Non-District Takeaways

<em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em> Non-district play is in the books and we’re close to being about a month into the 2020 season. This week, we see district games begin and these count towards playoff seeding in November. We take a look back now at three big storylines to come out of non-district play over the last several weeks. <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>CLASS 6A-D2 IS DEEPER...BUT</strong></span> Coming into the 2020 season, we were very excited to get the year started but really interested in seeing the depth of 6A-D2. Since the split in Class 6A, it hasn’t been a very competitive class, outside of the top four teams. However, going into this season, it appeared that 2020 would be the deepest and most competitive year since the inception of 6A-D2. And nearly a month into the season, it looks like we were right. As you see, there’s a but.. We thought this class would be deeper and more competitive than it’s ever been before. And while that might be true. Right now, it still looks like it’s a two-team race. At this time last year, nobody would even slightly consider that anyone other than Bixby or Stillwater would play for the state title. They were on a crash course for one another and nobody could stop them. This year, we thought it would be a little different. Right now, it doesn’t look that way. Bixby is 2-0 with a shutout win over Union and a big win over rival Jenks. Stillwater’s offense picked up right where they left and are putting up monster numbers every week. Once again, it looks like these two teams are on a crash course for one another in December. While Booker T Washington, Choctaw, Del City, Lawton and Putnam City North will put up a fight and have something to say about that. Right now, it doesn’t look like anyone can stop the two powerhouses from a third straight meeting for the state championship. <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>INJURIES SUCK</strong></span> No other way to describe it. Injuries happen every year and unfortunately it’s apart of football. However, this season, we’ve seen some big names go down early and some of them we won’t see the rest of the way. Before the season even started, we saw injuries to key names. Muskogee is off to an 0-3 start and a lot of that is due to the fact that they’ve been missing Oklahoma State commit [player_tooltip player_id="38491" first="Ty" last="Williams"]. Bishop Kelley has managed to win despite not having one of their best players in [player_tooltip player_id="38553" first="Collin" last="Morrison"], who they’re hoping to get back in the next few weeks. El Reno star quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="38688" first="Dorian" last="Plumley"] got hurt late in their season opener. He would miss the next two games against Piedmont and Weatherford and the Indians would lose both of those contests. We’ve also seen season-ending injuries to some of the best playmakers in the state. Choctaw senior wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="38496" first="Chase" last="Jackson"], a TCU commit, fractured his patella and will miss the rest of his senior season. Booker T Washington junior standout [player_tooltip player_id="38668" first="Gentry" last="Williams"], one of the state’s top recruits, tore his ACL in a week one game against Del City. These are just some of the notable names that have been bitten by the injury bug. <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>WE’VE GOTTEN THIS FAR</strong></span> Alright, everybody take a breath. We’ve gotten this far and while we still have a long way to go, we’re going in the right direction. There were obviously many times since March that we didn’t think we would even have a 2020 football season. Not only have we begun, but it’s gone better than expected. We’ve made it to late September and district play is beginning this week. Have we seen bumps in the road? Oh absolutely. In the first several weeks of the season, we’ve had about an average of 20 games be cancelled because of Covid-19 concerns. Now that we enter district play, the OSSAA has passed special legislation so games that can’t happen due to Covid-19 concerns will not be forfeitures, which would have effectively ended some team’s playoff hopes. So now we have a chance to play out the rest of the regular season and have a playoff. Will the playoff look different than it would have under normal circumstances? Probably. Some teams might be able to make the playoffs because they simply stayed healthier and were able to play all of their district games. That is a realistic possibility. It’s also a realistic possibility that the playoffs look different than they ever have before. Because there are still many questions out there. When the playoffs begin and a team gets hit with virus concerns, what happens then? Do we pause the playoffs? Does that team have to forfeit their playoff spot? But those are questions that can be answered in October and November. For now, take a breath, and enjoy as much football as you can. Because we’ve gotten this far, let’s make it all the way to teams raising gold balls.