Intriguing Matchups In The First Round Of The Playoffs

Class 6A

1. Southmoore at Norman North

Norman North enters the playoffs as arguably the hottest team in 6A, having won seven straight games, including the last five by an average of 38.8 points. Southmoore comes into Friday's game with three losses in the regular season, but saw a bit of an upswing in play the past two weeks, downing Choctaw and Mustang 63-7 and 44-14 respectively.

2. Sand Springs at Broken Arrow

Broken Arrow came into the season as the trendy pick to possibly end the Union-Jenks stranglehold on the 6A state championship. However, the Tigers lost to Union and Jenks, as well as Bentonville, Ark. to start the season 3-3. They've won four straight, but aren't the team everyone thought they'd be. Meanwhile, Sand Springs went 8-2, losing to Union and Owasso in the regular season.

Class 5A

1. Guthrie at MacArthur

Two weeks after falling to Bishop McGuinness, snapping their 22-game win streak in the process, the Blue Jays have the unenviable task of taking on MacArthur on the road to start their state title defense. This rematch of the 5A championship game from last year should be a great game, and the Highlanders will be looking for revenge. The Highlanders are certainly capable of the upset, having only lost to Del City and Lawton during the regular season.

2. Memorial at Claremore

Memorial raced to an 8-0 record before flopping in their final two regular season games against Bishop Kelley and McAlester. Not exactly the way you want to be playing coming into the playoffs. On the other side, Claremore was a hair short of finishing the regular season undefeated, losing by a single point to Tulsa East Central back on Oct. 5. Memorial will have to shake off two sub-par late season performances if it hopes to move on to the next round.

Class 4A

1. Sallisaw at Wagoner

Sallisaw came into the season with pretty high expectations, but failed to deliver, losing close games to Fort Gibson and Broken Bow, while getting blown out by Cascia Hall and Greenwood, Ark. However, the Black Diamonds did play much better the second half of the season despite two losses. Wagoner has won nine straight since an opening-week loss to Coweta. The Bulldogs are cruising, having won all nine games by at least 16 points.

2. Broken Bow at Cleveland

Broken Bow is peaking at the right time, having won four in a row before last week's loss to Cascia Hall. However, the Savages gave the Commandos all they could handle in a 24-13 loss on the road. Meanwhile, Cleveland has lost two of its past three games, including last week to a McLain team that missed the playoffs. It's a tale of teams going in opposite directions, and that bodes well for Broken Bow.

Class 3A

1. Berryhill at Beggs

Berryhill had an opportunity last week to end the regular season undefeated, but came up short against Metro Christian, which is far from a bad loss. However, you have to wonder if there will be any hangover from that tough loss. Beggs, on the other hand, had only one loss in district play to undefeated Victory Christian. The Demons had a rough go in non-district games, losing all four of those, but their 5-5 record is deceptive.

2. Perkins-Tryon at Jones

Perkins-Tryon started the season with an 18-15 over Jones, then proceeded to go 4-5 the rest of the way, and is currently on a three-game losing streak. Jones only lost once more the rest of the season after that season-opening defeat, a hard fought 28-25 loss to Blanchard. The Longhorns will most certainly be looking for revenge at home Friday night.

Class 2A

1. Haskell at Vian

Vian has cruised through their season to this point, giving up just 23 points in 10 games and shutting out six opponents. It's hard to imagine Haskell being able to stop the Wolverines, but it's the playoffs and anything can happen. This is on our interesting matchups for the possibility of a massive upset, or just to be able to see how much Vian can win by in the playoffs.

2. Caney Valley at Kansas

This battle of 8-2 teams should be excellent. Kansas comes in having won five in a row after a three-point loss to Commerce Sept. 28. The Comets only other loss was a one-point loss the second week of the season to Locust Grove. Meanwhile Caney Valley has won three in a row after getting blitzed by Nowata at home, 47-15, Oct. 12. Both teams are riding solid momentum, so this is going to be a good one.

Class A

1. Okeene at Hollis

Hollis' lone blemish on their record is a 21-14 loss to Thomas-Fay-Custer last month. Since that game, they've beaten their last three opponents by a combined score of 160-40. The Tigers are another example of a team peaking at the right time. Okeene has won five of their last six after stumbling through non-district play with just a single win. Whichever team's momentum is a bit bigger is going to carry on to the next round.

2. Wewoka at Talihina

Talihina lost 36-6 two weeks ago to Savanna, the Tigers only loss during the regular season. The Tigers have been fierce on defense this season, holding five opponents to less than seven points this season. Wewoka has been all over the place, having lost two of their last three by scores of 59-18 and 63-12, with a 61-12 win sandwiched in between. However, those two losses were to the best two teams in Class A, Wayne and Wynnewood, so Wewoka is a bit better than those scores indicate.

Class B

1. Woodland at Davenport

Davenport has won their past five games, shut out three of their past four opponents, and held the other to just six points. Needless to say, the Bulldogs are rolling right now. Woodland sandwiched a seven-game win streak in between a season-opening and season-closing loss. The Cougars got blown out by 50 against Rejoice Christian last week, so they'll need a big response if they want to move on to next week.

2. Garber at Alex

Garber only lost two games in the regular season, but both were top teams in Class B: Lavernce, who has been No. 1 for several weeks now, and Pond-Creek Hunter. Outside of those two games, the Wolverines have dominated opponents all season. Alex lost a tight game to Fox in the third week of the season and has been cruising ever since, including three shutout victories.

Class C

1. Bluejacket at Thackerville

Bluejacket and Thackerville combined to lose three games this season, all to top teams in Class C. Both teams can put up points with the best of them, but Bluejacket has been a bit more proficient offensively. Either way, this game is sure to be a shootout that will look more like a basketball score than a football score.

2. Southwest Covenant at Wesleyan Christian School

Wesleyan Christian has won four in a row, holding their last three opponents to less than 10 points each. Meanwhile, Southwest Covenant has been kind of up and down all year, but hasn't played in two weeks. The Patriots defeated Bokoshe by forfeit last week, and lost to Webbers Falls the last week in October. How the Patriots come out Friday could go a long way to determining the outcome.