4A Quarterfinal Preview

<em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em> The playoffs are in full swing and our coverage continues today with a look at Class 4A as the teams move into the quarterfinals. Last week, most of the first round games went the way most would figure with nearly every higher-seeded team advancing. With the exception of Elk City going on the road and stunning #2 Cushing. And things weren’t easy for #5 Grove and #10 Wagoner in their first round games. In this post, we take a look at all four quarterfinal match-ups this week. <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>#9 BRISTOW (9-2) AT #4 CLINTON (9-1)</strong></span> This game certainly became more interesting after last week as Bristow got plenty of attention by going on the road and absolutely hammering Broken Bow in the first round. Before the Pirates head down to Class 3A next year, they want to make one last run in the 4A playoffs and they'll get their shot by facing off with traditional power Clinton. The Red Tornadoes are determined to make another trip to the state championship game and they are playing some of their best football right now. The defense has been lights out after shutting out their last three opponents in the regular season, including two playoff teams, and they handled Harrah in the first round last week. The winner here moves on to the semifinals and one step closer to Edmond. <strong><span style="font-size: 18pt;">ELK CITY (9-2) AT #5 GROVE (10-1)</span></strong> Elk City made a pretty loud statement last week when they went on the road and stunned #2 Cushing in the first round. What do they get for their upset win? A five and a half hour trip to northeastern Oklahoma to take on Grove. The Ridgerunners had to rally to escape a first round upset last week against Fort Gibson. Star running back [player_tooltip player_id="57158" first="Emmanuel" last="Crawford"] had one of his best performances of the year with 300 yards on the ground. This match-up features two of the best running backs in 4A this year with Elk City countering with senior [player_tooltip player_id="38723" first="Daylan" last="Thompson"]. With both of those players, it’s safe to say that both teams are going to try to establish the run on Friday night with a spot in the semifinals on the line. <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>#10 WAGONER (9-2) AT #1 TUTTLE (11-0)</strong></span> These two perennial powerhouses will be squaring off as top ranked Tuttle attempts to take down the defending champs from Wagoner. Despite both of these teams being two of the best in Class 4A for basically a decade, this will only be the second meeting between the two powerhouses. And coincidentally, it was last year in the quarterfinal round. Wagoner survived an upset scare with a 21-14 victory over the Tigers. That would be the closest anyone got to knocking off the Bulldogs last year, before they finished the season undefeated with another state championship. Now, the roles are reversed. Wagoner comes in as the underdog and Tuttle is attempting to complete the perfect season with a state championship. <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>#8 BLANCHARD (8-3) AT #3 POTEAU (10-1)</strong></span> Blanchard opened up their playoff journey by going on the road and knocking off Bethany in a close game throughout. The Lions survived and advanced to the quarterfinal round but it gets much tougher there as they have to travel east to take on the Poteau Pirates. Similar to Tuttle and Wagoner, Poteau is the other team that has been an absolute powerhouse over the last few years. The Pirates had no problems in their first round victory over Catoosa as they won in a 56-14 rout. The Pirates turn their attention to a Blanchard team that has a lot of confidence right now after winning last week and nearly stunning top ranked Tuttle in week ten. Blanchard's two biggest concerns will be the injury status of their quarterback and how to stop the Poteau rushing attack.