of reasons.

For one, I was eager for Sequoyah to prove itself against a team every publication ranked higher. Secondly, I was made to sit in freezing temperatures by a Eufaula staff member despite there being room in the press box. Because of that — I can tell you now — what Logan Hattaway and the Eagles did to the Ironheads, I enjoyed it ... very, very much. It put a smile on my face.

Hattaway rushed for 206 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries, and he even had as many yards rushing at halftime (129) as Eufaula had total.

In all, Sequoyah accounted for 421 of its 471 yards via its rushing attack, averaging about 8.6 yards per carry.

That's karma, baby.

8. Verdigris 40, Beggs 6 (Week 3)

Competitive Balance: 10

Quality of Play: 7

Standout Performances: 5

Personal Enjoyment: 9

Before the season, Verdigris coach Travis East told me he scheduled this game so his team could get some experience against a tough team on the road before the playoffs.

Well, things didn't quite turn out that way.

Beggs scored an 88-yard touchdown on the second play of the game, but that was a wrap for its offense. It didn't do much else, managing only 121 yards the rest of the way while committing two turnovers and punting eight times.

Furthermore, the Cardinals made Red Martel — who is committed to Kansas — look ordinary in holding him to 39 yards on 15 carries.

Roller stole the show for the Verdigris offense despite being known for his defensive prowess, rushing for 96 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries while also tossing an 18-yard touchdown to Parnell on a Tim Tebow-esque jump pass.

The Cardinals led 33-6 at halftime, and what keeps this game from placing higher on this list is the fact they excessively pumped the breaks in the second half, managing only 6 yards on the ground and 67 yards total during that stretch.