Second season, start your engine: Seven start Friday, Roughers get a week's rest

Nov. 8—It's time for the second season.

Eight of the 13 area schools punched tickets to go beyond week 10 football and with the exception of Muskogee, which draws a bye in the revamped 6A playoff structure that has six of the eight teams in each district alive for a gold ball, all others commence Friday.

Here is a look at the road involving each team:

Muskogee

Will spend this week taking a look at the Tahlequah at Ponca City matchup. The winner will travel to Rougher Village a week from Friday. Muskogee should be healthy at that point after playing with a less than 100 percent Jayden Bell and missing Ondraye Beasley from the receiving corps against Stillwater. Ponca, third in 6AII-2, will be favored to head here next week. The Wildcats ushered out the Indian Bowl era with a win over most of these Roughers in Week 10 a year ago. But this isn't the same 2-8 Roughers team. The winner there week will likely get Choctaw, who will take on the survivor between Sand Springs and Putnam City. The state title game will be Friday, Dec. 2 at UCO. Stillwater and Deer Creek head up the other side of the bracket.

Bottom line: A 9-1 record was hoped for but getting there is a major accomplishment for this program, and they proved they belonged for a half of play last week against Stillwater, which has made the postseason nine-straight years. Now that they're here, getting by next week will be expected, and then it's fully up for grabs in the final four with all their weapons back.

Hilldale

Broken Bow didn't help the Hornets on Saturday, losing at home to Ada and dropping out of the tie atop 4A-4, giving the head-to-head tiebreaker to Poteau over Hilldale. The Hornets (8-2) will get McLain (5-5), which shocked Oologah and leaped atop a three-way tie for third. The Titans lost 48-14 in 2020 and 45-12 to Hilldale while in 4A-4 the previous two seasons, and since mid-season, have been on the road every week due to a campus shooting during their homecoming game against Cleveland. If the Hornets win at home Friday, they'll go to Elk City, the 4A-1 champ, or host fourth-place Newcastle out of 4A-2. Also on the Hornets' side of the bracket: Cushing-Broken Bow and Blanchard-Weatherford. Cushing is No. 1 in the class. The state title game would be 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3 at UCO.

Bottom line: It would have been preferable for Hilldale to avoid the potential 3 1/2 hour drive to Elk City next week with another game in the comforts of town. But this team is accustomed to traveling in the new 4A-4, and for this senior group, getting past that age-old quarterfinal wall at Hilldale is possible. Once there and past all the emotion from getting where no other Hornet team has gone, it'll be a big hurdle to get to the finals. They saw Cushing QB Blaze Berlowitz two seasons ago in the quarterfinals at Hilldale.

Wagoner

The Bulldogs (7-3) didn't get a district title for the second straight year, but they head to the playoffs with a defense that is playing better than the record-setting defense of 2020. Wagoner gets Ada (7-3), who shattered Hilldale's hopes of a top seed by knocking off Broken Bow on Saturday. The winner at Wagoner will get Tuttle or Chickasha on the road. For Wagoner, it would represent a rematch of last year's second-round loss at Tuttle. On Wagoner's side of the bracket Poteau-Miami and Clinton-Bethany. The state title game would be 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3 at UCO.

Bottom line: If this defense is better than the one in 2020, then Wagoner's an offense away from getting where the Bulldogs are accustomed to getting.

Eufaula

The Ironheads (9-1) won their fifth straight 2A district title and get two home games to start, beginning with Henryetta (5-5) at 7 p.m. Friday. A win brings the Claremore Sequoyah-Sperry winner to town next week.

Bottom line: To get back to the semifinals, there's just one private school in the way. Crossings Christian is at Millwood. Lindsay-Kingston is the other matchup in that quadrant. Among the teams in the lower half of the bracket, Pawhuska and former Muskogee head coach Matt Hennesy. Both No. 1 Washington and No. 2 Rejoice Christian are on the opposite side. The championship game is Saturday, Dec. 9 at 1 p.m.

Warner

The Eagles (8-2) were third in 2A-5 and have the top two in the state in their group of eight. Should the Eagles win at tornado-ravaged Idabel (7-3) on Friday, they would go to No. 2 Rejoice Christian or host Beggs next. Washington-Atoka and Oklahoma Christian-Luther combine to make this a brutal portion of the bracket.

Bottom line: Moving up from Class A and finishing third was a solid play for the Eagles in a top-tough loop and after a week-one coaching change, but the draw is a bruiser.

Gore

The unbeaten Pirates have their sights set far into the bracket after four straight exits in the traditional second round (2020 added a round due to COVID). They'll host Fairland this week and will get either Hartshorne or Woodland at home next. Woodland eliminated Gore in the past two second rounds. Also in the Pirates' end, Crescent-Dibble and Mooreland-Mangum.

Bottom line: Ranked in the top five all year in the AP poll shows the Pirates have the respect despite that wall between them and the quarterfinals. But getting star running back Gunner Dozier back will be a huge bonus for this senior-laden team that has the veteran presence to make a deep run.

Haskell

The Haymakers (5-5) joined the party with a week 10, 21-20 win over Panama. They'll get unbeaten Colcord — which won its first district title in 17 years — in the first round, and would host Tonkawa or travel to Mounds in round 2. Ringling-Cashion and Walters-Burns Flat/Dill City are also in their quadrant.

Bottom line: Haskell, which entered its first year in Class A at the top enrollment-wise, wound up surprising some people by beating Panama. Now it just has to catch lightning in a bottle and burn it for all they can.

Webbers Falls

In the end with Midway's pair of forfeits, only five teams had shots at the playoffs in B-5 and the Warriors (6-4) got there, despite struggles after a 5-0 non-district run. They'll go to Keota on Friday and would travel to play the Weleetka-Barnsdall winner in round two. Covington-Douglas-Cyril and Laverne-Pond Creek Hunter are also in the quad.

Bottom line: If they have multi-threat but recently injured Maddux Shelby on the field, they'll be more like the team that started 5-0.