By: Sandite Pride Editorial Board
No. 1 Muskogee Roughers (Last week No. 3) vs No. 2 Booker T Washington Hornets (2)
Rafe Watkins's Muskogee Roughers (5-0, 2-0) came into the season highly ranked, but it wasn't high enough for them. Friday night on their home turf, the Roughers upset the top-ranked two-time defending State Champions from Bixby (2-3, 0-1) 45-42 in a wild aerial shootout. Muskogee quarterback Jacob Medrano finished 20-33-377-1 for four touchdowns, and running back Molijah Gilbert carried 20 times for 99 yards.
The Hornets (4-2, 2-0) completed their second-straight shutout of the season with a powerful 45-0 victory over Sapulpa (0-5, 0-2). QB Phillip Wheatley has accounts for the bulk of the Hornet offense and surpassed 1000 yards for the season Friday night. The run game is stacked with Rylan McQuarters, Tyler Holmes, and Garrick Jackson all in triple digits for the year.
The Pick: Muskogee 43, Booker T 35
No. 3 Bixby Spartans (1) vs No. 15 Sapulpa Chieftains (15)
The Spartans (2-3, 0-1) may have lost their battle with the Roughers, but it wasn't due to poor performance. QB Tanner Griffin was 33-49-318-1 for four touchdowns and Tucker Pawley ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns. The Spartans have had a tough schedule thus far in the season, but should have an easy time getting their first district win Friday night in Sapulpa (0-5, 0-2).
Sapulpa posted a mere 54 yards passing and 67 yards rushing in their sixth-straight loss Friday against Booker T.
The Pick: Bixby 60, Sapulpa 3
No. 4 Midwest City Bombers (4) vs No. 11 Choctaw Yellowjackets (10)
The Midwest City Bombers' (3-2, 2-0) first four games this season were decided by a touchdown or less, but they broke that streak Friday night at Deer Creek, scoring their first shutout since mid-2014. Astin Anderson finished with 130 yards on 23 carries, but it was the defense that starred, giving up an incredible 3 first downs and 78 yards of total offense in the 35-0 rout.
Choctaw (2-3, 0-2) led the Enid Plainsmen with a minute and a half left last week before giving up an interception deep in Enid territory and allowed their opponents to score a touchdown with 17 seconds left for the 43-39 win.
The Pick: Midwest City 31, Choctaw 14
No. 5 Sand Springs Sandites (5) vs No. 14 Ponca City Wildcats (14)
The Sandites (3-2, 1-0) secured their third-straight win Friday night at home in a non-conference matchup with Yukon (0-5) and dominated the entirety. The visiting Millers scored before either offense ever stepped foot on the field, returning the opening kickoff 95 yard for a touchdown. That would be their last score till the fourth quarter as the Sand Springs defense drilled the Millers with seven tackles for loss totaling 35 yards, as well as two sacks, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles. While the run-game has dominated the Sand Springs offense this year, QB Hunter Greathouse had his time to shine, throwing 13-24-192-0 for two touchdowns, and secured his career-best run game with eight carries for 58 yards and a touchdown. Payton Scott netted his fifth-straight triple digit run game with 22 carries for 144 yards and a touchdown.
Ponca City (1-4, 0-2) lost their second-straight game to Bartlesville (2-3, 1-1) Friday night, despite a solid passing performance from Brice McDougal. The Wildcat QB finished 19-37-176-1 with two touchdowns, but the run game amounted to a mere 29 yards as a team with no touchdowns. Kicker Mitchell Wilson sank a pair of field goals. The return game was strong, averaging about 14 yards per punt return and 16 yards per kickoff return. The Sand Springs special teams have had a hard time stopping returns this season, so the Wildcats will likely look to capitalize on that.
The Pick: CPHS 40, Ponca 17
No. 6 Lawton Wolverines (7) vs No. 12 Stillwater Pioneers (11)
Lawton (2-3, 1-1) got back in the win column with a big district battle against Putnam City (3-2, 1-1) last week, racking up a 20-0 lead in the first half. Sophomore backup QB Kyler Jenderseck replaced Zack Hanna who tore his MCL in practice this week. He completed 5 of 12 passes for 48 yards and scored on touchdown on the ground. The defense was the MVP of the game, making several big plays including a tipped pass in the endzone by Kejuan Neal to prevent a touchdown. Miles Davis recovered a muffed punt at the Putnam 22, leading to a touchdown run on the next play by Tre Curry. Curry carried the offense with 29 runs for 168 yards and two touchdowns.
Stillwater (2-3, 0-2) made a big case for themselves early in the season, going 2-1 against ranked 6A-I opponents. Since then, they've given up two-straight district losses, 21-14 to Deer Creek (1-4, 1-1) and 10-7 to Putnam City West (4-1, 2-0). The Pioneers traveled to Putnam Friday and trailed 10-7 with 3:34 left and a fourth and goal conundrum. They went for the touchdown instead of the field goal and were stuffed. The Stillwater defense was stout through the game, giving up only ten rushing yards till the final minutes when the PC QB scrambled 81 yards and nearly scored. The Pioneers rallied for turnover on downs deep in their red, but QB Garrett Leming threw an interception three plays later. Leming only completed 2 of 12 passes for 10 yards with 3 interceptions. The run game was strong with the Pioneers, however, with a little over 200 yards between three carriers.
The Pick: Lawton 23, Stillwater 10
No. 7 Putnam City West Patriots (8) vs No. 8 Putnam City Pirates (6)
A rivalry game with major district implications; Putnam City (3-2, 1-1) and Putnam West (4-1, 2-0) are both top dogs in their district and both have a lot to play for. The Patriots look to continue their undefeated district winning streak and hold themselves to a one-loss season. The Pirates need to reassert themselves after going down 26-14 against Lawton.
The Patriots won a close one over Stillwater (2-3, 0-2), only coming up with a 10-7 victory, but it was a victory nonetheless. They're one of only two teams left without a district loss and are shaping up to possibly make their first playoff appearance of the twenty-first century. They have already matched their record from last season, their best since 2000, and can only go up from here. QB Trey Gooch and Memphis commit WR Nick Robinson have brought heavy offense all season until they encountered Stillwater, and hope to build momentum before their crucial match up against Midwest City next week.
The Pirates have only two losses this season, both to solid opponents in Bixby (2-3, 0-1) and Lawton (2-3, 1-1). QB A.J. Newsome was 12-28-168-0 passing against Lawton and led on the ground with 20 carries for 84 yards and two touchdowns. The special teams were impressive, averaging fifteen yards per kick return and 29 yards per punt return.
The Pick: Putnam West 23, Putnam City 21.
No. 9 Deer Creek Antlers (9) vs No. 10 Enid Plainsmen (12)
Deer Creek (1-4, 1-1) has had a hell of a schedule this year, starting the season with three straight losses to top-ten 6A-I opponents before finally finding a win against Stillwater. In week two of districts they went up against Midwest City and were shutout 35-0, their first shutout loss since 2011. The Antlers were held to a mere 78 yards of total offense and three first downs. QB Hunter Freese completed only 6 of 18 passes for 45 yards and was sacked three times. With the exception of the last game, the Antlers have actually played fairly well this season, averaging 24 points per game in their first four encounters, before being smothered by the powerful Bomber defense.
Enid (2-3, 1-1) secured a big upset over Choctaw (2-3, 0-2) last week, coming from behind for a 43-39 win. The Plainsmen averaged 5 yards per carry for 236 total, and first-time starting QB Mason Skrimager was 31 of 41 for 233 passing with no interceptions.
The Pick: No consensus. Scott Emigh says 28-14 Deer Creek, Virgil Noah says 28-14 Enid.
No. 13 Bartlesville Bruins (13)
The Bartlesville Bruins (2-3, 1-1) will take a bye week after winning a district match against Ponca City (1-4, 0-2) Friday night. QB Garrett Meidl was 16-26-294-1 with three touchdowns; two by air and one on the ground.
