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Prep football lookahead: T-Wolves get week off; Tigers, Royals face tough road tests

tarik masri, the norman transcript, okla.
·3 min read

Nov. 9—Norman High

Opponent: @ Broken Arrow

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: Tiger Memorial Stadium, Broken Arrow

Records: NHS 3-7 (3-4); BAHS 4-6 (4-3)

Last Week: NHS (L, 24-14, @ Owasso); BAHS (W, 63-48, vs. Moore)

Playoff seeding: NHS No. 5 6A1-2; BAHS No. 4 6A1-1

Hitting the road

Norman High missed out on a chance to host the first round of the state playoffs with last week's loss to Owasso, and have now been paired up with a tough Broken Arrow team.

Broken Arrow battled through a tough district schedule to a 4-3 record with overtime losses to Norman North and Jenks on the road. It's only other district loss came to top-ranked Bixby team.

Norman High suffered four straight losses to open up the season, but won three of the last seven games to earn its first playoff appearance since 2020. Broken Arrow will have an advantage offensively, entering the game averaging over 35 points per game this season, while Norman High has been inconsistent with 25.8 points per game.

NHS is averaging 230 yards rushing per game and just under seven yards per carry, but under 100 yards passing per game and a 50% completion percentage.

Norman High hasn't made it out of the first round of the playoffs since 2012.

Norman North

Opponent: first-round bye

Record: 8-2 (6-1)

Last Week: W, 52-32, vs. Enid

Playoff seeding: No. 2 6A1-1

Norman North has the week off thanks to last week's blowout win over Enid in the regular season finale.

The extra week of preparation gives the Timberwolves a chance to rest up and scout its second round opponent. They'll face the winner of Owasso (6-4) and Westmoore (2-7) on Nov. 18 at Harve Collins Stadium.

Owasso is clearly the favorite to advance after the Jaguars enter the matchup having won the regular season finale for their first win since Sept. 23. Owasso is coming off a 10-point win over the Timberwolves' rival, Norman High, last week at home behind a late game-sealing touchdown.

A win in the second round would put Norman North in the state semifinals for the first time since 2016.

CCS

Opponent: @ Holdenville

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: Holdenville Stadium

Records: CCS 6-4 (5-2); HSH 9-1 (6-1)

Last Week: CCS (W, 29-13, vs. Frederick); HSH (W, 44-8, vs. Lexington)

Playoff seeding: CCS No. 3 2A-3; HSH No. 2 2A-4

Royals face tough road ahead

Community Christian earned a big win over Frederick to end the regular season and take a No. 3 seed heading into the postseason.

Still, aside from the boost the team will get from a momentum standpoint, the jump from No. 4 to No. 3 doesn't give the Royals a noticeable advantage in the playoffs. The Royals will face a formidable Holdenville team in the first round that's won six straight games heading into Friday's contest.

Frederick, who were jumped by the Royals in playoff positioning following last week's loss, will face the only team to have beaten Holdenville this season. It was Davis that came away with a narrow, 32-26, win on the road when the two teams faced off in the first district game of the season.

The Royals defeated Davis in the first round of last season's playoffs and would've had a shorter trip to make had they faced the Wolves.

Also, if the Royals are able to make it out of the first round, they'll likely have another difficult matchup against Jones or Newkirk, while the Davis/Frederick winner will have the easier second round matchup with either Chandler or Hennessey.

Tarik Masri is a sports reporter for The Transcript covering OU athletics and area sports. You can reach him by emailing tarik@normantranscript.com