There is no definite answer, at least not yet, as to the number of area football teams that will be partaking in first-round playoff action Friday night.
Meeker’s status for the Class 2A postseason will not be finalized until Wednesday when the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association hears an appeal from Jones.
Jones appeared in good shape after logging a 7-0 mark en route to what it believed was the District 2A-2 championship. But last Thursday the OSSAA ruled that the Longhorns employed an ineligible player and would have to forfeit six games, five of which were district contests.
With that ruling, Jones fell by the playoff wayside while Meeker became the fourth and final member of 2A-2 to move to playoff status. Should the ruling hold up, Meeker would be matched up against Heritage Hall, the 2A-1 champion, in a first-round playoff game at Heritage Hall.
The OSSAA board of directors will listen to Jones’ arguments Wednesday. Should the directors rule for Jones, Meeker would again be out of the playoffs and finished for the season. Should the directors rule against Jones, Meeker would take a 6-4 overall record (4-3 district with the Jones’ forfeit) against a Heritage Hall squad that is 6-4 overall and 6-1 in district play. Heritage Hall features Barry Sanders Jr., who has rushed for more than 1,300 yards.
Shawnee’s top-ranked, Class 5A Wolves, who completed a perfect regular season last Thursday night with a 42-10 victory over Capitol Hill, will be home against unranked Altus. The Bulldogs logged a 4-6 overall record that included a fourth-place finish in 5A-1 at 3-4.
Altus concluded its season last Friday night with a 13-10 loss to Chickasha,
Shawnee won the 5A-2 district title with a 7-0 record.
Two other Lincoln County squads, Chandler and Prague, will join Meeker in the 2A playoffs.
Chandler, the 2A-5 champion at 6-1 (6-4 overall), will serve as a host to Spiro (5-5, 5-2), the fourth-place finisher in 2A-6. Chandler, the defending state runner-up, is ranked 20th while Spiro is unranked.
Unranked Prague, third in 2A-5 at 5-2 and 6-4 overall, will travel to 18th-ranked Stigler (7-3, 5-2).
Tecumseh and Seminole, the third and fourth-place finishers in District 4A-2, will hit the road for the first round.
Tecumseh (8-2, 5-2), ranked 11th, will venture to Bishop McGuinness, last year’s state runner-up. The perennial power and ninth-ranked Irish have logged an 8-2 record, including a 6-1, second-place finish in 4A-1.
Fifteenth-ranked Seminole (4-6, 3-4) will face unbeaten and second-ranked Weatherford (10-0, 7-0), the 4A-1 champion.
Two undefeated Tri-County entrants, Class A Stroud and Class C Maud, will be home Friday night.
Maud, ranked third, will face a tough first-round obstacle in Covington-Douglas, Despite finishing fourth in the ultra-tough District C-3 at 5-3 (6-4 overall), Covington-Douglas is ranked ninth.
Stroud, with its first undefeated regular season in 40 years, will carry a 10-0 record against unranked Savanna, 7-3 on the season.
All of Friday’s first-round kickoffs are slated for 7:30 p.m.
