Breaking Down The 4A Semifinals

Get 25% Off Your Subscription By Entering Knight25 In The Coupon Code Area. Enjoy!   While half of the classes are now thinking about the gold ball and championship week, it's still semifinal week for Classes 5A, 4A, A-1 and A-2. It's time to get you ready for those semifinal match-ups and we start today with a look at Class 4A. Keep it locked in to Prep Redzone Oklahoma all week for more semifinal previews, and of course, we'll have all of our championship preview content up this week as well.   #1 ELGIN (12-0) VS #2 WAGONER (12-0) Friday - 7PM - East Central Univ.   When you look at the two semifinal match-ups in Class 4A this week, it's really hard not to focus a lot of the attention on this one. #1 Elgin and #2 Wagoner have been 1 and 2 since our preseason rankings came out in late June. They're both undefeated on the season and they both have been nothing short of dominant this season. Simply put, both teams have absolutely smashed their competition this season and rarely have had to play competitive games in the fourth quarter, or the second half in general. This week, it's good on good and we'd be surprised if either team rolls to another 20-30 point win. It could be decided in the final minutes and this definitely feels like a state championship-quality match-up.   Top-ranked Elgin has in our mind been the team to beat in this class since they were dropped down from Class 5A back in April. We'll never know what they'd do in Class 5A but we think they'd possibly be a team that made it to Edmond. And they've absolutely smashed their way to the 4A semifinals. The closest win was a 21-point win over Lawton Mac in the season opener. But this will be their first time playing in the semifinals in school history. While Elgin might not be used to playing this deep in the season, that can't be said for Wagoner after the last two decades. They make semifinal and championship appearances look like common occurrences. The Bulldogs have also been perfect on the season. Their closest win was a 21-point win over district rival Cushing in October. With a win on Friday night, Wagoner will punch their ticket to the state title game for the third consecutive season.   ELGIN PLAYER TO WATCH   [player_tooltip player_id='472321' first='Ritson' last='Meyer'] - Junior Running Back   This Elgin roster is absolutely stacked and there are a few players we could put the spotlight on but we're going with junior [player_tooltip player_id='472321' first='Ritson' last='Meyer'] at the running back position. Coming into this year, we thought that Meyer had the chance to be a breakout player for the Owls. You could see flashes of him being the guy last season but you never know until the player actually gets out on the field and makes it happen. Meyer has done just that as a running back who can be a workhorse in the running game or another weapon for the Owls in the passing game. He's emerged as one of the best in Class 4A.   WAGONER PLAYER TO WATCH   [player_tooltip player_id='530573' first='Kale' last='Charboneau'] - Senior Quarterback/Linebacker   When you're talking about a player to watch from Wagoner this season, the conversation starts and tops with senior [player_tooltip player_id='530573' first='Kale' last='Charboneau'] at quarterback and linebacker. Charboneau is a three-year starter for the Bulldogs and has put up some absolutely elite numbers this season as a true dual-threat signal caller. We have been so impressed with how productive Charboneau has been on offense, it's become easy to overlook how dominant he can be on defense at the linebacker position. Don't overlook that fact. And with Wagoner facing a tough Elgin front, the Bulldog front seven will be important.   #3 TUTTLE (12-0) VS #5 BETHANY (10-2) Friday - 7PM - Yukon   It's always tough to beat a team twice in the same season and that's the challenge for the undefeated Tuttle Tigers as they head into this semifinal clash with district rival Bethany. These two programs have gotten very familiar with one another over the last six seasons with meetings in the regular season and then with much higher stakes in the playoffs. The Tigers have been on an absolute mission from the start of this season and appear to be one of the best teams in this class. While Bethany has been a team that feels like they are right there on the door step. They're knocking on the door of joining programs like Tuttle and Wagoner and some of the other consistent contenders. They look to kick that door down on Friday night.   For Tuttle, the Tigers have been perfect this season. They come into this week's game with a 12-0 record and they have simply been dominant in almost every game this season. They had two non-district wins over Guthrie and Newcastle, who are playing each other in the 5A semifinals. And when they met Bethany in October, the Tigers prevailed with a 42-19 victory and rolled to the district championship. On the other side of the match-up, Bethany had to fight to get to this point. They lost back to back games to top five teams Blanchard and Tuttle and that put them as a three-seed heading into the playoffs. They haven't felt like the underdog. They beat Weatherford on the road 28-6 and then Ada on the road 30-6 to punch their ticket to Friday night's semifinal rematch against Tuttle.   BETHANY PLAYER TO WATCH   [player_tooltip player_id='1348269' first='Judson' last='Gilliland'] - Junior Running Back/Linebacker   Bethany's [player_tooltip player_id='1348269' first='Judson' last='Gilliland'] is one of the more underrated two-way players in the state this season and he has the numbers to back that statement up. First off, at running back, he's well over 1,000 yards and has 25 touchdowns on the ground. At linebacker, he's also well over 100 tackles on the season and is one of the team's top defenders. When we look at this match-up, it's hard to look away from what he can do on offense. If he's able to be a workhorse and grind out long drives, that will keep Tuttle's explosive offense off the field and give Bethany a good chance to pull off the semifinal upset.   TUTTLE PLAYER TO WATCH   [player_tooltip player_id='211560' first='CJ' last='Simon'] - Senior Wide Receiver   As we publish this breakdown on National Signing Day, Tuttle senior wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id='211560' first='CJ' last='Simon'] will be signing his letter of intent with UTEP. Simon was one of the top available prospects in the state's 2025 class and he's headed out to west Texas to play college ball. Simply put, Simon is absolutely dynamic with the ball and he helps make Tuttle even more dangerous with his ability to stretch a defense and put a lot of pressure on their secondary. In our opinion, Simon has been that kind of playmaker for several years now and it's awesome to see him playing on a big stage and also headed to the next level.

Get 25% Off Your Subscription By Entering Knight25 In The Coupon Code Area. Enjoy!