MOORE — Drama.
It’s what sports fans crave. And this year’s high school football season has brought about as much drama as any in previous years.
While Norman High and Norman North took care of business and have secured a playoff spot, they just await their first round opponent.
That is not the case for they other 6A schools in the area who have postseason aspirations. Southmoore and Westmoore head into the final week of the regular season still not sure what the future holds for them.
The Jaguars (6-3, 4-2) clinched a playoff spot with its 56-0 win over Tulsa Edison on Friday. It’s tied with Putnam City for the No. 3 seed in District 6A-2. But both teams are only one game out of the No. 2 seed, where Broken Arrow resides.
Westmoore and BA will conclude the regular season against each other Friday in Broken Arrow. The Jaguars can finish anywhere from No. 2 to No. 4 in the district.
Heading into last week, Southmoore (6-3, 3-3) and Mustang were tied for fifth place in District 6A-4. They both trailed Edmond Memorial and Lawton High by one game. However, Mustang beat Lawton and Memorial lost to Santa Fe to make it a four-way tie with one game left in the season. Only two of them will advance to the postseason.
The SaberCats and Edmond Memorial are the odd teams out right now. Even though Southmoore lost to the Bulldogs, it sits at No. 5 due to points.
No matter what scenario, Southmoore has to win Friday in order to make it into the postseason. The rest of it is out of its hands.
“All we can do is execute and do what we can do to get that spot,” Southmoore senior Jonathan Martin said. “If we fall short, we fall short. But we can do everything in our own power to help us secure that spot.”
Wild win confuses playoff picture: With Mustang’s wild win over Lawton on Friday, Norman High was guaranteed second place in the district.
The rest of the playoff picture is a bit more fuzzy.
Four teams remain tied with a 3-3 district record. Out of those four squads — Lawton, Edmond Memorial, Mustang and Southmoore — only two will make the playoffs, all because of Mustang’s hard-fought victory over the Wolverines.
In the game, which Mustang won 37-34, the lead changed hands four times in the second half. Lawton fought back from a 10-point deficit to take a 34-30 lead late in the game, but Mustang’s Frankie Edwards led the Broncos on a 10-play, 80-yard drive in the final minutes to put Mustang on top for good. The Bronco defense was then able to stuff Lawton on the last drive of the game to clinch the victory and throw the playoff picture into confusion.
“You better be able to play in this district,” Mustang coach Ty Prestidge said after the game. “Outside of Norman and Edmond Santa Fe, we’re scratching and clawing.”
Mustang visits Southmoore at 7 p.m. Friday, while Edmond Memorial hosts Putnam City West and Lawton visits Norman.
Kicking problems solved: After almost an entire season of looking for a steady field goal kicker, Southmoore may have finally settled on their man. In its 63-7 win over Choctaw Friday, Alejandro Cordero went 9-of-9 from extra point.
“I was pleased with our extra point guy,” Southmoore coach Jeff Brickman said. “We’ve had different kickers here and there. He mad nine in a row and we haven’t done that in a long time. So I was really pleased with him.”
Starter benched: Southmoore was without Karltrell Henderson Saturday after the 1,000 yard rusher was benched for discipline issues. He was replaced in the lineup by Reginald Danzler, who had a strong game for the SaberCats.
Brickman has not guaranteed that Henderson will get his spot back this week against Mustang.
“We had some discipline issues last week with Karltrell,” Brickman said. “He understood, he took and he had a great week of practice. But he understood going in that he had to do some things there.. Hopefully he will have another good week of practice next week and he will be able to start for us next week.”
Michael Kinney Follow me @eyeamtruth mkinney@mooreamerican.com
