Class 3A Semifinal Preview

The semifinals for Classes 5A, 4A, and 3A are just hours away from kickoff so it is time to wrap up our previews of them. Today we will finish out with Class 3A as we preview the matchups and the teams that have had their incredible seasons come down to the next one and two weekends. Unlike a few teams in 5A and 4A, most of the teams playing tonight are juggernauts that were all expected to be here, with the exception of one school. Let’s dive in and finish our semifinal previews. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#2 Heritage Hall (10-1) vs #3 Lincoln Christian (11-0) </strong><strong>Friday, 7 PM @ Lincoln Christian HS</strong></span> The first semifinal features a pair of 1 seeds who have been virtually unstoppable this season. Heritage Hall comes in at 10-1 with their lone loss coming by 2 points to 4A John Marshall. In their 8 games since the loss, they have not had an opponent come within 12 points of them and have averaged 40 points a game. Heritage Hall has been at or near the top of their class it seems nearly every year the past few years. And, backed up by their wins over 4A semifinalists Clinton and previous 2A #1 Millwood, they once again have a team that looks like it could compete with most teams across all classes outside of a few 6A powers perhaps. The defending champ in 3A, Lincoln Christian, enters this game 11-0 with a resume that is practically perfect as they have outscored their opponents by an average of 36 points with a staggering 51 points scored per game on offense and a suffocating 10 points per game allowed on defense. Their closest game of the season was a 2 touchdown victory over 2A Jones in Mid September and nobody has come remotely close to them since then. The Bulldogs have been a powerhouse in 3A over the last few seasons and they come into this game as the defending champs in the class with little to no weaknesses to keep them from reaching the game once again and perhaps repeating as top dogs in the state next weekend. <strong>Heritage Hall Players to Watch</strong> On offense, the Chargers are led by <strong>William Pacque</strong>, [player_tooltip player_id="48668" first="Gavin" last="Freeman"], and recent South Dakota commit [player_tooltip player_id="38510" first="Melvin" last="Swindle"]. Junior QB Pacque has thrown for over 1200 yards and 15 TDs while only throwing 1 INT on the year. A lot of his production has come from their star WR [player_tooltip player_id="48668" first="Gavin" last="Freeman"] who has over 670 yards and 9 TDs receiving on the year. On defense, Heritage Hall is packed with playmakers including one of the top defensive athletes in the state in [player_tooltip player_id="38587" first="Robert" last="Mbroh"], and one of the nastiest LB cores in the state that includes [player_tooltip player_id="38520" first="AJ" last="Sirls"], <strong>Brigham Evans</strong>, and <strong>Mason Georgia</strong>. Sirls is currently one of the state leaders in tackles with 88, and Evans isn’t far from him with 77. Additionally, Evans and Georgia are among the state leaders in sacks as they both have 7 on the year. <strong>Lincoln Christian Players to Watch</strong> The Bulldogs are led on offense by one of the best receivers in the state in [player_tooltip player_id="38543" first="Kolbe" last="Katsis"] who has over 1100 yards and 15 TDs receiving. He has had a pair of new QBs throwing to him this season in <strong>Chase Hudson</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id="52787" first="Max" last="Brown"]. The two split time pretty evenly early on this year but Brown ended up winning the job full time. Since winning the job, <span style="font-size: 1rem;">Brown has been spectacular this season with over 1600 yards and 27 TDs through the air and has added over 900 yards and 13 TDs on the ground as well. Additionally, while he lost the QB job, </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Hudson has been a force on the ground with over 600 yards and 17 TDs and has caught a few passes for just over 200 yards and 3 TDs receiving. On defense, the Bulldogs have suffocated teams around the line of scrimmage all year and it shows as their start LB <strong>Daymon Lavell</strong> leads the class in tackles with 121 on the season.  </span> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Overall Analysis</strong></span> This game is a serious clash of the titans where either team has virtually an equal shot at making the title game next week. I like the explosiveness of Lincoln Christian’s offense to carry them through this game with a victory but would also not be surprised if they got off to a little bit of a slow start as they have not seen a defense quite like Heritage Hall’s this year with great athletes all over the place. If the Chargers can slow them down early then they could be playing for a state title next weekend in Edmond. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#1 Holland Hall (10-0) vs #5 Stigler (11-1) </strong><strong>Friday, 7 PM @ Holland Hall HS</strong></span> The second semifinal in 3A is another heavyweight matchup between two top 5 teams. Holland Hall has been #1 in our rankings for a while now and has not shown any signs of slowing down at any point. They are undefeated and boast one of the best units on both sides of the ball. On offense, they have averaged nearly 49 points per game and have only scored less than 42 once. On defense, they may have the best defense across all classes in terms of points allowed. They have only allowed 48 points all season with 5 shutouts, 4 games of 7 or fewer points allowed, and only one game where an opponent has gotten into double digits against them. They have simply not allowed teams to score nearly at all the entire season. Stigler comes into this game 11-1 with their only loss to Lincoln Christian and with a blowout win over #4 Kingston last week in the quarterfinals. While they are #5 and have blown out a lot of teams this year, I mistakenly discounted them in most of my predictions because I thought their schedule left a little to be desired in terms of difficulty, and boy was I wrong. They not only dominated Vinita, a team I pick to upset them, but they then followed that up with a 49-14 beatdown of the #4 team in the state. They are playing extremely well right now and are not to be taken lightly as they have outscored their opponents 91-28 in the playoffs so far. <strong>Holland Hall Players to Watch</strong> On offense, Holland Hall is led by QB and OU Baseball commit [player_tooltip player_id="38568" first="Wallace" last="Clark"], and WRs [player_tooltip player_id="63294" first="Marc" last="Gouldsby"] and [player_tooltip player_id="61135" first="Ethan" last="Roush"]. Defensively, Holland Hall has one of the best players in the state at nearly every position with [player_tooltip player_id="61125" first="NuNu" last="Campbell"] at DB, [player_tooltip player_id="38787" first="Parker" last="Jenney"] at LB, and [player_tooltip player_id="38533" first="Owen" last="Ostroski"] at DL, making this defense very hard to beat from a matchup perspective, regardless of the offense’s strength. <strong>Stigler Players to Watch</strong> Stigler is led on offense by SR QB <strong>Darren Manes</strong>, RB [player_tooltip player_id="63306" first="Ridge" last="McClary"], and WRs <strong>Grayson Gilmore</strong> and <strong>Brayden Drewry</strong>. Manes has thrown for over 1100 yards with 16 TDs, McClary has rushed for over 1000 yards and 11 TDs, and Gilmore and Drewry have combined for over 1600 yards and 22 TDs receiving. On defense, Stigler is led by LBs <strong>Dylan Hodges</strong>, [player_tooltip player_id="38541" first="Bruce" last="Engle"], and <strong>Martin Hare</strong> who have combined for nearly 300 tackles and 17 sacks on the season. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Overall Analysis</strong></span> Both teams come into this matchup playing as well as you can so it is hard for me to really say that one team or another has a clear advantage. For the same of this article though I will go with Holland Hall to win once more and advance to the title game next week as they have only had one team score more than a touchdown all season on them. That is a ridiculous stat. &nbsp; &nbsp;