Mud puddles hard for Blue Devils to ignore

Coaching in any sport culminates with wins and losses, however, along the way the leaders of any team work to instill pride, teach fundamentals, give athletes structure, set goals and build discipline.

In football, the hot days of August welcome those who turn out to play the game and for the next 14 weeks the routine is hectic; practice, scrimmages and then games.

Somewhere along the way another element is needed and that’s to have fun.

Last week Wynnewood and Walters had to delay their important district battle to determine which of those teams would be runner-up in District A-2 when storms ended up affecting the lights and the teams had to play Saturday afternoon at muddy Elmer Graham Stadium. Volunteers used pumps to drain standing water in several areas and they put down sand but there were still puddles, especially on the sidelines.

After an impressive Walters victory, the Blue Devils did what kids will do around standing water; they started running and sliding in the mud. It was time for some fun after all those weeks of practice and 10 tough games.

And there were kids of all ages getting involved as Head Coach Faron Griffin joined in the fun much to the delight of his players and the appreciative Walters fans.

That was last week; now things get serious again as 10 area teams including the Blue Devils enter the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association football playoffs Friday across the state.

Leading the area charge are two district champions, Elgin in Class 4A and Tipton in Class C, and three other area teams that will be hosting games this week: Marlow in Class 2AI, Walters in Class AI and Empire in Class BI.

All three Lawton teams are in the playoffs for the first time in recent history, however, all three are on the road. Eisenhower makes its first trip to the 6AII playoffs at Sapulpa, MacArthur visits Guthrie and Lawton High faces Bishop McGuinness in two interesting Class 5A games.

The big story in eight-man ranks is Tipton’s bid to claim its third straight state title, while Snyder (BI) and Mt. View-Gotebo (C) are also trying to pull off big upsets on the road.

While we didn’t reach the prized 80 percent mark this season with our picks, we’re going to try and finish strong, so here are this week’s picks with home teams listed in all-capital letters:

Class 6A-II

Eisenhower 27, SAPULPA 21—Both teams are 4-6 but there is little doubt the Eagles played a much tougher schedule. Javon Harris is a defensive guy and we expect the Eagles to play their best game defensively and get a huge road win.

Class 5A

MacArthur 24, GUTHRIE 21—The Highlanders had a rare game last week where they made critical turnovers late in the game to allow McGuinness to leave Lawton with a victory. Mac’s offense must control the ball this week and not give the Bluejays a short field. Mac’s secondary may very well be the difference as we see it.

McGUINNESS 28, Lawton High 21—The Wolverines have shown the ability to move the football but they’ve had some issues at times in the Red Zone. LHS also needs its best defensive effort of the season to advance.

Class 4A

ELGIN 35, Ardmore 7—Josh Newby’s Tigers will try to pull off the upset using their Flexbone offense to confuse the Owls with fakes and miss-direction. We thing they may have a couple of chunk plays along the way but Elgin’s defense has a cast of veterans who don’t get rattled, which is critical in the playoffs. Offensively the Owls just have too many weapons, the best offensive line we’ve seen in a couple decades and a four-year starter at quarterback.

Class 2A-I

MARLOW 28, Chisholm 13—Playoff time brings out the best in the Outlaws, especially this defense that has given up just 38 points in nine games. The only time that group gave up more points was in a 35-28 loss to No. 1 Washington. Another factor; the Outlaws are double tough at home.

Class A-I

WALTERS 27, Cashion 7—While the Blue Devils have one of the best athletes in the area in BJ Palmer, Coach Griffin also has a bunch of dependable role players who just go out and make plays. The only thing missing Friday night will be the mud!

Class B-I

LAVERNE 42, Snyder 12—Cyclones should be proud that they won a couple of games they needed to make the playoffs, however, Laverne is one of the favorites and that long road trip doesn’t make things any easier.

EMPIRE 34, Garber 16—Bulldogs have been rolling all season with just the one loss coming at the hands of a really strong Hollis club which suffered two losses to Tipton and Laverne, teams that are expected to reach the state finals.

Class C

TIMBERLAKE 49, Mt. View-Gotebo 14—Timberlake is ranked No. 2 and is the odds-on favorite to advance to the finals where a likely match with Tipton awaits.

TIPTON 48, Balko/Forgan 6—Travis White and the Tigers are trying to build momentum like they seem to always do when the playoffs arrive. A three-peat is possible if the Tigers keep playing well on both sides of the ball.

Last week: 13-4, 76.5 percent. Season: 118-37, 76.1 percent.