Week 8 Predictions

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

#1 Booker T Washington (6-0, 4-0) District 1

#3 Bixby (5-2, 3-1) District 1

Bixby may have fallen down the rankings a little bit after being upset by Bartlesville, but only a fool would count them out of the race for the state title. BTW barely held off Bville for a 3-point win last week to remain perfect, but this late in the season all eyes are focused in on the gold and anything can happen. Booker T wins by an average of 36 points this season, but knock out the pushovers from that lineup and things have been a lot closer. The only real challenges they've had have been #8 Midwest City whom they beat 28-16 in week one and #2 Bartlesville last week. Bixby, meanwhile, opened the season by running up 24 points against the top team in the state, the number 12 team in the nation. The only team to score more points against Jenks this season was Union who only outdid the Spartans by a field goal. This is the game to watch this week and while I'm picking BTW, if I had to pick an upset, this would be it.

I say Bixby scores first, BTW gets the run of things, Bixby surges late in the fourth for the last two TDs of the game with conversions on each but ultimately falls short.

The pick: BTW 35, Bixby 30

#2 Bartlesville (6-1, 3-1) District 1

#13 Sapulpa (1-5, 0-4) District 1

Get ready for another beat-down, Sapulpa, the Bruins are leaving ruins in their wake. The Chieftains are putting up decent points on everyone, but they're allowing far too many to stand a chance against this double headed offense. Expect Colton Penrod to clear 2000 season-passing yards this game while running-back Jarron Hilger should easily drum up another 100 yards rushing. Sapulpa is not without its stars, however. Keep your eyes on Dae Williams who just passed 1000 yards rushing for the season in last week's loss to Bixby. 

After last week's loss to BTW, Bartlesville will be looking to prove themselves before the playoffs. They should have no problem riding a 3-0 streak into the post season, but how they get those wins will be the true judge of their playoff-potential.

The pick: Bartlesville 47, Sapulpa 20.

#4 Charles Page (3-3, 3-1) District 1

#6 Muskogee (3-4, 3-1) District 1

The second-biggest game of the week will be in Sand Springs, and while the Bixby vs BTW game will be the most exciting, this game will have the most playoff implications. Unless something crazy happens, it looks like BTW, Bville, and Bixby have the top three spots locked up, so the Sandites and Roughers will be battling it out for the bottom-seed. The Sandites have one of the top ranked defenses in the state and get the home-field advantage. While Sand Springs has won 47% of games under Dustin Kinard, they've won 57% of home games.

Both teams tend to keep a pretty even pass-rush split. Sandite QB Hunter Greathouse should surpass 1000 season-passing yards this game while runningbacks Payton Scott and Lane Lettich will both likely pass 500 rushing yards.

The pick: CPHS 35, Muskogee 21

#5 Lawton (5-1, 4-0) District 2

TX #754 Triple A Academy (4-4)

The Wolverines get a bye week not just from district play, but from challenging play, as they travel to Texas to take on Triple A Academy.

The pick: Lawton 61, Triple A 7.

#7 Stillwater (3-4, 2-1) District 2

#9 Putnam City West (3-4, 1-2) District 2

This is another either-or game with the potential to throw things around in District 2. The West side of the state is a lot less settled than the Tulsa Metro and Lawton is the only clear top dog. Three weeks ago I would have picked PCW hands down. Now I'm not so sure either way. PCW had the more decisive victory over Choctaw, but Stillwater pulled off an upset over Midwest City, while PCW was floored. PCW lost by more points to Lawton, but Stillwater was shut out. 

I'm calling this game a shootout with Stillwater pulling it off by a late-fourth field goal for the win, but I'm prepared to be wrong.

The pick: Stillwater 38, PCW 36

#8 Midwest City (5-2, 3-1) District 2

#12 Choctaw (4-3, 2-2) District 2

MWC pretty much has playoffs locked in, despite an upset by Stillwater. But if they let a game go to the Pioneers then I wouldn't be surprised at all if whatever went wrong there continues to go wrong this week. Stillwater barely held off a last minute surge by Choctaw last week and I think after this game we'll see that the Bombers loss to the Pioneers was just a fluke. Or we could see Choctaw rallying for a late-season attempt at the playoffs.

The pick: MWC 27, Choctaw 13.

#10 Ponca City (1-5, 0-4) District 1

#11 Claremore (2-5, 0-4) District 1

Its the battle for the bottom spot in District 1. The only reason I have Ponca ahead of Claremore is because so many of Claremore's starters are injured, including their starting quarterback. While Noah Grimett has been a great fill-in for the Zebras, ultimately I see this one going to the Wildcats.

The pick: Ponca 44, Claremore 30

#14 Enid (1-6, 0-3) District 2

#15 Eisenhower (0-7, 0-3) District 2

These two teams will be battling it out to see who gets stuck with the title of "worst team in 6A." It may sound harsh, but it's a position somebody has to occupy. Not everybody gets a trophy in this sport--not yet anyway. 

The pick: Enid 27, Ike 16. 

My Record

• Week 1: 10-2 (.833)
• Week 2: 12-2 (.857)
• Week 3: 6-3 (.666)
• Week 4: 6-2 (.750)
• Week 5: 5-3 (.625)
• Week 6: 8-0 (1.00)
• Week 7: 8-0 (1.00)
• Overall: 55-12 (.820)

CPHS ruins Enid's homecoming with 33-7 win

 By: Scott Emigh, Sand Springs Leader Sports Correspondent

ENID — Sand Springs picked up their second win of the season, ruining the Plainmen’s homecoming festivities.

The Charles Page High School football team beat the Enid Plainsmen 33-7 Friday night on the road, jumping out to a 20-0 lead before the Plainsmen could put any points on the board.

Click here for the full story.

Week 2 Football Rankings

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Here's the consolidated rankings for all you stat geeks like me out there.

Sand Springs at Enid: Week 2 Pre-game

Friday, September 11th, the 1-0 Charles Page High School Sandites will travel to Enid to take on the 0-1 Plainsmen in the second game of the season. 

CPHS annihilated the 5A Nathan Hale Rangers at the Eastside Sports Complex in their season opener 61-8, while Enid was handily defeated 41-14 at Ponca City.

Both teams are led by inexperienced Quarterbacks. Sand Springs junior Hunter Greathouse got his first varsity start against Hale and threw for two touchdowns before the JV squad went in at the second half. Enid’s Tanner Lingenfelter, a senior, started against Ponca and was replaced late in the second quarter by junior Colton Troxell. Troxell went 5-of-15 passing for 105 yards and two touchdowns, and led his team in rushing with 45 yards. Lingenfelter is now listed as WR in the current roster from Enid so it’s unclear who will get the start this Friday.

Dustin Kinard is in his ninth year as the Sand Springs Head Coach and has a record of 41-45 with four trips to the playoffs. If the Sandites perform as well this season as they have the past three seasons, he can expect to claim a winning record this year. His win over Hale helped him move up a rung on the Sand Springs ladder, surpassing Gary Quimby in win percentage.

Steve Hayes is in his first year at Enid, but was Head Coach at Texas’s Trinity Christian Academy for 11 years where he amassed an 88-49 record that included 11-straight playoff appearances and 4 state final games.

Sand Springs has an 11-14 record against Enid.

The series began in 1978 when AD James was Head Coach in Sand Springs. The Plainsmen won the first three installments, 7-6 in Enid, 13-12 in SS, and 20-14 in Enid. Quimby took over in 1980 and the Sandites won the fourth installment 21-7 at home under QB Eric Haines.

By their next meeting in ‘88, LD Baines was the man in charge in SS and Blair Culley was QB. The Sandites won 40-16 at home, but were not so fortunate the next two years. With Brett Pennington at QB, the Sandites lost 10-9 on the road, then 17-3 at home in ‘89-90. ‘90 was a big year for CPHS as they defeated both Union and Jenks in a playoff run before losing to Putnam City North in the semi-finals.

Enid won 24-14 in 1991 and 35-6 in ‘94 before SS finally scored the first shutout of the series, 20-0 in ‘95 with QB Dustin Morrow. The Plainsmen were shutout again in ‘96 by Keith Hooks, 21-0, then were defeated 30-22 in the famed ‘97 season when CPHS went 12-1 before losing by three points to Yukon in the semi-finals.

SS won the next two games before entering their dark days in 2000. The Plainsmen won 21-6, 45-29, 40-7, and 34-6 before a 4-year hiatus in the series.

The next time the Plainsmen met the Sandites was 2008—their first game against Dustin Kinard. They beat the Minutemen 38-23, 28-14, and 44-29 before the Sandites finally turned it around with QB Darrack Harger in 2011. Harger threw 14-of-27 for 272 yards and two touchdowns in a 59-13 beat-down.

From there it’s been all Sandite wins. 2012 was the best year for the Sandites since ‘97 and the Enid game was a big one. Cody Hildebrant became the highest-scoring receiver in school history with 11 touchdowns, and QB Cody Hale broke the single-season passing record with over 2,200 yards and tied the school record of passing touchdowns with 21. The Sandites won 35-21.

2013 saw the Sandites beat the Plainsmen 21-16 to place second in district and secure their first home playoff game since ‘97—which they went on to lose to Westmoore 31-10.

Last year the Sandites narrowly held off a two-point-conversion with a minute to play that would have tied the game, and won 16-14.  Charles Page went on to finish the season 8-4 and win their first playoff game since ‘97.

Enid’s longest winning streak against SS is 7 games, opposed to 5 by SS. CPHS has won the last 4 matchups.

Kick-off is at 7PM in Enid, so come support your Sandites on their path to state!