Elgin primed for 4A title battle

Most high school coaches and fans have seen seasons where two really good teams have to meet in the quarterfinals or the semifinals due to how the teams are placed on the bracket, however, this year the Class 4A title game appears to have the best two teams playing in Saturday’s championship.

Saturday at 1 p.m., Elgin and Tuttle will meet at Central Oklahoma’s Richison Field in a battle of 13-0 teams. The Tigers will be the home team and be on the press box side of the stadium.

The two finalists were at the top of the Associated Press rankings for the entire season. Elgin was No. 1 every week while Tuttle and Wagoner were tied much of the season at No. 2.

Last week Elgin dispatched Wagoner, 33-10, and Tuttle blanked Bethany, 24-0, to set up the dream battle of unbeatens.

The Owls have outscored opponents 627-54 with six shutouts. Only three teams scored in double digits against Elgin’s talented defense; Newcastle (14), Weatherford (14) and Wagoner (10). Tuttle outscored its opponents 546-93 with four shutouts. The Tigers have claimed three football state titles: 2001, 2005 and 2018, while Elgin is seeking its first gold ball.

There are few secrets this late in the season as every game video is out there on Hudl or streaming services like the Oklahoma Sports Network. Elgin Head Coach Chalmer Wyatt and his assistants have been able to watch enough to know that they feel the best two teams in 4A are in the finals.

“They probably pass a little more than they run,” Wyatt said. “They have three or four really good receivers. They will spread it out and throw it all over the field. The best is probably the McAdoo (Brady) kid or maybe the (TJ) Simon kid. They are both about 6-foot but McAdoo is bigger, probably 190 or so while Simon is lighter, probably around 160.

“They will move McAdoo around but most of the time he’ll be on the left side. Sometimes he will be in the backfield. They have a good quarterback (Cruz Campbell) who is a junior who throws the ball well.

“He’s not going to run that often but he has scrambled at times and gotten some good gains. The thing about him he can get outside and throw on the run so we have to be prepared for that.”

Both teams have solid offensive lines.

“They are big and coached really well,” Wyatt said. “They have lit it up offensively this season. They protect well and their line really works well as a unit.”

When it comes to defense, the Tigers are a base 3-4 and will bring pressure often.

“We are expecting them to blitz,” Wyatt said. “In the back, they will roll up in cover-3 at times but they also run man. We have seen them bring both middle ‘backers at times but they also have been able to get pressure with their down guys. We are expecting them to try and pressure Tres (quarterback Lorah) but our guys have done a good job in protection and we will roll him out to mix things up.”

Last week against Wagoner, the Elgin defense limited the Bulldogs to just 36 yards on 13 attempts, forcing them to throw the ball and the Owls wound up getting three interceptions to throttle the Wagoner offense.

Offensively the Owls were able to run the ball and throw with equal success. Running back Ritson Meyer carried the ball 35 times for 152 yards, plus he threw for a touchdown and also tossed a 2-point PAT.

“We feel we have some good matchups,” Wyatt said. “Adam (Eaton) has the size edge and he made some great catches last week. Brody (Morrison) also had a good game last week catching the ball.”

The Owls have worked hard this week on special teams after a couple of bad snaps on punts and a couple of missed PAT kicks required attention.

“Brody has worked hard on those snaps and we feel that we have worked that out,” Wyatt said. “And we got Aidan (kicker Delgado) going. It was a simple thing last week; he was using a really small kicking block. It was a 1-inch (thick) block but it wasn’t very big so we got the right one and he’s been kicking well this week.”

The afternoon game is something new but Wyatt isn’t concerned.

“We practice every day in the afternoon so that shouldn’t be an issue,” he said. “We are getting everyone here at 8 a.m. Saturday, stretch them out, feed them breakfast, pack the bags and load up.”

For the second week, the Owls will travel in Village Travel (Prevost) buses thanks to Hilliary Communications.

“It’s been great to have those buses and the good thing; we have the same driver,” Wyatt said.

As many fans know, coaches are a superstitious group, so that put a smile on Wyatt’s face.

“Our kids are really focused,” he said. “They want this title and they have worked hard to get ready and we feel good about our game plan.”