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Week 9 landscape: Bartlesville falls in zany contest and a look at playoff scenarios

mike tupa, bartlesville examiner-enterprise
·4 min read
Bartlesville's Damien Niko check with the line ref during the Bruins' home opener earlier this season against Collinsville. Bartlesville eyes its home finale this coming Friday against Tahlequah. This also will be senior night.
Bartlesville's Damien Niko check with the line ref during the Bruins' home opener earlier this season against Collinsville. Bartlesville eyes its home finale this coming Friday against Tahlequah. This also will be senior night.

The area football playoff picture gained a little clarity coming out of last Friday’s Week 9 battles.

There are five local teams that have guaranteed their postseason invitations — Bartlesville (3-6, 2-4), Pawhuska (6-3, 4-2), the Caney Valley (Kan.) Pups (8-2) and two eight-man teams, Wesleyan Christian School (8-1, 6-0) and Barnsdall (6-3, 2-2).

There’s only one other area team still on the bubble — Copan (4-5, 3-3), in eight-man football.

In order to guarantee a playoff berth, Copan will need to beat Oaks on Friday.

The Caney Valley Trojans, Dewey, Oklahoma Union and Nowata all will have to wait until next year to advance beyond the regular season.

While the playoff landscape is almost complete, except for the question mark of Copan, there is some playoff seeding jockeying yet to be determined this coming Friday in the regular season finale Week 10 contests.

Following are closer looks.

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BARTLESVILLE

It couldn’t be simpler. Bartlesville and Tahlequah will be fighting head-to-head this Friday for the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds out of District 6A-II-1.

The difference of being No. 5 or No. 6 will be making a playoff trip to either Ponca City or Lawton in the bi-district opening round on Nov. 11.

Both the Bruins and Tahlequah are 2-4 in district.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Custer Stadium, in what also will be Bartlesville’s Senior Night game.

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WESLEYAN CHRISTIAN

With the possible exception of the Caney Valley (Kan.) Pups, the Mustangs are the hottest area team.

They have stormed to seven straight wins and scored more than 50 points in all nine games, including their only loss.

They face a showdown Friday at Coyle (6-3, 5-1) for the No. 1 seed out of District C-3.

If WCS were to win, it would finish 7-0 in district while Coyle would fall to 5-2.

The difference between finishing No. 1 or No. 2 in district is taking on either Maysville or Graham-Dustin in the playoff opening round. In addition, the district champion gets the opportunity for two home postseason games.

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BARNSDALL

The Panthers will play Yale (3-4, 2-2) for the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds out of District B-7.

The winner and loser will play either Weleetka or Wetumka in the first round of the playoffs.

Barnsdall is back in the playoffs after a year hiatus, for the fifth time in seven years for head coach Kylee Sweeney.

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CANEY VALLEY PUPS

This actually will be a second-round playoff round (regionals) for the Kansas AAA squad.

Caney Valley zapped Eureka, 44-16, last weekend to open the postseason.

Caney Valley has advanced this far for the first time in five years. A win Friday — in a game it will host at 7 p.m. — means a trip to the state quarterfinals.

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PAWHUSKA

The Huskies wrapped up a playoff spot with a win against Adair.

But, the Huskies appear locked into the No. 4 playoff seed (2A-8), unless they can pull off a stunner Friday night against Rejoice Christian (9-0, 6-0).. Kickoff will be 7 p.m. Friday at Pawhuska.

If Pawhuska were to retain the No. 4 seed, if would likely travel to either Kiefer or Victory Christian to open the postseason.

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COPAN

It’s an exciting time for Copan, which is trying to secure the program’s first playoff appearance since 2009.

By beating Oaks, Copan would earn the No. 4 seed and probably meet Maud in the postseason first round.

Also on the line Friday is Copan’s first non-losing regular season record since 2009.

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NOT QUITE

Of the remaining four area teams, none made a real strong charge to playoff qualification but all can end the season on the upswing with competitive outings in Friday’s finales.

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BARTLESVILLE WEEK 9

The Bruins dropped an odd contest last Friday at Muskogee, 61-28.

No, the score did not reflect the game's competitive nature. Bartlesville led twice, 7-0, and 14-9. The Bruins trailed by only three points at halftime, 31-28.

But a rash of Bartlesville turnovers in the second half — including interceptions on three-consecutive possessions — gave Muskogee the opportunity to pull away.

Tailback P.J. Wallace scored Bartlesville's most exciting touchdown, catching a screen pass and taking it 86 yards to the house.

Damien Niko also thrilled the hundreds of Bruin fans, who made the trip, when he recorded a pick six late in the first half.

Noah Darnell and Niko also registered touchdown catches.

Wallace powered past the 100-yard rushing mark again.

Cooper Wood played a dominant role on the defensive side.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: AREA FOOTBALL: Muskogee rallies past Bartlesville, PHS clinches