6A-D1 Quarterfinal Preview

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! The playoffs are underway and in 6A-D1, it's quarterfinal week. All but one of the first round games happened last week. We now have an elite eight for 6A-D1. Get a complete breakdown on each quarterfinal match-up as we head into another week of the playoffs. Three of the four quarterfinal match-up's are rematches of regular season meetings earlier this year. BROKEN ARROW (7-3) AT UNION (5-4) Broken Arrow and Union renew their rivalry with a trip to the semifinals on the line. Broken Arrow opened up the playoffs with a 44-12 victory over Putnam City while Union ran all over Enid with a 55-0 win. The winner of this match-up will face the winner of Edmond Santa Fe-Westmoore in the semifinals. Broken Arrow is looking for their second championship appearance in the last three years. Union is looking to avoid a loss that would keep them out of the semifinals for the second straight year. You have to go back decades to see the last time Union didn't at least make it to the semifinals in back to back seasons. Match-Up To Watch: Both Team's Running Game One thing is very clear in this match-up. Both teams want to run the football and they have the horses to do just that. So in a way, the match-up to watch could be the passing game and who makes a big play there. However, we're focusing on the running game as Broken Arrow and Union will look to establish the run and lean on that running game to push them into the semifinals. Both teams have some of the best running backs in the state and they also have multiple guys to get the job done and not just rely on one back to carry the ball 30+ times. Last Met: Broken Arrow Defeated Union 14-7 On September 4th For the second straight year, these two teams are meeting in the 6A-D1 quarterfinals. Last year, they played an absolute classic to open up the playoffs with Broken Arrow scoring the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute left. These rivals also meet every year in the regular season. While the overall series has been dominated by Union, Broken Arrow has had the edge in recent years. They met back in September with the Tigers prevailing by a touchdown. MUSTANG (5-6) AT OWASSO (10-0) Defending champion Owasso ended up having a bye week to open up their playoff run. Edmond Memorial would forfeit their spot in the playoffs and the Rams would have a week off before their quarterfinal clash with Mustang. The Broncos were a big surprise team in last week's opening round of the playoffs. After losing three straight games to close out the regular season, they went up against rival Yukon in the first round. Not only did Mustang win but they dominated their rival to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals and end their losing streak. The challenge becomes more difficult as they hit the road to face defending champ Owasso, the team that beat them and started their three-game skid to end the season. Match-Up To Watch: The First Quarter It's not necessarily a match-up, but we'll certainly know how this match-up is going by the end of the first quarter. When these two teams met in late October, Owasso jumped out to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter. And that's really been a calling card for the Rams this season. They've jumped out to big leads and have been able to cruise to victories. If Mustang is going to pull off the upset and snap Owasso's 23-game winning streak, they'll need to get out to a fast start of their own and do their best to contain Owasso's quick-striking offense. Last Met: Owasso Defeated Mustang 43-14 On October 23rd Owasso dominated Mustang just a few weeks ago and it was in large part because of the fast start that they got out to. The Rams put Mustang in a hole that the Broncos couldn't overcome. Owasso has had the edge in this series and the winner will move on to play in the semifinals. It's also been well documented how the two head coaches in this match-up share the last name. Bill Blankenship for Owasso and Lee Blankenship for Mustang are cousins. NORMAN NORTH (6-3) AT JENKS (8-1) After a rocky regular season full of postponements and cancellations, Norman North travels to Jenks with a spot in the semifinals on the line. Norman North finally got their shot at rival Norman to open up the playoffs. Their annual rivalry game in week one was cancelled due to Covid. Norman North would survive an upset bid from the rival Tigers and get a close victory to move on. Jenks would have no problems dispatching Moore to open up their playoff journey. The Trojans ended Moore's season for the second straight year after beating them in the semifinals a year ago. The winner here will face the winner of Mustang and Owasso in the semifinals. For Jenks, they're looking to get another shot at the Owasso team that beat them in the title game a year ago. Match-Up To Watch: Norman North Offense Norman North will have to score points in order to pull off the upset. There's no doubt that the Timberwolves come into Friday's game as the underdog and they'll need their offense to light up the scoreboard in order to move on. The problem is, Jenks has been playing good football on the defensive side of the ball. Will Norman North be able to score enough points to stay in the ball game, especially early on. The history with east vs west match-up's significantly leans to the Tulsa-area teams. Norman North will look to avoid becoming another team that falls short to the Tulsa powers on Friday night. Last Met: Jenks Defeated Norman North 69-34 On November 13, 2015 The only match-up in this week's quarterfinal lineup that we didn't see already this year. In fact, we haven't seen Jenks and Norman North square off in quite some time. You have to go back to the playoffs in 2015 to find the last time these two teams faced off. Jenks would get the win in a high-scoring affair that evening, on their way to a state championship. In fact, that year was the last year Jenks won a state championship. The Trojans are hoping a win over Norman North sparks another title run. WESTMOORE (6-4) AT EDMOND SANTA FE (8-2) Edmond Santa Fe has been one of the better teams over the last two months and showed that in their playoff opening victory. Santa Fe started the season 0-2 and have won their last eight games. They ended up capturing the district championship and would blow out rival Edmond North to move on to the quarterfinals this week. On the other side of the match-up, Westmoore also opened up the playoffs against a rival and they would take care of Southmoore after losing their last two games to close out the regular season. Santa Fe certainly comes into this week hungry after the disappointing quarterfinal appearance last year. They came into the 2019 playoffs as district champs and were upset by Moore. They'll look to punch their ticket to the semifinals and avoid another quarterfinal upset on Friday. Match-Up To Watch: Westmoore's Defense Westmoore has had one of the better offenses in 6A-D1 over the last two seasons and that's no different as they come into this week's quarterfinal match-up. However, they have to get stops on defense and avoid getting into an absolute shootout. As you'll see below, the last time these two teams squared off, Santa Fe did just about whatever they wanted to on offense and the Jaguars were put down early in the game. To avoid a repeat of that October match-up, the Jags will have to slow down Santa Fe's offense and get them off the field. The offense will do it's thing but the defense will need to get stops. Last Met: Edmond Santa Fe Defeated Westmoore 69-14 On October 3rd These two district foes had to wait until a Saturday afternoon to meet each other and it was an absolute knockout victory for Edmond Santa Fe. The Wolves could not be stopped offensively as they beat the Jaguars 69-14. Westmoore was held to a season-low 14 points while giving up what would obviously be a season-high 69 points in the loss. Santa Fe's win over Westmoore in early October really helped them switch gears into being a district title contender after an 0-2 start.