Potential Bracket Busters: Class 4A and 3A

The playoffs are finally here which means it is time for us here at Prep RedZone Oklahoma to give you as much content as possible over the next few weeks as we crown champions across the state. We will be previewing each class and highlighting players to watch for as the week goes on, and we will give our championship predictions on Friday before the first round kicks off. In addition to your standard playoff covergae, we will be highlighting teams that have maybe gone under the radar or are not getting enough credit for their accomplishments or the talent they have on their roster. Upsets happen all the time in football, especially at the high school and college level, so we figured we’d try and predict a few teams who have a shot at busting some playoff brackets. Here are the teams that I think have a shot at doing so in class 4A and 3A. <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/11/potential-bracket-busters-class-6a-and-5a/">Click Here to see our picks in 6A and 5A</a> Class 4A Skiatook - 4th Place in District 3 It has been a roller coaster of a season for Skiatook in 2020. They started off their season in non-district play with convincing wins over 5A Glenpool and Nathan Hale but suffered a blowout loss to 5A Collinsville in between those wins. After the loss, however, Skiatook won 4 straight games including a double-digit victory over Grove who finished 3rd in the district. Then, as the opening line gives away, things got weird. After their win over Grove, Skiatook suffered a shocking loss on the road against Cleveland, and then had 2 of their next 3 games cancelled due to COVID, one of which was their matchup against district #2 Bristow. In between the cancellations they blew out Miami on the road and then were blown out themselves by district champ Wagoner at home. They finished the year 3-2 in the district with a win over 3rd place Grove, but due to the chaos that is 2020, the coaches elected to place Grove ahead of Skiatook because they had one more win in district and did not have any games cancelled. So unlike any year in the past, we don’t know what Skiatook’s full potential is because they were unable to play a full district schedule while a few of the teams above them did. They have some key wins against 5A teams and some district rivals, but they also have some head-scratching losses to lesser teams. It won’t be easy with teams like Poteau in their direct path, but if they can find some consistency across the board, Skiatook has a shot to pull off a few upsets and be a really tough out in the playoffs. They have the playmakers and experience with guys like [player_tooltip player_id="38821" first="Mason" last="Willingham"] to do so. John Marshall - 6th Place in District 2 Before you click out of here and call me crazy, hear me out. I picked John Marshall to be in the state title game in the pre-season, which is not a great look now after they went 4-5, but I don’t think their record tells the whole story. They still have the potential to upset a few teams and go on a good run based on the way the bracket filled out. They have been up and down all season, but when they are on they are dangerous. Their wins this season include double-digit blowouts over Bethany and Tecumseh, a forfeit win against Classen SAS, and a close win at home over Heritage Hall who has run through 3A with ease this season. John Marshall has not lost a game by more than 2 scores all year and has gone toe to toe with some of the best in the state such as Vian, Heritage Hall, and Tuttle. In fact, their one-score game against Tuttle is one of the reasons I like their chances. If they were to upset Newcastle on Friday, their opponent in the next round would likely be Tuttle. And if that is the case, anything could happen in that matchup. With game-changing playmakers such as [player_tooltip player_id="38490" first="Bryce" last="Stephens"] and an improving Kane Donovan, John Marshall has plenty of firepower to hang with any team in 4A if they play to their full potential. I don’t know about their chances in the later rounds against teams like Wagoner or Weatherford, but John Marshall could sneak their way into the quarterfinals thanks to some favorable matchups in the early rounds. Class 3A Kingfisher - 3rd Place in District 1 It was hard to pick 2 teams in 3A because I feel pretty confident that all of the 1 seeded district champs outside of maybe Kingston will glide through to the semis fairly easily this year. However, I chose Kingfisher because they have a good combination of Senior leaders like [player_tooltip player_id="38558" first="Cade" last="Stephenson"], big-game experience, and a favorable route through the bracket. They were awarded a bye in the first round, so they will only have to win one game to reach the quarterfinals. That one game will likely be against Sulphur who has looked dominant at times against the lesser teams in their district, but has struggled heavily out of district against 4A Tuttle and 2A Washington where they lost by a combined 32 points. If they can get past Sulphur, Kingfisher will likely have a daunting matchup against Lincoln Christian, but I would not be surprised if Kingfisher comes out on top or at least keeps it close with the way they played Heritage Hall and Weatherford. Vinita - 3rd Place in District 4 I like Vinita’s chances for two reasons: They have looked dominant in 3A outside of their loss to Verdigris, and there are not many teams that jump out as title favorites in their quadrant. This might sound odd considering they could potentially face a 9-1 Stigler or a 10-0 Kingston, but when you look at the schedules of those two teams you don’t see very many competitive opponents. In fact, between Stigler and Kingston, they have only played 4 teams with winning records in 3A. For Stigler specifically, their only games against teams with winning records were at home against 5-3 Seminole and at home against Lincoln Christian where they lost 26-7 and were playing from behind all night. This isn’t to say that both of these teams are bad by any means, but rather to point out that they are not as battle-tested in big games as their records would suggest, and that the gap between them and Vinita is not as wide as some would lead you to believe. It is certainly not the consensus opinion when you only look at their records and district placing, but when you dig a little bit it is clear that any of these 3 could easily take this side of the bracket and advance to the semifinals.