Class 3A Playoff Preview

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! The 2021 regular season has come to an end and it's time to get cranked up for the playoffs! Prep Redzone Oklahoma will be your home for the 2021 postseason as we'll have wall to wall coverage. From playoff previews, to the most in-depth state championship coverage you'll find anywhere, we'll have you covered. Stay tuned to Prep Redzone Oklahoma every day for more preview content throughout the week. In this post, we take a look at the Class 3A playoffs! BRACKET BREAKDOWN <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-229208" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/11/3A-Bracket.jpg" alt="" width="1228" height="691" /> <hr /> TEAM TO BEAT Lincoln Christian Bulldogs Lincoln Christian comes into the playoffs as the team to beat and if the Bulldogs capture another gold ball, it'll be their second state title in the last three seasons. Lincoln Christian opened up this season against one of the toughest non-district schedules, featuring the best of the best in 2A and were dominant in two of the three games. Lincoln's closest game during district play was a 28-point victory over Seminole. The Bulldogs have one of the best offenses in the state led by senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="52787" first="Max" last="Brown"], who is a serious contender for Prep Redzone Oklahoma Player Of The Year. There will be plenty of talk about Heritage Hall and Lincoln Christian on the same side of the bracket but we're leaning to the Bulldogs as the team to beat heading into this year's playoff run. <hr /> TOP CONTENDERS Heritage Hall Chargers Speaking of Heritage Hall, the Chargers are once again district champions and on that same side of the bracket with Lincoln. Right now, it looks like those two teams are on a crash course for another semifinal meeting as the top two teams in the 3A rankings. Just like with Lincoln, Heritage Hall played a relatively tough non-district schedule and won all of their district games by double digits. And just like with Lincoln, Heritage Hall has one of the better offensive units in 3A football and a few playmakers of their own that are among the best in Oklahoma today. And not to mention, it's been a couple years since Heritage Hall was ending the year with a state championship and that's something we're not used to seeing during the last decade. Holland Hall Dutch This time last year, there was no question who the team to beat was in Class 3A as Holland Hall began their run to the state championship. This year, the Dutch came into the season as the preseason number one team and held onto that spot for the majority of the season, until they were knocked off by Verdigris on the road. The Dutch suffered some injuries in that game as well that could end up costing them a shot at repeating as state champs. It's still too early to tell and we think that Holland Hall has to be considered a top contender going into the playoffs. While they aren't as dominant as last year's team, they still are the defending champs and could end up making another run to Edmond and I don't think that would surprise very many people who have seen this team this year. Verdigris Cardinals With nearly everyone back from last year's team, Verdigris came into this season with plenty of momentum and high expectations. The Cardinals were knocked off by Berryhill on the first Friday in October but they would rally and finish the rest of the season without a loss. That included knocking off Holland Hall and getting some revenge after they were blown out by the Dutch in last year's regular season meeting. The Cardinals are now on the same side of the bracket as the Dutch and won't be afraid for another match-up with the defending champs. Get used to see Verdigris as a top contender in Class 3A as some of their best players on both sides of the ball are just juniors and they'll still be in the championship conversation next season. <hr /> DARK HORSE Plainview Indians A team that has very quietly been a top five and top ten team throughout the season has been Plainview. Just a couple years removed from making it to the state title game, the Indians are right back in contention for another playoff run. Even if they're considered a dark horse coming into the playoffs and the majority of the conversation is on other teams. Plainview started off the season 0-2 after two brutal games to open the season and then were upset by Lone Grove in October. However, the Indians have been dominant in the final two weeks against playoff teams Sulphur and Pauls Valley. This is a team that hasn't gotten as much pub as some of the other district champions, but overlooking them during the playoffs would be a big mistake. <hr /> MARQUEE MATCH-UPS Anadarko AT Sulphur This match-up features two teams that certainly have some tradition and history and they'll face off in the first round on Friday night. Anadarko has completely bounced back from their slow start to the season and the Warriors are playing some of their best football right now. After starting 0-4, the Warriors won five out of their last six games and absolutely blew out Kingfisher in week ten to give them the three seed out of the district. They take on a Sulphur team that also had to win a big game in week ten to secure home field advantage and they were able to knock off Lone Grove by a field goal. And for Sulphur, revenge will certainly be on their mind on Friday as they face an Anadarko team that knocked them out of the playoffs a year ago. Stigler AT Berryhill It's going to be one of the biggest games of the first round, regardless of class as Berryhill will play host to Stigler. The Chiefs will get another shot at Stigler after losing to the Panthers in the playoffs two years ago. Both teams are playing some of their best football right now as the Chiefs have been on a roll since losing to defending champion Holland Hall. Stigler has been rolling and then they ran into the steamroller that is Lincoln Christian in week ten. So it'll be interesting to see how the Panthers bounce back on Friday night. The Panthers have several young playmakers that are in the middle of breakout seasons but how will they react when the bright lights of the playoffs are on and shining. Nevertheless, it should be a great game. <hr /> HISTORY LESSON A conversation that keeps coming up every single year around this time of the year is the "private vs public" debate. There's a decent amount of people across Oklahoma that believe private schools should only play against other private schools. We're not taking a side either way, and this isn't to further that discussion, more of a warning. If you're one of those people, you might just ignore the 3A playoffs. Not only are the top three teams, Lincoln Christian, Heritage Hall and Holland Hall all private schools, but those three teams also make up the last three state champions. Holland Hall won it all last year, Lincoln in 2019 and Heritage Hall in 2018. In fact, the Chargers have captured four state championships in the last seven seasons. And when these private schools have made it to the title games, they've been one-sided affairs. In the last ten seasons, Heritage Hall won three titles with Lincoln and Holland Hall each winning one. The average margin of victory for those five championships was 26.5 points per game. In the other five championships, the average margin was 9.6 points per game. Top ranked Lincoln Christian and #2 Heritage Hall appear to be on a crash course for each other in the semifinals and that would be the fourth consecutive year that those two met with a state title appearance on the line. Last year, it was two private schools battling it out for the 3A championship as Holland Hall beat Lincoln Christian. Teams like Berryhill, Plainview and Verdigris certainly have a shot as they enter the playoffs this week, but odds are it's going to be one of those top three teams raising the gold ball once again. <hr /> CRYSTAL BALL Lincoln Christian Over Holland Hall After all is said and done, we're going with chalk and a rematch of last year's state championship game as Holland Hall and Lincoln Christian will navigate their way through the bracket and make it to Edmond. And we think that things will be different this time around with Holland Hall still battling some injury issues and Lincoln Christian showing that they are one of the most dominant teams in Oklahoma today, regardless of class. As mentioned above, in the majority of those Heritage Hall-Lincoln Christian semifinal clashes, the winner has been the heavy favorite to capture the gold ball and we're leaning that way this year. In our opinion, those two teams are the top two teams in 3A today and whoever wins that semifinal clash is going to win yet another state championship. <hr /> RELATED <ul> <li><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/11/class-6a-1-playoff-preview/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">6A-1 Playoff Preview</a></li> <li><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/11/class-6a-2-playoff-preview/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">6A-2 Playoff Preview</a></li> <li><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/11/class-5a-playoff-preview/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">5A Playoff Preview</a></li> <li><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/11/class-4a-playoff-preview/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">4A Playoff Preview</a></li> </ul>