Week Two 6A-II rankings and predictions; a look at this weekend's games

No. 1 Bixby Spartans (Last week No. 1) vs Bentonville Tigers

The defending Division II State Champions from Bixby (1-0) started off the season with a bang, hammering 6A-I powerhouse Jenks (0-2) 35-18 with 21 points in the fourth quarter. RB Tucker Pawley rushed for 175 yards and three touchdowns while Staton King passed for 191 and two scores. The Spartans will be taking on Bentonville, Arkansas (0-1). The Tigers went 10-3 last season and lost their season opener 35-8 to Rockhurst, Missouri (2-1). 

The pick: Bixby 47 Bentonville 17.

No. 2 Booker T. Washington Hornets (2) vs. West Monroe Rebels

Booker T. (2-0) is off to a great start this year, topping 6A-I powerhouse Edmond Santa Fe (1-1) 35-21 and Midwest City (1-1) 27-24 in overtime. Hornet QB Phillip Wheatley recorded 197 passing yards and a touchdown. This weekend they'll travel to Shreveport, Louisiana for the Battle on the Border Football Showcase in Independence Stadium. The Hornets will take on West Monroe, Louisiana (2-0), last year's 5A State Runners-Up.

Virgil picks: BTW 33 Monroe 28.
Scott picks: Monroe 35, BTW  24.

No. 3 Midwest City Bombers (4) - Bye Week

The Bombers (1-1) lost an overtime heart-breaker to Head Coach Darrell Hall's former school, Booker T. Washington. QB Preston Colbert scored a 40-yard touchdown with a pass to Declaudio Irvin. Elliot Janish sent the game into overtime with a last-second field goal, but the Hornets came out on top 27-24.

No. 4 Sand Springs Sandtes (3) vs. No. 7 Choctaw Yellowjackets (6)

Charles Page High School (0-1) started the season with a 59-21 loss to Pulaski Academy, an Arkansas team with three-straight State Championships who always goes for fourth downs and almost always onside kicks. Caden Pennington was only 3-4-11-1 passing and nearly the entirety of the Sandite offense came from Ben Nortey and Payton Scott on the ground. Sand Springs stymied the Bruins well on the ground, but gave up 433 yards by air. 

Choctaw (1-0) trailed Sapulpa 7-6 at halftime last week but came back in the second half for a 27-21 road win. Hudson Woods was 18-28-227 passing with one touchdown and ran for 115 yards and three touchdowns. Jaryn Curry racked up 162 yards on 13 carries. 

The pick: CPHS 39 Choctaw 25.

No. 6 Lawton Wolverines (5) vs MacArthur Highlanders

It's rivalry week in Lawton as the 6A-II Wolverines (0-1) look to get in the win column against 5A MacArthur (1-0). The Wolverines lost their season debut 33-32 to the defending 5A State Champions from Carl Albert (1-0) and will have another tough match against the State Semi-finalists who trounced Eisenhower (0-1) 56-29 last weekend. 

Carl Albert held a 14-point lead midway through the fourth before Lawton staged a comeback attempt. Fortunately for the Titans, Lawton's last extra-point attempt failed on a bad snap, preventing a tie game. Miles Davis led the Wolverines on the ground with 297 yards.

MacAthur steamrolled Eisenhower with 531 offensive yards, 138 of which came from sophomore QB Race Felter who scored five running touchdowns. Nick Mahan led the ground game with 212 yards on 37 carries with one touchdown.

Virgil's pick: Lawton 31 MacArthur 28.
Scott's pick: MacArthur 31 Lawton 28.

No. 5 Muskogee Roughers (7) - Bye Week

Muskogee (1-1) had a solid start to the season, despite losing their first game. The Roughers finished last season with their first winning record since 2008 under former Guthrie Head Coach Rafe Watkins, going 9-2 and making the State Semifinals after a brief appearance at the No. 1 ranking. Now they have to prove themselves all over again after graduating nearly their entire starting offense. 

Muskogee lost a close 26-20 season opener to Midwest City (1-1), but ended on a high-note. They fell in a 26-0 deficit before getting on the scoreboard, then shut out McAlester 54-0 leaving them with a streak of 74 unanswered points over the last two games. Against McAlester, QB Jacob Medrano recorded 481 yards, finding Diante Crutchfield for 292 and three touchdowns. Defensively they held the Buffalo to less than 100 yards with five sacks.

No. 8 Bartlesville Bruins (8) vs. Cascia Hall Commandos

Bartlesville (1-1) kicked off the season with a 30-25 victory over 5A McAlester (0-2), but they had a far tougher opponent in the 6A-I Owasso Rams (2-0), who prevailed 56-14 on the Bruins' home turf. Bartlesville didn't get on the board till the second half after trailing 42-0 at intermission. Noah Sunday was 14-30-103-0 passing and the Bruins were held to only 51 yards on the ground. 4A Cascia Hall (0-1) started the year with a 21-7 rivalry loss to 2A Holland Hall (2-0). The Commandos fell in a 13-0 hole before scoring their lone touchdown. Lewis Guillory rushed for 103 yards on 14 carries, accounting for the bulk of Cascia's 199 total yardage. 

Virgil's pick: Bartlesville 41 Cascia 3.
Scott's pick: Cascia 27 Bartlesville 14.

No. 9 Enid Plainsmen (9) - Bye Week

Enid (2-0) is off to a hot start with their best record since 2012, topping Guthrie (0-2) 34-23 and Ponca City (0-2) 61-34. Junior QB Mason Skrimager passed for 191 yards and three touchdowns against the Bluejays, then recorded 290 yards and two strikes against the Wildcats. 271 yards came in the first half alone. Marlo Hughes ran for 155 yards and three touchdowns, while Seth Ellis set a single-game record for the Plainsmen with four interceptions, including a 99-yard return. Enid jumped to a 21-0 first quarter lead and was up 34-14 at halftime. 

No. 10 Deer Creek Antlers (10) vs Edmond Santa Fe Wolves

Deer Creek (1-0) started the season with a 21-13 win over Southmoore (0-1), but will likely have a tougher time with Edmond Santa Fe (1-1) who just steamrolled Edmond North (0-1) 43-7 last week. The Antler defense shined in their win with a pair of goal-line stands, while QB Hunter Freese recorded 236 passing yards with two touchdowns. It's a new era at Deer Creek under first-year Head Coach Wade Standley, who previously coached 4A Ada to an 11-10 record in two seasons.

The pick: ESF 39 DC 21.

No. 11 Putnam City Pirates (11) vs El Reno Indians

Putnam City (1-0) will host 5A El Reno (1-0) in week two after topping in-city rivals 6A-I Putnam City North (0-1) 16-10 last week. AJ Newsome was 18-31-235-0 with one touchdown in the affair and also carried ten times for 52 yards. Julian DeLoera scored a field goal and Kevonte Lloyd scored an interception return. El Reno defeated Piedmont (0-1) 27-14 in their debut. 

The pick: PC 26 El Reno 11.

No. 12 Stillwater Pioneers (13) vs Moore Lions

Stillwater (1-0) easily handled Edmond Memorial (1-1) 23-7 in their season opener thanks in part to a 10-17-170 performance from sophomore Gunnar Gundy who scored two touchdowns. Freshman running back Qwontrel Walker carried 28 times for 135 and a touchdown, completing a lethal duo of young talent that will make Stillwater a solid contender for the years to come.

Moore (0-1) had a rough start to the year, taking a 50-18 beating in their rivalry game against Westmoore (1-0). The Lions were only 14-27-151-1 passing and 48-76 rushing with four fumbles and 95 yards in penalties.

The pick: Stillwater 36 Moore 20.

No. 13 Putnam West Patriots (12) vs Putnam North Panthers

Putnam West (1-0) barely edged out Duncan (1-1) 16-15 in week one thanks to the kicking prowess of Dylan Smith. Duncan scored first, then Putnam responded with a touchdown and three field goals ranging from 23 to 30 yards for a 16-7 advantage before a Demon touchdown and two-point pass made it a one-point game. Putnam North (0-1) went down 16-10 to Putnam City (1-0) in their season debut.

The pick: PCW 17 PCN 14.

No. 14 Sapulpa Chieftains (15) - Bye Week

Sapulpa (0-2) got off to a rough start this year, falling 28-12 to Duncan (1-1) and 27-20 to Choctaw (1-0). The Chieftains were held to a pair of field goals in the second and third quarters against Duncan before Garrett Williams connected with Gerquan Sanders in the fourth from 66 yards out. Sapulpa took a 7-6 lead into halftime against Choctaw but gave up more than 500 yards to the Yellowjackets and were outscored 21-13 in the second half. 

No. 15 Ponca City Wildcats (14) vs Guthrie Bluejays

Ponca (0-2) will travel to Guthrie (0-2) this Friday and at least one of them will notch their first win of the season. The Wildcats lost their first game 28-7 to Edmond Memorial (1-1) and were hammered 61-34 by Enid (2-0) last week. Justin Andrews was 18-30-244-0 passing against Edmond, but the Wildcats were held to a mere 187 total yards against Enid. Guthrie also suffered at the hands of Enid, going down 34-23 in week one, then falling 27-13 to Shawnee. 

The pick: Ponca 21 Guthrie 10.