Moments after Shawnee’s 43-13 opening-round playoff win over Altus Friday night, Shawnee head coach Billy Brown was in a Spartan-like mood.
As in Bixby Spartans.
Bixby, the next roadblock in Shawnee’s state championship aspirations, became one of eight members left in the Class 5A playoff field with with a 17-13 victory over Tulsa Central.
Shawnee, 11-0 and ranked second, will entertain Bixby (7-4), ranked 11th, at 7:30 Friday night in a quarterfinal contest at Jim Thorpe Stadium.
Three other 5A quarterfinal games are set for Friday night. Third-ranked Carl Albert (9-2) is at fifth-ranked Tulsa Kelley (11-0), sixth-ranked McAlester (10-1) travels to top-ranked El Reno (11-0) and 10th-ranked Guthrie (7-4) has a road test against fourth-ranked Tulsa East Central (10-1).
“Bixby is known for its defense,” Shawnee head coach Billy Brown said. “Defensively, they have multiple blitzes and they blitz every down.”
The Spartans have been among the upper echelon 5A teams, performance-wise, since Pat McGrew arrived at the school 11 years ago. During his tenure, Bixby hasn’t won a state title but has been in the finals twice. Their other state championship finals appearance came in 1982.
Bixby’s four losses include a season-opening 47-6 decision to presently top-ranked, 6A Jenks and a second-week 45-13 decision to then top-ranked Glenpool. Both of those were non-district encounters.
The Spartans dropped district games to Tulsa Kelley, 21-17, in week No. 5 and to Tulsa Washington, 10-2, in the final week of the regular season. Washington had been forced by the Oklahoma Secondary Activities Association to forfeit six games — because of eligibility issues — prior to the game with Bixby.
Bixby’s wins have come over Claremore (35-26), Miami (49-7), Tulsa Hale (42-8), Pryor (41-10), Skiatook (28-0) and Tulsa Rogers (52-0).
Shawnee ranks No. 1 in Class 5A rushng yardage, averaging 243 yards, and is second in passing yardageat 262.
Bixby is 12th in the 5A rushing department at 176 and fourth in passing at 158.
Spartan quarterback Kevin Lamb has been very accurate, passing-wise, hitting 61-of-101 attempts for 60.4 percent.
“Their quarterback had missed the last two or three weeks with an injury but came back against Tulsa Central,” Brown said. “He’s a three-year starter for them.”
In Lamb’s absence, running back DeWitt Jennings took the QB controls. Jennings has accumulated 1,066 yards on 167 carries, including 13 touchdowns. Jennings rushed for 853 yards and 12 touchdowns in the 2008 season.
Shawnee’s Brayle Brown has completed 127 of 201 aerials for 2,244 yards and 28 touchdowns. He has been intercepted nine times.
SHAWNEE, Okla. —
