Class 2A Semifinal Preview

Here we are. We have arrived at the last few weeks of the 2020 high school football season in Oklahoma in a year where we thought we might not have a season at all. This week marks the semifinal week for 2A and A so stick around later this week for our preview of Class A. Today we cover 2A and let me tell you, it's an interesting one. In the semifinals we have 2 top 10 teams, however, neither were in the top 4 leading into the playoffs, and the only undefeated team out of the group is perhaps the lowest ranked. Let's take a deeper look at the semifinal matchups for Class 2A. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#5 Washington (11-1) vs Beggs (9-2) </strong><strong>Friday, 7 PM @ Washington HS</strong></span> Our first semifinal in 2A is between #5 Washington and Beggs. Washington comes into the semifinals as the only top 5 team remaining in 2A and boasts an impressive resume. Their only loss on the season came against 4A Newcastle. Since the loss to Newcastle, Washington is on a 4 game win streak where they have beat some of the top teams in 2A such as #3 Jones and #8 Adair. <span style="font-size: 1rem;"> </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Only allowing 22 points in each of their last 2 games, Washington held Jones and Adair to their 2nd lowest scoring outputs all season long. </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">They do not have the most explosive offense, but they have not had trouble scoring by any means, and their defense has played lights out for most of the season, especially in the playoffs.</span> Beggs comes into this game as the underdogs rankings wise, but their mentality sure hasn’t shown that throughout the playoffs as they have taken down every team in their path with relative ease. They come into the matchup with only 2 losses on the season, one to 3A state finalist Lincoln Christian, and the champions of their district, Metro Christian by one score. Since the loss to Metro, Beggs has gone 6-0 and has not won a game by less than 16. Overall on the season, the Demons are averaging just under 43 ppg on offense and are allowing just under 16 ppg on defense. <strong>Washington Players to Watch</strong> Washington does not have a long list of college recruits like some of the other teams we’ve highlighted over the last few weeks but they do still have some excellent athletes who play both ways for them. They are led by QB/DB <strong>Emmit Wilk</strong>, RB and 1400 yard rusher <strong>Chase Allison</strong>, and a pair of Junior WRs in <strong>Luke Hendrix</strong> and <strong>Kobe Scott</strong> who have combined for over 900 yards and 11 TD receiving this season. Wilk has thrown for 1100 yards and 13 TDs in 10 games this year and has also added over 650 yards and 10 TDs on the ground. <strong>Beggs Players to Watch</strong> Beggs has quite a few stars but the top 2 to watch for them will without a doubt be RB/CB [player_tooltip player_id="38669" first="CJ" last="Brown"] and FS/WR [player_tooltip player_id="38486" first="Kendal" last="Daniels"]. Brown has recently committed to Oklahoma State and is one of the top two-way players in the state with D1 talent on both sides of the football. Daniels is currently our number one player in the state of Oklahoma for the class of 2021 and is currently committed to Texas A&amp;M. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Overall Analysis</strong></span> This is an interesting matchup because it is a top 5 team vs an unranked team but the unranked team has the more talented roster in terms of the top 3 or 4 guys. However, Washington has proven time and time again this season that their team can hang with anyone in the class. I like Beggs if they can jump out early, but the longer you let Washington hang around, the more dangerous they become. If it is a close one near the end give me Washington to come out on top. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#7 Metro Christian (10-2) vs Oklahoma Christian School (11-0) </strong><strong>Friday, 7 PM @ Metro Christian HS</strong></span> The second matchup in 2A is perhaps more interesting as we have a top 10 team and an undefeated team. Metro Christian comes in 10-2 with their only losses coming at the hands of 3A Holland Hall, and Paris High School in Texas. Outside of those losses, Metro has been one of the top teams in 2A all season, averaging 35.5 ppg on offense and only allowing only 12.2 ppg. They have taken care of business since the start of district play and are battle-tested as they have had to go through the likes of Beggs, #4 Vian, and #10 Marlow to get to this game. OCS comes in as the last remaining team in 2A without a loss at 11-0 but you would never know by the way they have been perceived this season. All the saints have done this season is win and most of the time by a big margin, yet they have been overlooked by many including us as we did not have them ranked in our top 10 for 2A heading into the playoffs. A mistake? Perhaps. All we know now though is that the Saints are as dangerous as anyone in the state and will be playing with their hair on fire in this one after their victory over #9 Eufala last week. <strong>Metro Christian Players to Watch</strong> Metro Christian is a team full of playmakers but the two most notable are [player_tooltip player_id="63292" first="Cade" last="Gibson"] and [player_tooltip player_id="38790" first="Kirk" last="Francis"]. Cade is a Senior LB for the Patriots and has been one of the top LBs in the class of 2021 all season. On offense, the Patriots are led by sophomore QB [player_tooltip player_id="38790" first="Kirk" last="Francis"] who has played as well as anyone across all classes and is currently playing his best football coming off a game against Marlow where he scored the game-winning touchdown with under a minute left. <strong>OCS Players to Watch</strong> Similar to Metro, OCS has plenty of playmakers on their squad but the three who stand out most are [player_tooltip player_id="63287" first="Denver" last="Wilson"], [player_tooltip player_id="63411" first="Peyton" last="McIntire"], and [player_tooltip player_id="38734" first="Collin" last="Matteson"]. Wilson transferred to OCS this season and has been one of the most underrated QBs in the state, throwing for over 1500 yards and 18 TDs, and running for 153 yards and 6 TDs. Senior RB McIntire has been excellent this season with over 1000 yards and 14 TDs rushing, but none have been as impactful for the Saints this year as [player_tooltip player_id="38734" first="Collin" last="Matteson"]. Matteson has done it all this year with over 900 yards of total offense and 13 TDs. Additionally, Matteson has been an excellent return man with a few kicks and punts returned for TDs and has been an absolute ball hawk on defense with 10 INTs on the year. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Overall Analysis</strong></span> This one is also tough to pick because both teams have been so dominant all season. On one side you have an undefeated OCS who has a great mix of playmakers but haven’t had to face many of the top teams in the class. On the other side, you have a top 10 Metro Christian team who has gone toe to toe and defeated some of the best teams 2A has to offer in the regular season and the playoffs. My gut is telling me Metro Christian will inch by with a win in this one on the back of [player_tooltip player_id="38790" first="Kirk" last="Francis"], but I would not be surprised if [player_tooltip player_id="38734" first="Collin" last="Matteson"] took matters into his own hands and got a W for his team like he has done many times this season. &nbsp;