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Publisher Note: 5A Football with Mystery BlueJay is a column by.........The Mystery BlueJay. The Mystery BlueJay will take a look at Class 5A from week to week. So who is the Mystery BlueJay? If you have a guess, or a comment on the column then visit the GSP Message Board.
Year after year, on crisp Friday nights in Oklahoma, fans rush to high school football games and year after year those fans are not disappointed. This year, being no different than others, presents an intriguing tangle of wins, losses, and statistics. This will be a look at 5A going into Week 3.
Let’s start with the first district in 5A, 5A-1. This district has only one unbeaten team: the Lawton MacArthur Highlanders, at 2-0. The Highlanders posted a win over Coweta in Week 1, 20-8, and the following week they put up 55 points to beat Lawton 55-35. Following the Highlanders are Duncan, Altus, Deer Creek and El Reno all at 1-1. The remaining teams, Northwest Classen, Chickasha, and Western Heights all have 0-2 records. Overall 5A-1 has a 6-10 loss record. Five of those ten losses have come at the hand of District 5A-2, Guthrie’s district. The top scoring defense in 5A-1 is Altus, having given up just 21 points. While the top scoring team is MacArthur with 75 points scored. This district looks to be dominated by mediocre teams that are all looking for a break that may help them make a short run in the playoffs..
Unlike 5A-1, District 5A-3 has three unbeaten teams, the second most for a district. Included in these is a very strong Tulsa Washington team that has beat two of 5A’s top teams in the Carl Albert Titans and the Tulsa East Central Cardinals. Both games were won in a convincing fashion. Tulsa Bishop Kelley posted a big win at McGuinness, 15-10, in Week 2 after they took care of Tulsa Memorial 29-0. Skiatook, the third unscathed team in 5A-3, has beaten two unranked 4A teams in Hilldale and Catoosa. In the middle of District 3, Pryor, Miami, and Rogers all have 1-1 records. By far, the surprise of this district is Bixby with a 0-2 record. This can be attributed to a tough schedule as the Spartans played two perennial powerhouses in 6A’s Jenks and 4A’s #1, Glenpool. Rounding out the bottom of this district is Tulsa Hale at 0-2, being blown out in both games. Averaging 5-points given up per game, Tulsa Bishop Kelly has this districts stingiest defense. The Tulsa Washington Hornets have put up 86 points, making them highest scoring team in 5A-3. District 3 is 9-7 overall, ranking them second in the state among districts.
District 4 is proving to be the weakest district. Only Tulsa Central is undefeated at 2-0. Tulsa Central beat Tulsa Webster of 4A, 36-21, in Week 1. Following this win, Central beat Northeast 66-0. Tulsa East Central, Coweta, and Ada follow Central at 1-1. Tulsa East Central beat Tulsa Hale in Week 1, but lost to Tulsa Washington in Week 2 46-21. Ada beat Durant, 21-20, in Week 2, with the help of 8 turnovers by the Durant Lions. The rest of the district, Stilwell, McAlester, Edison, and Tahlequah are all 0 and 2. McAlester, one of the better teams according to pre-season rankings, has not proven the writers accurate so far, but there are still 8 games to be played in the regular season. The top defense in 5A-4 is Tulsa Central, having given up only 21 points (be that against lower levels of competition). Also, Central has the highest scoring offense in the state, putting up 51 points a game.
In 5A-2, the outlook is much brighter. There are four unbeaten teams. Guthrie, Shawnee, Ardmore, and Noble all round out a tie for first place at 2-0. Shawnee has posted wins against Deer Creek and Chickasha, both 5A-1 teams. Ardmore beat Ada in Week 1 and Duncan in Week 2 in overtime. Noble has played and beaten Tecumseh and Chickasha. The Bluejays have posted wins against 0-2 McGuinness and 1-1 El Reno. Following these teams are Carl Albert, Durant, and Capitol Hill all at 1-1. Carl Albert lost to Tulsa Washington in a revenge game, 40-7, in Week 1 and the Titans followed the devastating loss by beating 6A Choctaw 42-20. Capitol Hill’s 1-1 record proves misleading as they lost to 4A’s Douglas 60-0 and beat a weak U.S. Grant team, in a dog fight. Harrah finishes off District 2 at 0-2. The best defense in this district as well as class 5A is the Guthrie Bluejays, giving up 1.5 points per game. The highest scoring offense is Shawnee with 90 points. Shawnee looks to make a run this year with Bret Davis and Brayle Brown leading the offense, but will face staunch competition during district play. The teams that make the playoffs from this district will be the most battletested. Early in the season, 5A-2 is looking to be, by far, the toughest district and most likely will have six upper echelon teams vying for a playoff spot. Expect to see a number of District 2 teams make a deep run into the playoffs.
In my mind there are three games that stick out this week. First and foremost, is Broken Arrow against Tulsa Washington. If Washington wins they will be 3-0 and will have beaten two top five teams in 5A and a team that beat perennial power Tulsa Union in 6A. Second on the list is the Noble versus Ada matchup. Ada is rated number 9 in the rankings and Noble is outside of the Top 10 even though they are 2-0. Should Noble come out victorious, there win will support the idea that 5A-2 is very strong in comparison to the other districts. Finally the last game of interest is Tulsa East Central versus Wagoner. Wagoner has had a recent history of being very strong in 4A. Also, Wagoner is coming off of a loss to 4A Grove and may be motivated to redeem themselves against the Cardinals. A convincing Tulsa East Central win would help reestablish them as a strong contender in 5A. A loss could point to a team that has not reached a point of superiority.
Stay tuned for more 5A updates.
Vote now on GSP Message Board on who you think the Mystery BlueJay is. We will reveal the Mystery in due time. Here are your choices:
1) a BlueJay Coach 2) a BlueJay Player 3) Phil Nichols 4) Casey Porter 5) Chris Evans 6) Chris LeGrande 7) Zach Robbins 8) Dennis Ochs
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