6A-2 Semifinal Preview

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! For Class 6A-1 and 6A-2, it’s semifinal week! The playoffs have just begun but for four teams in each class, they’re one win away from punching their ticket to Edmond in December. We’re taking a look at the 6A-2 semifinals in this post with a complete breakdown on Bixby, Deer Creek, Sand Springs and Stillwater as they continue their playoff journeys this week. #1 BIXBY (11-0) VS #6 STILLWATER (9-2) Friday, 7PM @ Langston University The Match-Up: It’s a renewal of what has been a growing rivalry in 6A-2 over the last few seasons, especially in the postseason as Bixby takes on Stillwater. We’ll dive further into the history later but these two are very familiar with one another. For the Pioneers, it’s time to take down the giant and they’ll certainly come into this week with the mentality that it’s the Pioneers against the world. Everything you see on this website, in every newspaper and on social media has already put Bixby into the title game and there’s no doubt that the Pioneers will use that as a big motivating factor. They’re going up against a team that has been nearly impossible to beat. But as we’ve learned, anything can happen on Friday night. For the Spartans, it’s all about finishing what they’ve started. In 2014, 6A-2 was created and the Spartans have owned it ever since. With Bixby departing following this season and moving up to 6A-1, this season has been the "last dance" for the Spartans. With a 47-game winning streak and an opportunity to go after a fourth straight title and seventh in the last eight years, the Spartans have taken their game to the next level and will look to remain perfect on Friday. BIXBY PLAYERS TO WATCH Whenever you’re talking about players to watch for Bixby, the conversation usually starts around senior running back [player_tooltip player_id="38679" first="Braylin" last="Presley"]. The Oklahoma State commit has been the most electric player in Oklahoma for two years now and he showed that last week as he took the opening kick all the way back for six against Putnam City North. Presley can score anywhere, anytime, anyhow, in the blink of an eye. But the Spartans aren’t just a running team, despite having over 50 touchdowns on the ground this year. Senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="193013" first="Christian" last="Burke"] has been a breakout star for the Spartan offense this year and has excelled in the Bixby passing game. Taking over for three-year starter Mason Williams was no easy task but Burke has made it look easy this fall. Burke has spread the ball around to many playmakers, including Presley, but one of his big play wide receivers that hasn’t been talked about a lot this fall has been senior Preston Solomon. The Bixby big man has averaged around one catch a game but one of his best games this year came against Bixby in week three when he had over 100 yards receiving. Then you flip it to the defense and that has without a doubt been a strongpoint for Bixby and it’s been led by senior linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="55157" first="Jack" last="Puckett"]. We’ve written a few times this fall how Puckett should be on the short list for colleges recruiting linebackers in this area and we stand by that now. It’s still not too late to wake up and get one of the best linebackers in Oklahoma! STILLWATER PLAYERS TO WATCH The Pioneers will not be backing down in this semifinal clash and they certainly have some players that aren’t going to be afraid of the big stage. One player who comes into this semifinal round with plenty of momentum has to be sophomore running back [player_tooltip player_id="215207" first="Holden" last="Thompson"]. The sophomore is having a breakout season for the Pioneers but he’s coming off a game in the first round against Booker T Washington that might be the best of his year. He had 30 carries for nearly 200 yards and three touchdowns in the win and the Pioneers will certainly want to get him involved this week. Paving the way up front for him will be junior offensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="50786" first="JaKobe" last="Sanders"], one of the best offensive lineman prospects in the state. Sanders will be huge to Stillwater’s success this week. Not only in the running game, but in pass protection and keeping a Bixby front seven that has been dangerous this year out of the Pioneer backfield. If Sanders can keep junior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="157517" first="Gage" last="Gundy"] clean in the backfield, the Pioneers will have a shot. Gundy played well in last week’s win over Booker T Washington as well and is enjoying a very strong season in his first year as QB1 for the Pioneers. If Gundy can play how he’s played all year, which has been very calm and composed, Stillwater will have a shot. Then on defense, the Pioneers are led by their three-year starter at linebacker in [player_tooltip player_id="38676" first="Gabe" last="M Brown"]. The OSU commit and the Pioneer defense has been playing lights out over the last month but Friday’s test will be the toughest one they’ve faced. The History: Since the split in Class 6A, these two teams have gotten very familiar with one another. Bixby and Stillwater are meeting for the eighth time all time with Bixby holding a 6-1 record against the Pioneers. In the last five years, these two teams have met four times in the playoffs. The only exception was last year. They met in the 2018 and 2019 state title games. They also squared off in week three of the regular season this year with the Spartans rolling to a 42-14 victory. The Pioneers certainly have a tall mountain to climb in this match-up but as we’ve learned, anything can happen. EXPERIENCE Bixby: It should come as no surprise that Bixby has plenty of experience playing in semifinal games, especially since the split in Class 6A. They’ll be making their 18th semifinal appearance in school history this week and hold a 14-3 record in those semifinal contests. Since the split in Class 6A, Bixby has played in every single 6A-2 semifinal contest and have a perfect 7-0 record. They’ll attempt to make more history by advancing to their eighth straight state title game. Stillwater: The Pioneers have also done very well recently since the split in Class 6A and have made semifinal appearances a normal date on their schedule. This will be their 15th appearance in school history and they hold a 6-8 record in semifinal clashes. Friday night will be the fourth straight year they have appeared in the semifinals and have a 2-1 record during that time. The one loss came last year when they were upset by Choctaw on a field goal as time expired. <hr /> #5 SAND SPRINGS (8-3) VS #7 DEER CREEK (9-2) Friday, 7PM @ Yukon HS The Match-Up: This is certainly the semifinal that nobody expected in 6A-2 as the lower seeded teams both advanced on the other side of the bracket. First, you had Sand Springs going on the road and taking down district champion Del City. The Sandites have widely been considered as one of the dark horses in 6A-2 but because of their district, they haven’t been talked about as much as the other usual suspects. They had the three-week stretch in October where they lost to Bixby, Booker T Washington and Choctaw in consecutive weeks. Because of that, they fell to the four seed and that didn’t matter in their upset of Del City. Then you look at Deer Creek and all the Antlers did was spoil Choctaw’s hopes of making it back to the state title game by stunning the Yellowjackets on Friday night. Similar to the Sandites, we maybe should have seen this coming as Deer Creek has very quietly been one of the better teams in 6A-2 this season. Their only losses were to Del City and Stillwater and both games were tied at the end of regulation. The Pioneers won in two overtimes while Del City beat Deer Creek in one OT. The Antlers were two close games away from being undefeated. Maybe we should have seen them coming. DEER CREEK PLAYERS TO WATCH Whenever you break down Deer Creek this year, the conversation should start around senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="200111" first="Brett" last="Pense"]. Also a fantastic baseball player, Pense has been one of the best quarterbacks in 6A-2 this season and he’s a big reason why the Antlers find themselves one win away from playing for a state championship. He’s been incredibly efficient passing the ball this year and has also been a threat to tuck the ball and run it. He was outstanding in their win over Choctaw a week ago and will be arguably the biggest key to their success offensively this week. Now, whenever most people think about Deer Creek, they jump to the offensive line with star recruit [player_tooltip player_id="38666" first="Jacob" last="Sexton"]. The Oklahoma commit is one of the best offensive lineman prospects in the state but what certainly stands out is what he did last week against Choctaw. He came in and played some defense as well. With Sexton lining up on both sides of the ball, he will certainly be more of an impact player in this semifinal clash on Friday night. While Deer Creek has had an excellent year from their quarterback, they’ve also had a breakout season from their running back with junior Deontaye Wilson. The junior standout has had an excellent season this fall and is coming off a game against Choctaw in which he ran for and caught a touchdown. If he can continue that production, the Antlers might punch their ticket to the state championship game. SAND SPRINGS PLAYERS TO WATCH We started with the quarterback for Deer Creek so we’ll do the same with the Sandites and honestly, these two quarterbacks are very similar to one another. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="101415" first="Ty" last="Pennington"] has had a very similar season statistically to Pense at Deer Creek and has his team one win away from the state title game. Pennington has been a big threat throwing the ball but is so underrated as a runner and has put up big numbers in the running game this season. But Pennington isn’t alone in the backfield and has had help in the running department from senior running back [player_tooltip player_id="154570" first="Blake" last="Jones"]. We wrote a lot about Jones this summer and into the season about him being a breakout player this year and he’s backed up that hype with his production on the field this fall. That 1-2 punch of Pennington and Jones has made the Sandites a very dangerous team on offense. Not to be confused with Stillwater’s star linebacker, the Sandites also feature a standout linebacker in [player_tooltip player_id="153666" first="Gabe" last="E Brown"]. And while the Sandite standout doesn’t have all of the hype that the linebacker from Stillwater has, he’s been an impact player for this Sand Springs defense all season. Following an outstanding offseason, it was apparent that Brown would be a big key to a Sandite defense this season. While they haven’t had to completely shut down opponents because of their high-scoring offense, Brown and company play like it. The History: These two teams don’t have near as much history as the other semifinal clash. This will be only the second time that they’ve met and coincidentally it’ll be the second straight year. They met each other in the first round of the playoffs a year ago and Sand Springs was able to get the 34-29 win to advance to the quarterfinals against Stillwater. The Sandites jumped out to the lead and the Antlers would make a rally in the fourth quarter but it fell short. Sand Springs led 34-19 after the third quarter and would hold on to end Deer Creek’s season in the first round. EXPERIENCE Deer Creek: Deer Creek is headed to the semifinal round for the fourth time in school history but it has been a while since the Antlers have made it this far. Back in the late 90’s and early 00’s, the Antlers made three straight trips to the Class 3A semifinals and went 1-2 during that three year stretch. In addition to their first semifinal appearance in two decades, the Antlers also won their first ever playoff game in 6A-2 last week with the win over Choctaw. Sand Springs: While Deer Creek just won their first 6A-2 playoff game, Sand Springs started off the 6A split with several semifinal appearances. In 2014, the first year of the 6A split, that was the first of three consecutive semifinal appearances for the Sandites. This will be their ninth semifinal appearance overall in school history and they hold a 2-6 record in those semifinal contests. Sand Springs will attempt to do something rare as a four-seed making it to the state title game.