Elgin, Tipton get playoff nods

When the playoffs arrive, there are never any easy picks as the level of competition climbs dramatically as we witnessed last week with seven area teams being eliminated, leaving just three teams in the race for the gold ball.

Elgin in Class 4A, Marlow in Class 2AI and Tipton in Class C are the remaining teams and they are three programs that were expected to be among the survivors after the first week of the playoffs.

Elgin and Tipton are both undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press high school football rankings and they are just where most coaches expected them to be at this point.

While Marlow reached the state semifinals last year in Class 3A, they did lose some talented players and coach Matt Weber expected that his team would need a good effort from its defense to allow the offense to build some consistency.

Blayd Harris has done a good job of running the offense and that has been the extra spark the Outlaws needed to survive a tough schedule and get a hard-earned 21-14 win over Chisholm last week in Marlow.

Now the Outlaws must go on the road to face Kingston and that will be a tough assignment. So, it’s time to check out the old crystal ball and see how we see the three area teams faring this week.

All three games are scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday.

ELGIN 28, Sallisaw 7—It’s hard not to notice that the Black Diamonds have given up 25.4 points per game in their district matchups and they gave up three touchdowns in a 27-26 overtime win over Grove last week. The Owls’ defense is going to have a good plan to slow down Sallisaw and we’ve seen the Elgin offense playing some of its best football at the right time. Checking a little deeper, Sallisaw was pounded by Ada this season and one of the Tigers’ losses was to Ardmore by a 42-18 score. Last week the Owls blanked Ardmore, 43-0. That seems to solidify this pick.

Marlow 28, KINGSTON 27—This game could go either way but the Outlaws have to play well offensively and produce TDs when they get into the Red Zone. Marlow’s defense will need another good effort this week to get the win.

TIPTON 42, Welch 21—The Tigers will be ready because Welch is one of the better clubs in the Class C bracket but that long road trip and the vocal fans in Tipton will have the Tigers playing well at the right time. This group might not be as dominating as the past two state championship teams but we see them clearing this hurdle and moving into the semifinals.

Last week: 6-4, 60 percent. Season: 124-41, 75.2 percent.