3A Quarterfinal Preview
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The Class 3A quarterfinal round kicks off this week and we’re taking a look at all four match-ups. While Class 3A has been dominated by the private schools for a few years now and it looks like they are the favorites once again this season, we do have some intriguing match-ups this week with spots in the semifinals on the line. Keep it locked in to Prep Redzone Oklahoma for all of our quarterfinal previews in the various classes.
#5 CASCIA HALL (9-2) AT #2 METRO CHRISTIAN (11-0)
Cascia Hall and Metro Christian both had an immediate impact after moving up to Class 3A from Class 2A this season and they square off Friday night with a spot in the semifinals on the line. It’s a top five clash as the Patriots look to remain the only undefeated team left in Class 3A when they host Cascia Hall. There’s no other word to describe Metro Christian this year other than “dominant”. The Patriots are not only unbeaten, but with the exception of an early season road win over Poteau, the Patriots have blown out just about everyone they’ve gone up against. The Patriots are led by their senior quarterback Kirk Francis Kirk Francis 6'1" | 185 lbs | QB Metro Christian | 2023 State OK , who has firmly established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the state. Francis has been flawless this season, leading the Metro offense. But he will be tested this week against a Cascia defense, who’s strength is their linebackers and players in the secondary.
For Cascia Hall, the Commandos extended their state record streak of consecutive playoff appearances this season and they are hungry for more. 2016 was the last time the Commandos played in the semifinals and for a program like Cascia, that’s a drought. They opened up their postseason run with a dominating win over Muldrow in the first round last week. But this week will be the complete opposite in terms of opposing styles. Muldrow’s strength on the offensive side of the ball was their running game. Metro Christian can go an entire game and run the ball less than ten times and be just fine. That will certainly give the Commandos a different look from a defensive perspective. Cascia hasn’t faced an offense like this all season and it will be a challenge, but Cascia’s strength on offense is their running game, which could shorten the game and limit Metro’s chances on offense. It should make for an entertaining game.
KINGFISHER (8-3) AT #1 LINCOLN CHRISTIAN (10-1)
Top-ranked Lincoln Christian dominated in last week’s first round win over Bristow. The offense put up nearly 70 points in the 50-point win and junior quarterback Luke Milligan Luke Milligan 6'2" | 185 lbs | QB Lincoln Christian | 2024 State OK was nearly perfect on the night as he continued to put up some big numbers. As we’ve written about a few times over the last month, it’s easy to look at Lincoln Christian and focus only on the offensive side of the ball. That has been lights out and there’s no doubt about it. But the defense has been equally as dominant and they are determined to be a big key to Lincoln capturing their second state championship in the last four seasons. The Bulldogs are looking for their fifth straight semifinal appearance and what would ultimately be their fourth straight trip to Edmond to compete for the gold ball. Standing in the way is a Kingfisher team that is traditionally one of the better teams in Class 3A as they go head to head on Friday night.
Kingfisher is the underdog in the match-up as they come in as a three seed from their district and upset Lone Grove in the first round a week ago. The Yellowjackets were just outside of the top ten coming into the playoffs but they survived and advanced, which is the name of the game in November. And Kingfisher has done a good job of that in the last two weeks. In their last two games, Kingfisher had to go on the road to face Anadarko and Lone Grove. They won by a combined six points. The win over Anadarko allowed Kingfisher to avoid a first round match-up against Heritage Hall, while the win over Lone Grove moved them on to this week’s quarterfinal match-up with the top-ranked Bulldogs. There’s no doubt that Kingfisher is the underdog coming into this match-up but it would unwise to overlook the Yellowjackets if you’re Lincoln Christian and start looking ahead to the semifinal round.
#10 STIGLER (9-2) AT #3 HERITAGE HALL (10-1)
#3 Heritage Hall is looking for their sixth consecutive trip to the semifinals when they play host to Stigler on Friday night. And for the Chargers, they are determined to not only punch their ticket to the semifinals, but they want to finally get over the semifinal hump and make it to their first state championship game since winning it all in 2018. It’s been a tale of two seasons for the Chargers. The non-district Chargers and then the district Chargers were two totally different teams. The district Chargers were flat out dominant and their closest game was a 24-point win over defending 2A champion Marlow. The key to their success over the last two months has been the return of senior two-way star River Faulkner River Faulkner 5'11" | 205 lbs | ATH Heritage Hall | 2023 State OK to the lineup. On offense, he’s one of the best running backs in Class 3A. And on defense, he’s one of the best linebackers in the state. He’s made a tremendous defense and the Chargers are clicking on all cylinders. The Chargers host Stigler on Friday night and expect to come out with a win.
Similar to Kingfisher going to Lincoln Christian, Stigler comes into this match-up as the underdog. But the Panthers have been in this position before many times, including in their playoff opener. They were underdogs to two-time defending champion Holland Hall in the first round as they went up against a Dutch team that had won five in a row and appeared to be playing their best football at the right time. Stigler would stun Holland Hall on an 85-yard pick six with less than a minute to play to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals and solidify the fact that we would have a new Class 3A champion this season. Stigler is looking for their second semifinal appearance in the last three seasons and with a win on Friday night, they would not only punch their ticket to the semifinals, they would clinch a spot in the 3A title game for a public school, which has been a big topic in 3A over the last few years. Stigler has won three in a row after they lost back to back games to Muldrow and Lincoln Christian.
#6 PERKINS-TRYON (9-2) AT #4 VERDIGRIS (10-1)
In our last quarterfinal game, we have another marquee match-up as #4 Verdigris will host #6 Perkins-Tryon. As we mentioned, Class 3A has been dominated by the private schools but if a public school is to make a run, one of these two teams are likely to do it. First, Verdigris has been one of the best teams in Class 3A, not only this year, but over the last few seasons. Ever since they were upset by Bristow in early October, they’ve been perfect. They’ve won their last five games and the defense has stepped up in a big way. In their two toughest games during this five game winning streak, against Cascia Hall and Berryhill, the Cardinals have enjoyed shutout victories. That dominant defense has been led by senior linebacker Reese Roller Reese Roller 6'0" | 210 lbs | LB Verdigris | 2023 State OK over the last three seasons and he’s one of the top defenders in the state once again this season. We’ve mentioned how special this senior class is for the Cardinals and they look to punch their ticket to their third semifinal appearance in the last four seasons.
For Perkins-Tryon, they are looking to to create some history by punching their ticket to what would be their first semifinal appearance since 2000 when they were in Class 2A. The Demons have been a consistent playoff team over the last decade but seem to always get tripped up in the quarterfinal round, including a quarterfinal loss to Verdigris back in 2019. But this is a new Perkins-Tryon team with some young but very talented players and they are playing excellent football right now. They crushed defending 2A champion Marlow in their playoff opener and junior running back and defensive end Tre Stevenson Tre Stevenson 6'0" | ATH Perkins-Tryon | 2024 State OK could not be contained on either side of the ball. He had a fantastic night and helped lead to the blowout win. This is a Perkins-Tryon team that has been one of the best teams in Class 3A this season. Their only two losses are to 4A’s #1 Cushing and 3A’s #2 Metro Christian, both of which are 11-0 on the season. The Demons are hungry for that 3A semifinal spot and they can clinch it on Friday.