Class 5A Playoff Preview

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!   The 2022 regular season has come to an end and it's time to start taking a look at the playoffs! Prep Redzone Oklahoma will be your home for the playoffs from now until the last state champion is crowned in Edmond. In this post, we're taking a complete look at the Class 5A playoffs. From the favorite to all of the contenders and match-ups to keep an eye on, we have you completely covered. Keep it locked in for a Players To Watch feature later on today and throughout the next week for more class breakdowns!   PLAYOFF BRACKET   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2022/11/5A-Bracket-1-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-504372"/></figure>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/>   TEAM TO BEAT   Coweta Tigers (10-0)   Coming into the season, Coweta was a top five team in our preseason rankings. But it didn't take long for them to rise to the number one spot in Class 5A. In week zero, they took down a Carl Albert team 44-14 that was atop the preseason rankings. From that point on, the Tigers sat on top of the rankings in Class 5A. Playing in one of the tougher districts in Class 5A, Coweta ran the table with an unbeaten record. That included a massive win at home over McAlester where they won 49-0. Then they went on the road late in October and beat Del City in overtime. One big question about the Tigers going into the playoffs will be the quarterback position. The Tigers lost senior [player_tooltip player_id='51055' first='Carson' last='Laverty'] early in the season with a collarbone injury. However, the senior QB appears to be ready to return but fellow senior [player_tooltip player_id='219074' first='Na'Kylan' last='Starks'] has been holding down the offense and performing incredibly well, especially in Coweta's biggest games. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers work Laverty back into the lineup and how this offense looks moving forward. But there's no doubt that Coweta has earned their number one ranking and the target of being the team to beat heading into the Class 5A playoffs.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/>   TOP CONTENDERS   Bishop McGuinness (8-1)   Bishop McGuinness seems to always be in this conversation year in and year out and they are hoping that 2022 is the year they finally capture that elusive gold ball. The Irish came into this season as one of the top teams in Class 5A and after an 8-1 record, the Irish are ready to finish on top. McGuinness has been on a roll since the toughest part of their schedule, which featured a three-point win over Guthrie on the road, following a seven-point loss to rival Carl Albert at home. And the Irish also could benefit from Guymon becoming an independent team this season. Because of that, the Irish did not have a game in week ten so they actually had a bye week as they head into the playoffs. After a stretch where the Irish made it to the state title game four out of five years from 2016-2020, the Irish are hungry to make it back to the title game and contend for the title.   Carl Albert (8-2)   Coming into this season, Carl Albert was the preseason number one team in Class 5A. They hit some speed bumps early in the season, including a road loss to Coweta and a home loss to Muskogee. But the Titans come into the playoffs as one of the district champions and they have been outstanding over the last month, including an impressive 41-7 win over Guthrie, coming one week after knocking off McGuinness on the road. In that loss to Coweta, the Titans lost senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='150088' first='Reed' last='Dequasie'] to a collarbone injury. Not only is he back, but he's given the Titans an immediate boost on the offensive side of the ball. The Titans have also enjoyed junior running back [player_tooltip player_id='360239' first='Xavier' last='Robinson'] evolving into one of the best overall players in the state. Carl Albert appears ready to contend once again for the state title after coming up short last year, ending their title streak at five.   Grove (10-0)   In addition to Coweta, the only other undefeated team in Class 5A is Grove, who moved up to Class 5A after playing well in Class 4A last season. The Ridgerunners have been simply dominant this season. They've only had one game that was decided by less than 20 points and that came in non-district play against former district rival Wagoner. They even went on the road and knocked off defending champion Collinsville by 28 points in late October. We knew that the Ridgerunners were going to be one of the top teams in Class 5A this season with all of the returning talent, but we didn't necessarily expect them to be as dominant as they've shown this season. The return of their senior backfield with quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='38818' first='Carson' last='Trimble'] and running back [player_tooltip player_id='57158' first='Emmanuel' last='Crawford'] makes the Ridgerunners one of the top teams in Class 5A with one of the more explosive offenses in the state.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/>   DARK HORSE   Midwest City Bombers (8-2)   We had a few options for the dark horse heading into the Class 5A playoffs but we had to give the edge to Midwest City, who is one of the hottest teams in the state as they head into the playoffs. They are the fourth district champion and come into the playoffs after an 8-2 regular season. The Bombers began 0-2 with back to back losses to rival Carl Albert and Del City. Midwest City hasn't lost since then and have won games in a variety of ways along the way. They've won behind dominating defense, they've won shootouts and then in week ten, they showed that they have a bit of the "clutch gene" and won a district championship over Elgin on the road. The Owls scored to go ahead with 1:29 left in the game. Midwest City responded by driving right down the field, scoring the game-winning touchdown with just 11 seconds remaining to get the 23-21 win.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/>   MARQUEE MATCH-UP   McAlester (8-2) AT Collinsville (9-1)   I mean what else could it be? You have Collinsville hosting McAlester as a first round game in a rematch of last year's state championship game. It doesn't get much better than that. The Class 5A playoff bracket is our absolute favorite bracket as we think there are eight or nine teams that could legitimately make a run to the semifinals or even the state championship game. And one of them will be getting knocked out in the first round. McAlester finished third in the district after losses to Coweta and Sapulpa in district play, while Collinsville finished second in their district, following a loss to Grove. It's a rematch of last year's most entertaining state championship game. Collinsville would knock off the Buffaloes in an instant classic. But a lot of the playmakers from that game for Collinsville graduated while the Buffaloes bring back star running back [player_tooltip player_id='91049' first='Erik' last='McCarty'].   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/>   HISTORY LESSONS   District Sweep Coming?   Every season, we see a few districts that are incredibly top-heavy and end up being more competitive than others. When that happens and the playoffs roll around, we end up seeing those top-heavy districts dominate the first round match-ups. In Class 5A, we could see that from a few districts as 5A-2 and 5A-3 were two of the top districts in the state. Those districts feature six of the top seven teams in our Class 5A rankings heading into the playoffs. While it doesn't seem likely that either of these districts will complete a first round sweep, don't be surprised if it ends up happening. There's no doubt that the biggest hurdle to it happening will be in the first round games that feature district champions from other districts.   East-West Balance   For the majority of the last two decades, Class 5A has been dominated by west side teams. Last year, the power shifted over to the east side with Collinsville and McAlester squaring off for the state championship. This season, it looks like we have about as balanced of a class as we've seen in recent memory. When you look at the Class 5A top ten rankings heading into the playoffs, five teams are from the east side and five teams are from the west side. Going into the postseason, we think that we'll see that balance play out with one east side team and one west side team make it to the title game. But of course, anything can happen and history says that it might be two west side teams make it to Edmond for the championship game.   New Teams, Instant Impact   The 2022 season brought along a new district cycle as teams moved up and down and also got placed into new districts. In Class 5A, they saw four new teams as Del City and Midwest City moved down from Class 6A-2 and Elgin and Grove moved up from Class 4A. And all four new teams have not only made it into the playoffs, all four spent time this season in the top ten and two (Grove and Midwest City) are district champions. Before the season, Del City, Grove and Midwest City looked like the best picks for that instant impact on making it to the playoffs in their first season in Class 5A. But Elgin has to be one of the bigger surprise teams this year. Not only are they into the playoffs, but they even battled Midwest City for the district crown in week ten.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/>   CRYSTAL BALL   Carl Albert Over Coweta   We're going with a week zero rematch for a state championship pick with Carl Albert and Coweta meeting in the state title game. With how loaded this bracket is, just making it to Edmond is going to be difficult. But when it comes down to it, we're leaning on the top two teams going into the playoffs with unbeaten Coweta and 5A powerhouse Carl Albert. When they met back in late August, Coweta ran away from the Titans. But as we mentioned earlier, the Titans lost their senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='150088' first='Reed' last='Dequasie'] on the first drive of that game. Coweta is a senior-led team that remembers how last season came to an end against Carl Albert in the quarterfinals. This season, we see them facing off in the title game. And as we mentioned, Class 5A is our favorite bracket because of all the great competition. This is one of the toughest predictions but we're giving the slightest of edges to Carl Albert in this one. The Titans add another gold ball to the trophy case, their sixth in seven seasons.   Keep it locked in for a Players To Watch feature later on today and throughout the next week for more class breakdowns!

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