Midseason Good Teams, Bad Records

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!   It's hard to believe but we're at the halfway point of the 2023 regular season. Fortunately, we have a little over two more months of football before we're crowning champions in Edmond in early December. This week, we're taking a wide look at the state as we're now at the midseason point. We'll be looking at some of the surprise teams to teams that might have bad records but will still be in the mix when the playoffs roll around. Then we'll put a spotlight on some of the best players in the state. From midseason MVPs to midseason breakout stars.   In this post, we're putting a spotlight on five teams that have losing records after the first half of the season but you should not overlook them moving forward. At this time last year, we were writing about Owasso following a 1-4 start and the Rams made it all the way to the 6A-1 state championship game. Will any of these teams make it from 2-3 all the way to Edmond? Only time will tell. But we know that despite a bad record, these are still good teams that are capable of a lot this season.   JENKS (2-3)   Class 6A-1 has just been wild outside of top-ranked Bixby. Jenks has certainly been part of that as not many saw a 2-3 start coming from the Trojans that also includes a win over Union. They tripped up against Edmond Santa Fe and Westmoore in upset losses at home and fell on the road to Owasso. But this is still a talented Jenks team that is going to be right back in the mix at the end of the year. Sophomore running back [player_tooltip player_id='402378' first='KD' last='Jones'] is having a strong season as a complete offensive threat as a running back and as a pass catcher. This week will certainly be interesting and we have to see it in person as Jenks travels to Norman North on Thursday night. The Timberwolves beat the Trojans at Allan Trimble stadium a year ago and they come into this game with plenty of confidence. But there's no doubt that the Trojans are going to be hungry to get back in the win column.   BARTLESVILLE (2-3)   Bartlesville is a team to look out for in Class 6A-2 that might have been written off after non-district play. The Bruins began the season with three straight losses to ranked teams from Class 5A. It was a tough non-district schedule and Bartlesville battled through some injuries in September. But they've won two in a row, including a road win over Booker T Washington and they still have all their goals ahead of them. They have a three-week stretch coming up where they'll play #4 Stillwater, #5 Sand Springs and #1 Muskogee in consecutive weeks. It's another brutal three-week stretch but the Bruins will be no stranger to that when it comes around. And junior running back [player_tooltip player_id='515901' first='PJ' last='Wallace'] is putting up monster numbers this season and more people should be talking about him moving forward. He's one of the best running backs in Class 6A-2 and is becoming one of the best overall in the state.   EL RENO (2-3)   El Reno also had a tough stretch with the non-district slate and first game of district play where they lost three in a row, including a pair to top five teams in Class 5A. But nobody can argue that the Indians are playing some terrific football right now. They are coming off a high-scoring win over Noble and one of the biggest stories of week five was their star running back [player_tooltip player_id='917639' first='Malachi' last='Nicholson'] setting the record for most yards in a single game with over 500 on the night. Nicholson is yet another example of a talented running back in Class 5A, a class that feels like they have all the best running backs. At this point, despite the 2-3 record, El Reno still feels like a playoff team to us. And they can prove that with some key games down the stretch. If they can carry the momentum from the Noble win into the second half of the season, we won't be surprised to see El Reno playing in November.   ELK CITY (2-3)   Elk City is another example of a team that we are not going to overlook anymore. We thought they would take a step back last season and they went on to win the district championship. This season, they are 2-3 and have lost three in a row, including a tough loss to Clinton last week. But we saw firsthand last season that weird things can happen in this district. The Elks are not out of the running for the district championship. They'll need to take care of business the rest of the way and they'll need a little help to overtake Clinton but we learned last year that it's possible. Elk City is still a team to watch out for in Class 4A and at this point, we're not going to be overlooking them moving forward. Not after last season. Arguably their toughest remaining game is at home against Weatherford in week eight. Take care of business there and you have a shot.   HOLLAND HALL (2-3)   Holland Hall finds themselves on this breakdown for the second straight season but they've shown some improvement in 2023. They were 1-4 at this point last year and rattled off five straight wins to make the playoffs. Before the Dutch move up to Class 4A next season, they are looking to contend in their district and make another playoff appearance. The rest of their schedule is manageable and they could lock down a home playoff game and if they get some help, they have a shot at still winning the district title. Cascia Hall rallied to beat the Dutch in week four so they will need some help to overtake them in the district race. But the Dutch have some young talented players that we're definitely going to be keeping an eye on. And this team proved last year that taking some lumps against a tough schedule can make you stronger for the second half of the season.

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