A Quarterfinal Preview
Get 50% off your subscription by entering Savings50 in the coupon code area for our special early Black Friday deal! Enjoy! It’s officially Thanksgiving week and while a lot of the attention across the state is on the semifinals taking…
Access all of Prep Redzone
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingGet 50% off your subscription by entering Savings50 in the coupon code area for our special early Black Friday deal! Enjoy!
It’s officially Thanksgiving week and while a lot of the attention across the state is on the semifinals taking place in 6A-3A, the quarterfinals are taking place in 2A and A and we’re breaking down the Class A quarterfinals in this post. You can check out our Class 2A quarterfinal preview RIGHT HERE.
#2 FAIRVIEW (12-0) VS STROUD (10-2)
Friday, 7PM @ Kingfisher HS
Our first quarterfinal match-up takes place in Kingfisher as #2 and unbeaten Fairview will take on Stroud. The Tigers are looking to continue their unexpected run in the playoffs by punching their ticket to the semifinals next week. And when we say unexpected, we’re talking about the expectations back in August and September. Stroud would start off the season 0-2 with blowout losses to 2A quarterfinalist Chandler and fellow A quarterfinalist Colcord. They haven’t lost since. But while the ten consecutive wins and overall record coming into this week is impressive, it’s also hard to compare Stroud to some of the other teams in Class A. Their run to the elite eight has not been as tough as some of the other teams, but they’ve found a way and their one win away from the final four.
A lot of the same can be said about Fairview coming into this week. They haven’t played the toughest schedule, but everyone they’ve played, they’ve absolutely smashed. Their closest game this season was a 21-point win just a few weeks ago in the regular season finale. But unlike Stroud, Fairview came into this season with lofty expectations in the preseason. They have been ranked #2 all season behind Gore and with nearly everyone back on both sides of the ball, including plenty of firepower on the offensive end, there were plenty of reasons to be excited about a potentially special season this year for Fairview. But eventually, the Yellowjackets are going to run into a game where they have to play all four quarters. That could end up being on Friday evening. How they respond will be important.
#3 RINGLING (12-0) VS #7 COLCORD (12-0)
Friday, 7PM @ Moore HS
#3 Ringling is once again unbeaten and back into the quarterfinals as they look for yet another semifinal appearance. Up first is a showdown of undefeated teams when they take on #7 Colcord. Ringling was another one of the teams back in July and August that we expected to be in the mix when Thanksgiving week rolled around. The Blue Devils have become one of the more consistent powerhouses in Class A and they make no secret about what they do and do well. They play outstanding defense and lean on a strong running game to set up the pass. But the Blue Devils have been tested this year. In fact, they were on the ropes last week in the second round. They would avoid an upset by beating Walters 28-22 but that game was close throughout and Ringling trailed several times during the game.
On the other side of this match-up of the unbeaten teams is #7 Colcord. We’ll be honest, we didn’t see this one coming back in July or August as the Hornets definitely have to be considered one of the major surprise teams in Class A this season and in Oklahoma overall. The eastern Oklahoma team will take a long road trip to Moore where they’ll square off with the southern Oklahoma powerhouse. Colcord has been perfect on the season and like several of the other unbeaten teams this year in Class A, they have never flinched once this season. After somewhat of a shootout in week one against Kansas, Colcord’s defense has been lights out. They’ve beaten the rest of their opponents by at least 21 points and have given up more than ten points just four times all season. But the quarterfinal against Ringling will be their toughest test to date.
#4 HOMINY (12-0) VS HOOKER (9-3)
Friday, 7PM @ NWOSU
On the other side of the bracket, we have another unbeaten team in #4 Hominy taking on Hooker, who comes in at 9-3. This is going to be a very fun match-up featuring two quarterbacks who are some of the better dual-threat guys at the position in Class A. Hooker has to be considered a surprise team to the quarterfinal round after they started the year 3-3 and they would end up fourth in the district after a three-way tie did not shake out in their favor. Despite that, the Bulldogs have been playing great football since that 3-3 start and it really got cranked up in the first round when they dominated district champion Apache. They followed that up by winning a shootout to punch their ticket to this week’s quarterfinal game. But they aren’t going to settle for a quarterfinal appearance. They want to keep this thing going.
Standing in the way of that is #4 Hominy, who has been every sense of the word “perfect” this season. You can make the argument that out of all the unbeaten teams in Class A right now, Hominy has been the most battle-tested in terms of their non-district schedule and the district slate that they’ve played. The Bucks certainly look like a true state championship contender and that continued in the playoffs as they had blowout wins in each of the first two rounds. They are led by a quarterback who seems destined to reach a very rare accomplishment of 2,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards. Both teams have outstanding dual-threat quarterbacks and we could end up seeing a shootout on Friday night at NWOSU. Both teams enter this game with plenty of confidence that they are going to win and move on.
#1 GORE (12-0) VS #10 CRESCENT (10-1)
Friday, 7PM @ Harrah HS
Our final quarterfinal match-up features top-ranked and undefeated Gore facing off with #10 Crescent. The Pirates have been in the top spot of our Class A rankings since the preseason rankings dropped in late June. They haven’t budged from that spot, and for good reason. Throughout the regular season, the Pirates were the most dominant team in Class A and one of the more dominant teams in the state. They shut out eight of their ten regular season opponents and lit up the scoreboard on the other side of the ball. They’ve won all 12 games by 34 points or more and they finally got over the Woodland-shaped speed bump that has ended their season the last two years. They did so in impressive fashion, beating Woodland by 35 points in the second round last week. Now they turn their attention to Crescent and look to avoid a let down.
Before Gore can start thinking about the semifinals, they have #10 Crescent on Friday night. Crescent is another team that coming into the season, hand up, we didn’t have as one of the final teams in the Class A playoffs. But with two-time defending champion Cashion taking a step back this season, that opened the door for someone else in the district to make a run and Crescent grabbed the opportunity and absolutely ran with it. Unlike some of the other teams in Class A that have been dominant all year, Crescent’s 2022 campaign has been full of one-score games and games that went down to the wire. Four of their wins this season were by seven points or less. And that includes last week, when they survived on Friday night with a 19-18 win over Mooreland. Now they face their toughest test of the year with the Pirates.