Week Four Top Ten Games

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! Every Monday, we take a look at the top ten match-up’s across Oklahoma. It’s week four and it’s time that these games count for real as district play opens up this week. This week’s games are headlined by several match-up’s featuring top five teams, including two massive games in Class 4A. . Plus many more games all across Oklahoma highlight what should be an exciting week four! 1) #2 TUTTLE (3-0) AT #1 CUSHING (3-0) It doesn’t get much better than this as we have #1 squaring off with #2 in Class 4A with Cushing hosting Tuttle on Friday night. This contest will more than likely decide the district championship and this battle of Tigers will absolutely be a clash of styles when these two teams get on the field. Both teams aren’t shy with how they’re winning games this season. Cushing has lit up the scoreboard behind a passing offense that has yet to be slowed down. On the other side, Tuttle is doing what Tuttle does and that’s run the ball and play stingy defense. We’ve had this game circled on the calendar for several months now as these two teams have been 1 and 2 in the 4A rankings for a while now. Both teams have backed up all the offseason and preseason hype with the way they’ve started this year. In last year’s meeting, Tuttle ran away from Cushing and it was running back [player_tooltip player_id="54485" first="Tyler" last="Woodson"] who ended up having a big night in the win. <hr /> 2) #1 OWASSO (3-0) AT #3 UNION (2-1) Both teams had a bye week in week three to prepare for a massive district opener as Union will play host to Owasso. The Rams come in as the top ranked team and have been dominant so far this season. They handled Edmond Santa Fe in week zero and then blew out Broken Arrow in week two. Meanwhile, Union is coming off a surprising shutout loss to Jenks in week two and their offense has to be jumping at the opportunity to get back on the field. Throughout the offseason, this game had plenty of hype around it as Union came in as the #2 team in the preseason rankings. They also have one of the best running game/offensive line combos in the state while Owasso has a very strong front seven on the defensive side of the ball. But for Owasso, it's been about their high-flying offense in the passing game where they've put up monster numbers and now Union needs to bounce back after a shutout loss. This game is massive in the 6A-1 title landscape. <hr /> 3) #3 BOOKER T WASHINGTON (3-0) AT #2 CHOCTAW (2-1) We’ve written quite a bit about the brutal east side district of 6A-2 and they start facing off this week. The first 6A-2 showdown happens in Choctaw as the #2 Yellowjackets will host #3 Booker T Washington. This was an outstanding game last year in Tulsa as the Yellowjackets stole one late. The Hornets are off to a 3-0 start with blowout victories in their first three games and Choctaw is coming off a loss in week two after losing down in Texas but they had week three off to prepare for this epic district showdown. And the play on the field is going to be outstanding from several different angles. One, both teams have some of the best prospects in the 2022 and 2023 classes. Two, some of the top standouts on both teams are familiar with each other after playing together on Sooner 7’s travel 7v7 team. And finally, Choctaw has the state’s best junior quarterback prospect in [player_tooltip player_id="38780" first="Steele" last="Wasel"] while the Hornets counter with a defensive secondary where all four starters could end up playing D1 football. <hr /> 4) #5 POTEAU (2-1) AT #3 HILLDALE (3-0) While 4A has the 1 VS 2 clash headlining this week’s games, 4A has a ton of great match-up’s throughout and here’s another top five showdown as Hilldale will host Poteau. The Hornets have been a young up and coming team over the last few years and they feel like this is the year that they finally break through. Poteau has owned this district and has been one of the top overall teams in Class 4A over the last few seasons. Hilldale is a perfect 3-0 after non-district play but Friday’s game against Poteau will be their toughest game of the year. Poteau has certainly tested themselves already with a home game against Bishop Kelley, in which they rallied to win and then two games against Arkansas opponents. The Hornets feel like they have what it take to knock off the Pirates and become the new king of that district but the Pirates will certainly have something to say about that in what should be another game with district title implications. <hr /> 5) #8 STIGLER (4-0) AT #7 SEMINOLE (4-0) In Class 3A, we have a huge showdown as Seminole will play host to Stigler. Seminole is a team we expected to be in this position as they had a decent amount of starters returning in 2021. However, Stigler is a bit of a surprise in the early part of this season as a new head coach has the Panthers not missing a step and they're right back in the top ten and still undefeated on the season. Both teams are 4-0 on the year and open up district play against one another. Whoever gets the win here is going to be in a great position moving forward within the district. The loser will have to scratch and claw their way towards contending for a home field playoff game. The big dog in their district is Lincoln Christian and the Bulldogs don't appear to be taking a step back this year. This game wasn't on our radar just a few weeks ago, but as both teams continued winning, it became apparent that this would be a good one. <hr /> 6) #4 STILLWATER (2-1) AT #9 DEER CREEK (3-0) After going on the road and falling to Bixby, it’s time for a bounce back for Stillwater as they hit the road again in week four. The Pioneers will be opening up district play against a Deer Creek team that is red hot to start their 2021 football season. They had week three off after going 3-0 against 6A-1 teams in the first few weeks of the season and the closest game was a 21-point victory over Yukon. Stillwater has owned this match-up over the last four years but the Antlers appear ready to not only compete with the Pioneers, but potentially knocking off the team that has dominated the westside district in 6A-2. A Deer Creek win would completely change the landscape of that district for the rest of the season as the Pioneers have dominated their way to district title after district title in the last few years. But before we think about that, the Antlers have to knock off the Pioneers and that’s not going to be the easiest thing to do. <hr /> 7) #10 KINGSTON (2-1) AT #5 PLAINVIEW (1-2) Another big game in Class 3A doesn't have as much shine as that Stigler-Seminole match-up between two undefeated teams but it is still going to be huge in the district title race. Plainview played one of the tougher non-district schedules in Class 3A and came out of it with a 1-2 record. Luckily for the Indians, they had week three off to heal up and get ready for the district slate and learn from the tough non-district schedule. Despite that 1-2 record, the Indians remain one of the top teams in Class 3A and they'll have a big test coming to their house on Friday night as they host a Kingston team ready to pull off an upset or two. This is a Kingston team that started 2-0 and but were shut out in a 39-0 romping at Broken Bow. Needless to say, they need to put that memory away and look towards bouncing back on Friday night. Both teams are playoff caliber-teams and could even be district title favorites but they need to take that first step Friday. <hr /> 8) EL RENO (0-1) AT #10 NOBLE (2-1) It's time for El Reno to get back on the field and it's not going to be an easy one as they travel to face a Noble team that is red hot to start the year. El Reno hasn't played since losing their season opener to Cache back on August 27th. Three Friday's have gone by without El Reno taking the field because of issues with the Covid pandemic. They had to cancel their last two non-district games and they'll go nearly a month before returning to the field against Noble on Friday night. That's not a good thing for the Indians as Noble is coming off a massive win over Piedmont in which they dropped 49 points behind a red-hot passing attack. The Bears have been impressive so far this season with their only loss coming in a two-point decision to 6A-2's #5 Midwest City. We think that El Reno could be a top ten team in Class 5A but having this long of a layoff hasn't helped the Indians. But this will tell us a lot about this district on Friday night. <hr /> 9) CHICKASHA (2-1) AT #6 WEATHERFORD (2-0) Chickasha wrapped up non-district play with a shootout victory over Anadarko in week three but they open up district play against one of the best teams in the district in Weatherford. The Fightin' Chicks bounced back from a blowout loss to Marlow and their offense looked good against Anadarko but this is a different ball game as they travel to face a Weatherford team that has not only district title aspirations but state title dreams. Weatherford comes in at 2-0 after wins over Kingfisher and Woodward but their week two contest with El Reno was cancelled due to Covid problems at El Reno. The Eagles are ready to get back into the state title talks after being upset in the 4A playoffs a year ago. This is a district that we wrote about plenty of times during our summer preview series. We believe it's one of the toughest districts in the state, regardless of class. Getting one of the four playoff spots, let alone winning the district title will be tough. <hr /> 10) CACHE (2-1) AT #8 BETHANY (2-1) Speaking of that brutal 4A district, another showdown is happening as #8 Bethany plays host to a Cache team that is knocking on the door of the top ten and could end up taking Bethany's spot with a win on Friday night. Bethany is 2-1 on the season with strong wins over Jones and John Marshall but they lost in week two against Woodward. They had week three off to prepare for their gauntlet run within the district and should be ready for the showdown with Cache on Friday night. Cache is in a similar situation where they got off to a great start this season with a close win over El Reno and then a blowout victory over Altus. The Bulldogs lost to Plainview in week two and then had week three off before district play begins this week. As mentioned above with the Chickasha-Weatherford match-up, teams in this district can't afford too many losses with only four teams getting into the playoffs out of a loaded eight-team district.