2A Quarterfinal Preview
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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 2A quarterfinals in this post. Stay tuned for our Class A quarterfinal preview later this week.
#3 MILLWOOD (11-1) VS #7 CLAREMORE SEQUOYAH (11-1)
Friday, 1PM @ Harrah HS
The only quarterfinal that features two ranked teams happens Friday afternoon as #3 Millwood faces #7 Claremore Sequoyah. This match-up isn’t a surprise when it comes to rankings but if you would have predicted this back in August, not many might have believed you. Claremore Sequoyah has been one of the surprise teams of the 2022 season. They were in the district with Rejoice Christian, Vinita and Pawhuska, which ended up being one of the more competitive districts in 2A this year. But the Eagles really got everyone’s attention this season by going 9-1 in the regular season and then they would go on the road and take down district champion Eufaula in the second round. Not only did they get a huge road win, they smashed the Ironheads 35-7 and have quite a bit of momentum heading into this week.
And the other side of this match-up is Millwood, who comes into this week as the only ranked team on their side of the bracket. After a rare 2021 season that saw the Falcons miss out on the playoffs, we had no doubts coming into this season that not only would Millwood bounce back and make the playoffs, but they would become contenders again in Class 2A. And that’s how this season has played out. The Falcons have won 11 games in a row after losing their season opener to 3A contender Heritage Hall. The Falcons have used a strong running game to beat up on opponents and they’ll look to continue that this week against Claremore Sequoyah. Both teams have been able to have plenty of success running the ball this year. The team that can figure out how to slow down the other will have an advantage.
CHANDLER (9-3) VS VICTORY CHRISTIAN (9-3)
Friday, 7PM @ Edmond Santa Fe HS
In a battle of 9-3 teams, Chandler faces off with Victory Christian on Friday night in Edmond. For the second consecutive season, Victory Christian had somewhat of a slow start to the season but would bounce back in a big way with a district championship. And they’ve carried that momentum into the playoffs with dominating wins in the first two rounds against Pawhuska and then Prague last week. The Conquerors are clearly playing some of their best football at the absolute right time. Now, they look to punch their ticket to the semifinals behind a balanced offense and a defense that has been able to slow down some stellar opponents in the last several weeks. They’ll need that defense, specifically the front seven to be on their A-game when they go up against the Lions on Friday evening.
Similar to Victory Christian, the Lions from Chandler are playing some of their best football right now and they are being carried by senior running back Casmen Hill Casmen Hill 5'11" | 175 lbs | RB Chandler | 2023 State OK , who has been one of the top running backs in the state over the last few seasons. He’s having a season to remember as he has over 2,500 yards on the season and he even missed one game during the regular season. Hill has reached new heights in the playoffs with back to back games of at least 300 yards. In fact, throw in week ten and Hill has nearly 1,000 yards in the last three weeks alone. We see these kinds of performances from time to time where a player puts his team on his back and carries them on a deep run in the playoffs. There isn’t another player in the state, regardless of class that has been more productive than Hill over the last few weeks.
#6 JONES (9-3) VS KIEFER (11-1)
Friday, 7PM @ Edmond North HS
On the other side of the bracket we have #6 Jones facing off with Kiefer on Friday night in Edmond. Kiefer’s only loss on the season came in the final game of the regular season when they fell to quarterfinalist Victory Christian in a district championship game. The Trojans haven’t been as dominant as some of the other teams in the elite eight but you can’t argue with results. And Kiefer has some outstanding results, especially in the last two weeks. First they beat a good Vinita team soundly in the first round. Then they followed that up by going on the road and stunning perennial powerhouse Vian 21-12 last week. That was one of the more notable upsets of the second week of the playoffs. Now they look to take down another top ten team and punch their ticket to the semifinals.
#6 Jones will look to avoid be the next team on the Kiefer hit list as the Longhorns look to win a tenth consecutive game after their 0-3 start to the season. Despite losing their first three games, we never dropped Jones out of the Class 2A rankings. And for good reason. Those losses were to the top-ranked teams in Class 3A and 2A and another loss to a ranked team in Class 4A. Ever since, the Longhorns have been perfect on the season. However, they have been playing some close games as we’ve gotten into the playoffs. They had a one-point win over Newkirk in the first round and then would beat Community Christian by seven points. But after rolling through district play, the Longhorns have now been tested the last two weeks and should be ready for a battle on Friday.
#1 WASHINGTON (12-0) VS IDABEL (9-3)
Friday, 7PM @ McAlester HS
In our final quarterfinal game, it’s the battle of the Warriors as top-ranked Washington squares off with Idabel on Friday night in McAlester. The Warriors from Washington are the last unbeaten team in Class 2A and they look to punch their ticket to the semifinals yet again as they’re searching for their third straight trip to the championship game. The Warriors have been perfect this season and they are clicking on all cylinders heading into the quarterfinal round. The Warriors got their first challenge in two months when they were pushed by Oklahoma Christian last week in the second round. After months of games that were decided by halftime, it was probably for the best that the Warriors got pushed so they had to play all four quarters. If they’re going to make a third straight title game, they have to make it to the semifinals first.
Standing in the way of Washington heading back to the semifinals is an Idabel team that we should get used to seeing in this position. The Warriors from southeastern Oklahoma are a young but extremely talented team and we have a feeling that not only is Idabel a contender this year, but they will be over the next few seasons. Idabel started off the year 1-2 with close losses to Broken Bow and a team from Arkansas. In fact, their three losses this year were by a total of 13 points this season. But despite a loss to rival Eufaula in week ten with the district title up for grabs, the Warriors have looked really good in the playoffs. And what’s crazy is when we watched them last week on the road in Beggs, they weren’t even 100 percent. But they still managed to beat Beggs 24-12 led by sophomore superstar Ravian Larry Ravian Larry 6'1" | RB Idabel | 2025 State OK at running back.