6A-D1 Semifinal Preview

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! It’s Thanksgiving week and in most seasons, we already would have had the semifinals for 6A-D1 and 6A-D2 and we would already know the championship match-up. Those teams would also have this week off to prepare for that title game. But as we know, this isn’t a normal year. So this week brings the semifinals in 6A-D1 and 6A-D2. We have our final four match-up’s and it’s time to break those down. Our semifinal previews will get you completely ready for this week’s games. #1 OWASSO (11-0) VS #2 JENKS (9-1) Friday, 7PM @ Broken Arrow HS The Match-Up: It’s without a doubt the game of the week in Oklahoma as you have #1 facing #2 in the state’s largest class. Going back to the start of the season, we thought that Jenks and Owasso were on a crash course for one another but we thought it might be in another championship game. Instead, we get it a little early with the winner continuing on to Edmond to face the winner of Edmond Santa Fe-Union for the state championship. These two teams have been the top two teams all season and that has never been in question. The reason we’re getting this meeting in the semifinals is because Jenks had two district games cancelled, including a potential district title showdown with Edmond Santa Fe. Santa Fe only had the Jenks game cancelled and finished 6-0 with Jenks at 5-0. So Jenks finished in second place in the standings. The Trojans have won eight in a row after an early season loss to Bixby. They have playoff wins over Moore and Norman North by a combined score of 114-35. They now shift their attention to the defending champion Rams, who haven’t lost a game since the 2018 semifinals. Owasso brings in a 24-game winning streak and have been simply dominant all season. They’ve won all of their games this season by double digits. After their first round game was forfeited by Edmond Memorial, they knocked off Mustang 45-7 in the quarterfinals to punch their ticket to Friday’s semifinal showdown. JENKS PLAYERS TO WATCH On the other side of the match-up, Jenks counters Owasso’s young talent with senior veterans. Leading the charge at quarterback is two-year starter [player_tooltip player_id="38530" first="Stephen" last="Kittleman"], who went over 2,000 passing yards for the season in their blowout win over Norman North in the quarterfinals. Kittleman takes plenty of pride in wearing the #9 jersey and being the next Trojan quarterback to attempt to bring home a gold ball. When it comes to the two quarterbacks in this match-up, Kittleman’s senior leadership and experience in these big games could give Jenks an advantage. One player Kittleman will try to get the ball to is fellow senior [player_tooltip player_id="38514" first="Jayden" last="Patrick"]. Coming into the season, we loved Patrick’s game on the defensive side of the ball as a shutdown corner. This year, he’s added another element to his game as Jenks’ top threat at the wide receiver position. Patrick will provide an impact in the game on both sides of the ball. Just like Patrick, our final senior is [player_tooltip player_id="48281" first="Grant" last="Lohr"], who has been this year’s breakout star for the Trojans. He’s stepped into the two-way role that Will Cox flourished in last season. Lohr has over 1,000 yards rushing as their running back and is still a standout for the Trojans in the secondary at safety. Jenks is hoping their three seniors can help the Trojans end their championship drought. <hr /> OWASSO PLAYERS TO WATCH On the offensive side of the ball, two big names to watch are a pair of sophomores. Quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="51037" first="Austin" last="Havens"] and wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="45651" first="Cole" last="Adams"] make up a very strong sophomore duo that have been tough to slow down this season. For the Rams, they’ve been so strong on offense and while we highlight Havens and Adams, they have an unbelievably balanced attack. In addition to Adams, Havens has at least three other wide receivers who aren’t afraid of big moments and can make plays. Then you look at their running game and they have three or four different guys who are more than capable of making big plays in the running game. Because of all this depth, Owasso has been able to put teams away early and cruise from there. But it hasn’t been just the offensive side of the ball. They have multiple standouts on defense. One of those players is senior defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="38573" first="Gage" last="Laney"], who leads the state in interceptions with 11 this season. He’s been an absolute ball hawk this fall and really his whole career. And in a game like this, turnovers become the difference in winning and losing. If Laney is able to snag another interception, and give his high-powered offense an extra possession here and there, the champs will be tough to slow down on Friday night. The History: The immediate history is very simple as this is a rematch of last year’s state championship game. Owasso would prevail with a 14-6 victory over the Trojans. In that title game, both teams were scoreless in the first half. Jenks would score on the first play of the second half but that was it. The Rams would get a pair of touchdowns and hold on for their second title in three years. These two teams used to play every year in the regular season. They would face off regularly from 2000-2017. The last regular season meeting in 2017 was won by Owasso and that began a three-game winning streak against the Trojans. They beat Jenks again in the 2017 semifinals and the third win came in last year’s title game. Before that 2017 meeting, Jenks was 24-1 against the Rams, dating back to the mid-nineties. In playoff meetings, Jenks owns the series there as well. The Trojans are 9-3 all time in playoff meetings against the Rams. However, Owasso has won the last two of those. EXPERIENCE Jenks: For the 15th consecutive year, Jenks is playing in the semifinals. They are 12-2 during this current streak of semifinal appearances. The only losses during this stretch have come to rival Union. Head coach Keith Riggs is a perfect 2-0 in semifinal appearances since taking over the Trojan program. Owasso: The Rams are into the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year and for the fifth time since the 6A split. They are 2-2 in the semifinals during that stretch. Those two wins led to state championships. The first in 2017 and again in 2019. Before 2017, Owasso had lost in seven straight semifinal appearances. <hr /> #3 EDMOND SANTA FE (9-2) VS #5 UNION (6-4) Saturday, 7PM @ Owasso HS The Match-Up: The other semifinal showdown in 6A-D1 doesn’t have as much hype as a 1 VS 2 showdown but it should be just as good of a game. These two teams are very similar to one another with the seasons that they’ve had. Both teams had somewhat slow starts playing absolutely brutal schedules. And they would bounce back and lean on strong running games to get to this point of the season. For Edmond Santa Fe, this season has been all about redemption for the Wolves. They captured the district title a year ago after road wins over Broken Arrow and Jenks and took plenty of momentum into the playoffs. However, they fell flat once they got there and were upset by Moore in the quarterfinals. This season started out flat as well with back to back losses to 6A-D1’s #1 Owasso and 6A-D2’s #1 Stillwater. The Wolves bounced back by winning nine straight, including two playoff wins over Edmond North and Westmoore. Their offense put up 50+ points in each playoff victory. On the other sideline is a Union team that had an even slower start to the season. The 0-4 start has been well documented at this point with how rare it is for a program like Union. However, Union has found it’s groove over the last two months in an offense that wants to run the ball at will. And they have plenty of weapons to do it. After that 0-4 start, they’ve won their last six and have absolutely dominated opponents. Last week’s quarterfinal showdown with Broken Arrow was their closest game during the win streak. They would beat the Tigers 26-14. EDMOND SANTA FE PLAYERS TO WATCH For Edmond Santa Fe, it’s hard to not start a "Player To Watch" section with star junior wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="38667" first="Talyn" last="Shettron"]. The Oklahoma commit is arguably the best wide receiver in the state of Oklahoma today. And in recruiting circles, you have to go back a while to find a receiver that is as highly rated around the country as Shettron. The Santa Fe standout is your definition of a home run hitter at the position. He can change a game immediately at the receiver position and has also been a game changer in the return game. Shettron isn’t the only playmaker in this Santa Fe offense. Having a breakout season at the running back position is [player_tooltip player_id="38657" first="Ethane" last="Hyche"]. He’s one of the state’s leading rushers and has been unbelievably consistent for the Wolves during their nine-game winning streak. After running for 42 yards and 100 yards in their first two games respectively, Hyche hasn’t had a game of at least 124 yards rushing. And in that 124 yard game, he also had four touchdowns. He’s been a touchdown machine with nearly 30 on the season. And finally, looking at the defensive side of the ball, leading the way is Oklahoma State commit [player_tooltip player_id="38489" first="Collin" last="Oliver"]. Union’s strength offensively is without a doubt their running game and having a strong front seven, led by one of the top linebackers in the state will help Santa Fe try to slow them down. Both teams have pretty good counters to each other’s strengths. <hr /> UNION PLAYERS TO WATCH Normally with Union, we would start on the offensive side of the ball when you see the production they’ve had during their six game winning streak. However, the reason they are in this semifinal game and the thing that can lead them to a championship is the defensive side of the ball. So we start with two standouts on that side of the ball. First, senior linebacker Caleb Caylao will be instrumental in Union’s defense trying to slow down Hyche and the Santa Fe rushing attack. Caylao has emerged as a big leader on this Union defense and made tackle after tackle in slowing down Broken Arrow’s rushing attack in the quarterfinals. Going into Union’s secondary, they’ll need someone who can simply slow down Shettron and we look to fellow junior [player_tooltip player_id="61138" first="Jayden" last="Rowe"] to step into that role. The junior has the size and speed to compete with Shettron. Rowe will attempt to slow down one of the state’s top playmakers at wide receivers. Now when you look at Union’s offense, as mentioned multiple times already, the rushing attack has been key to their success this fall. The player that can completely change this game in a blink of an eye is senior running back [player_tooltip player_id="38488" first="AJ" last="Green"], an Arkansas commit. Green has showed on more than one occasion this year that any time he gets the ball in his hands, fireworks might follow. And the scary part about Green is he has two other running backs that have been productive, allowing Green to have fresh legs as we get deeper into the playoffs. The History: The history in this series heavily favors Union as they are a perfect 4-0 all time against Edmond Santa Fe. All four meetings have come in the playoffs. Union handed Santa Fe back to back losses in the quarterfinal round in 2017 and 2018. Before that, Union won in the 2012 quarterfinals and again in the 2004 semifinal round. Union’s last playoff loss to a westside team came in the 2001 semifinals when they lost to Putnam City North. Edmond Santa Fe has won three out of their last four against "The Big Four" in the Tulsa area. They beat Broken Arrow last year and again this year as well as a win over Jenks last year. The lone loss comes to Owasso to open this season. These two teams did play a mini game scrimmage back in August. Union would win 10-3 in overtime. Union would get a goal line stand on fourth down and stopped Santa Fe’s [player_tooltip player_id="61222" first="Micah" last="Snoddy"] from scoring on the final play of the scrimmage. EXPERIENCE Edmond Santa Fe: This will be Edmond Santa Fe’s first trip to the semifinals since 2015. They lost to Broken Arrow that season and the Tigers went on to lose to Jenks in the title game. Edmond Santa Fe is 1-4 all time in the semifinal round. The only win came in 2003, before losing to Jenks in the championship game the following week. Union: After a rare quarterfinal exit last year, Union returns to the semifinals this season. Last year’s quarterfinal loss snapped a 12-year streak of making it to the semifinal round. They were 9-3 during that stretch. The only three losses came to the Jenks Trojans in 2012, 2015 and a crushing loss as time expired in 2018.