Week Zero’s Ten Best Games

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Get 25% Off Your Subscription By Entering Knight25 In The Coupon Code Area. Enjoy!</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The long offseason has finally come to an end. The 2026 football season is upon us and kicks off this week with week zero! Every Monday, we're going to kick things off with looking at the ten best games across the state with a breakdown on each! And because we can't follow our own rules, we might have a few more games to look out for each week. Keep it locked in to Prep Redzone Oklahoma every day for new content dropping on the site!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>BIXBY AT OWASSO</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For the fifth straight year, the Battle Of The Burbs opens the season with Bixby facing Owasso. This will be the ninth time these two have faced off in the last five years. Bixby has captured four straight 6A-1 state titles with three of them coming against Owasso. But Bixby will look different this year as they have to replace the majority of their starters. But they aren't lacking talent on either side of the ball. For Owasso, this is a team that is getting very tired of silver. The last time they hosted Bixby was two years ago and they kicked off the season with a massive win over the Spartans. They'll look to repeat that performance and get a huge week zero victory. But this time, they'll look for it to be the first of many that leads them to their first state championship since 2019. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>BROKEN BOW AT McALESTER</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's 5A versus 4A here as McAlester will welcome in Broken Bow in another marquee match-up this week. Broken Bow comes into this season with very high expectations after making a run to the 4A semifinals last season. They have arguably the best football player in the state at the quarterback position and they come into this season atop the Class 4A rankings. They'll be looking to get out to a very fast start with an emphatic road win. On the other end, McAlester begins year two under head coach Jeff Craig. They started last season slow with several losses in a row right out of the gate. But they finished strong and now they want to start strong this season. It's also been a couple years since the Buffaloes contended for the state title and a win Friday would be a good start.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>We will have highlights of this game on our Prep Redzone Oklahoma YouTube Channel!</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HOLDENVILLE AT VIAN</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In one of the marquee small school match-ups, Vian will host Holdenville in a big week zero clash. Vian has dropped down from 2A-2 to A-1 and they have a massive chip on their shoulder after losing in the last two state championship games in 2A-2. They are hoping for a new start this season in many ways. Lance Winans takes over as head coach after spending 15 years on the staff as an assistant. Holdenville comes into this season with a ton of momentum after contending the last two seasons. They also bring back the majority of their starters on both sides of the ball. Now, they will look to go on the road and make a statement with a win over Vian. In this battle between two Wolverines, don't be surprised if both of these teams end up making a run to Edmond in December.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HOLLAND HALL AT CASCIA HALL</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The annual Hall Brawl kicks off the season as Cascia Hall hosts Holland Hall in their annual rivalry game. Cascia Hall will also host the Dutch as they are celebrating their 100th year as a school this year. The Commandos will be looking for some revenge this year after losing to the Dutch last season. Cascia Hall looks like a serious contender in Class 3A this fall. On the other side of the match-up, Holland Hall will look to play spoiler in the opening game of Cascia Hall's 100-year celebration. The Dutch beat Cascia Hall last season and it snapped a three-game losing streak to the Commandos. Holland Hall has moved down to Class 2A-1 for the next two seasons and there's a chance that they contend right away. Don't be surprised if they kick things off with a major win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>LINCOLN CHRISTIAN AT JONES (THURSDAY)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's the game of the week as 3A's top-ranked Jones hosts 2A-1's top-ranked Lincoln Christian. This it the ultimate "ships passing in the night" game as Jones is the defending 2A-1 champion that is now in 3A while Lincoln Christian is the defending 3A champion that is now in 2A-1. Lincoln Christian comes into this match-up with a 42-game winning streak. The Bulldogs will test that streak against a brutal non-district schedule. For Jones, the Longhorns begin the Jeremy Reed era as he takes over as head coach. There is no doubt that this is one of the best games that we'll see in the first month of the season as two champs face off. On Wednesday, we'll go more in-depth on this match-up with our weekly "Scene Setter" preview, featuring the best game of the week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>We will have highlights of this game on our Prep Redzone Oklahoma YouTube Channel!</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MANGUM AT THOMAS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Way out in western Oklahoma, we have a marquee match-up in Class A between two top five teams as A-1's Mangum travels to face A-2's Thomas. These two used to both be in A-2 and were district opponents. They have played instant classics in each of the last two years. There's no reason to think Friday night won't see another one. Mangum has moved up to Class A-1 and the Tigers expect to contend right away with one of the more experienced teams in that class. Thomas remains in Class A-2 and the Terriers are a top five team heading into this season but they definitely have some holes they need to fill. Mangum stunned Thomas in the final minutes last season in a late season match-up featuring undefeated teams. This is a marquee rematch to kick off the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MARLOW AT MILLWOOD</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In a rematch of a a memorable double overtime 2A-1 semifinal, Millwood will host Marlow on Friday and coincidentally, neither are in 2A-1 anymore. Eyes will be on Millwood this week as they begin a new era under first year head coach Mike Billingsley. The Falcons have a ton of talent returning on both sides of the ball. They are also dropping to 2A-2 for the next two seasons. Marlow is heading up to Class 3A for the next two years and the Outlaws look like a team that can definitely contend for the state championship. They have a ton of firepower on both sides of the ball. They open the season with a big match-up in Oklahoma City. We're going to learn a lot about both of these state championship contenders following their head to head clash on Friday night. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>MUSTANG AT CHOCTAW</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's one of the more intriguing match-ups of week zero as Choctaw will host Mustang in a battle of top five teams from 6A-1 and 6A-2 respectively. It's no secret that both Choctaw and Mustang have benefitted from the heightened player movement in Oklahoma the last several years and this offseason was no different. Both teams have reloaded on both sides of the ball and both teams expect to contend for the state title in their respective class. Choctaw has played for the last two state titles in 6A-2 while Mustang is looking for their first state title game appearance in over two decades. There will be plenty of new faces on both sides of this match-up Friday night. There's also going to be a ton of star power as both teams feature plenty of top prospects to watch. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>We will have highlights of this game on our Prep Redzone Oklahoma YouTube Channel!</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NEWCASTLE AT CARL ALBERT</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In a rematch of one of last year's Class 5A semifinals, Carl Albert will host Newcastle. The Titans beat the Racers in last year's semifinal, on their way to capturing another state championship. They open this season with a 53-game winning streak. They will have a shot at breaking the state's 11-man win streak this season but have to take care of business here against the Racers. Newcastle will start a new era under first year head coach Bo Bradshaw. He's been apart of a staff that has gotten the Racers to the semifinals in each of their first two seasons in Class 5A and the expectation remains the same this season. For Bradshaw, it will be a homecoming as he played for the Titans and also got his coaching start there. Both of these teams are 5A state title contenders. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>WASHINGTON AT PERKINS-TRYON</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's a marquee 3A-2A match-up on Friday night as Perkins-Tryon hosts Washington. The Demons have been knocking on the door of truly competing for the 3A state title over the last few seasons and they come into this year expecting to be there in the end. They bring back the majority of their starters from last year but this is the first of several very competitive non-district games for Perkins-Tryon in the next few weeks. Washington will be coming into this week with a massive chip on their shoulder. They lost the 2A-1 state title a year ago after capturing three straight from 2022-2024. The Warriors are no strangers to marquee non-district games. They will come into this match-up expecting to win and pick up some momentum heading into a tough non-district slate.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>PLUS THREE MORE GAMES TO FOLLOW</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>FAYETTEVILLE, AR. AT STILLWATER</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Stillwater opens their season hosting Arkansas powerhouse Fayetteville on Friday night. The Pioneers expect to contend for the 6A-2 state championship. We've seen Oklahoma programs go head to head with the Purple Dogs from northwest Arkansas. The Pioneers have lofty expectations and this will be our first chance to see them in action.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>JENKS VS SOUTHLAKE CARROLL, TX. (THURSDAY @ COTTON BOWL)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This might be the biggest game of the week as Jenks faces Texas powerhouse Southlake Carroll inside of the Cotton Bowl on Thursday night. This game features one of the top marquee programs from both Oklahoma and Texas. The setting for the game just makes it another special moment. Jenks looks to pick up momentum early this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>UNION AT BENTONVILLE, AR.</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Union heads to northwest Arkansas to face Bentonville for the third straight year. The last time they went to Bentonville, we ended up seeing a high-scoring and very entertaining game that went to overtime. The Redhawks also ended up being victorious in that one. Bentonville beat the Redhawks last season so this year's meeting will be the grudge match.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->