Dewar travels to Caddo for B-5 title showdown
The high school regular-season football schedule concludes this weekend with lots of teams still battling for a spot in the 2023 postseason.
In Okmulgee County, two teams have already punched their ticket to the playoffs, while two others enter the regular-season finale playing for pride, as their postseason dreams were dashed in the last two weeks.
The final two county gridiron squads enter Week 10 with their playoff hopes hanging on very thin threads.
The Dewar Dragons and Wilson Tigers will open postseason play next week with first-round games in front of their hometown fans due to finishing in the top two spots in their respective districts.
Wilson captured its first-ever district championship last Friday with a 15-0 forfeit win over South Coffeyville and will look to close out the regular season with a win Friday at home against the Watts Engineers, which will give the Tigers their first-ever undefeated playoff record in school history.
Dewar earned a first-round playoff home game last Friday with a 66-6 road victory over the winless Midway Chargers. The Dragons will close out their regular-season schedule Friday at Caddo and a showdown with the Caddo Bruins to determine the Distict B-5 champion in 2023. Also on the line will be the Dragons’ two winning streaks, which stand at 53 (regular season) and 34 (district), as well as Dewar’s consecutive district title streak, which stands at six.
The two county teams that enter the regular-season finale with slim chances of earning playoff spots are the Henryetta Golden Knights and Beggs Golden Demons.
The Knights will travel to Keys High School on Friday to battle the Keys Cougars for the fourth and final playoff spot in District 2A-5. Both teams enter the Week 10 contest with identical 3-3 district records with the winner earning a postseason berth.
The Demons are currently tied for fifth in District 2A-7 with the Morris Eagles with 2-4 records and were scheduled to travel to Sperry on Thursday to battle the Sperry Pirates, who currently hold the final playoff spot in 2A-7 with a 3-3 district record.
The two county teams that will look to end their regular-season schedule on a winning note are the Morris Eagles and Okmulgee Bulldogs, who will square off in a county showdown Friday in Morris. Despite being eliminated from playoff contention in 2023, the county squads can play spoiler in two other teams’ dreams of competing in the postseason this season.
Beggs will need a win at Sperry on Thursday and have the winless Bulldogs come away victorious over the Eagles in Morris to earn its 16th-straight playoff appearance, while the Demons’ playoff chances will disappear with either a Sperry win on Thursday or a Morris win over Okmulgee on Friday.
Below are the outcomes for all six Okmulgee County football teams in Week 9: * Sperry 30, Okmulgee 0 * Morris 16, Beggs 2 * Henryetta 46, Roland 6 * Dewar 66, Midway 6 * Wilson 15, South Coffeyville 0 (forfeit) Sperry is 6-3 on the year, 3-3 in district play. Besides last Friday’s road win at Okmulgee, the Pirates have also earned district wins over Morris (33-12) and Westville (42-14). The three district losses this season have come against Victory Christian (6921), Kiefer (44-12), and Kansas (26-14). Sperry’s non-district wins in 2023 came against Verdigris (27-20), Glenpool (41-24), and Vinita (23-14), respectively.
Keys enters the Week 10 contest with Henryetta with a 3-6 record, 3-3 in district play. The three district wins for the Cougars have come against Roland (32-21), Warner (28-26), and Okemah (46-22). The six losses for Keys in 2023 have come against non-district opponents – Gore (30-7), Stilwell (200), and Kiefer (62-14) – and district foes – Prague (56-0), Tahlequah Sequoyah (30-15), and Vian (6312).
Morris and Okmulgee have met on the football field a total of eight times in the 21st Century with the Eagles holding a 5-3 advantage, including winning the last three played contests (2019, 2021, 2022). The county squads did not battle each other in 2018 and 2019 and had their 2020 scheduled contest canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Morris enters the regular-season finale with Okmulgee with a 4-5 season record and 2-4 in district play. Besides last Friday’s road win at Beggs, the only other district win for the Eagles this season came two weeks ago at home against Westville, defeating the Yellowjackets by a 50-22 margin. Morris’ other two wins in 2023 came in non-district play against Kellyville (56-12) and Haskell (58-7), respectively. The Eagles’ four district losses this season have come against Kiefer (30-12), Kansas (41-0), Victory Christian (51-6), and Sperry (33-12), while the final setback for Morris in 2023 came in Week 2 at home against arch rival Henryetta by a 20-8 margin.
Okmulgee comes into the 2023 regular-season finale still looking for its first win under new head coach Randy Jackson. The setbacks for the Bulldogs this season have come against non-district foes – Star Spencer (18-0), Antlers (30-14), and Tulsa Central (60-14) – and district opponents – Victory Christian (60-13), Westville (56-28), Keifer (58-38), Beggs (54-22), Kansas (47-6), and Sperry (30-0).
Caddo enters Friday’s district title battle with an 8-1 season record, 4-0 in district play. The lone loss for the Bruins this season came on September 15 with a 60-14 setback to Velma-Alma. Caddo has earned district wins over Porum (50-0), Quinton (82-32), Midway (15-0 forfeit), and Webbers Falls (58-52) and scored non-district wins over Snyder (52-6), Davenport (60-14), Wilson-Henryetta (7226), and Wilson-Ardmore (62-22).
Watts comes into the regular-season finale against the Tigers with a 4-5 season record, 3-3 in district play. The Engineers’ three district wins this season have come against South Coffeyville (22-0), Bluejacket (70-24), and Oaks-Mission (44-32), while their lone non-district win in 2023 came in Watts’ season opener August 25 at home against Sasakwa (36-0). The Engineers’ district losses have come against Coyle (36-18), Copan (74-24), and Wesleyan Christian (49-0) and their non-district setbacks have come against Maud (16-6) and Cross Christian Academy (24-14).
Kickoff for this week’s contests featuring Okmulgee County varsity football teams is scheduled for 7 p.m.
— 2A-5 Standings 1. Prague: 6-0 (9-0) T-2. Vian: 5-1 (6-3) T-2. Tahlequah Sequoyah: 5-1 (6-3) T-4. Henryetta: 3-3 (5-4) T-4. Keys: 3-3 (3-6) T-6. Warner: 1-5 (2-7) T-6. Okemah: 1-5 (2-7) 8. Roland: 0-6 (1-8) — Week 10 Games
• Henryetta at Keys
• Prague at Okemah
• Vian vs Tahlequah Sequoyah
• Warner vs Roland — 2A-7 Standings T-1. Kiefer: 6-0 (9-0) T-1. Victory Christian: 6-0 (8-1) 3. Kansas: 4-2 (7-2) 4. Sperry: 3-3 (6-3) T-5. Beggs: 2-4 (4-5) T-5. Morris: 2-4 (4-5) 7. Westville: 1-5 (1-8) 8. Okmulgee: 0-6 (0-9) — Week 10 Games
• Morris vs Okmulgee
• Beggs at Sperry*
• Kiefer at Victory Christian
• Kansas at Westville *Played Thursday — B-5 Standings T-1. Dewar – 4-0 (9-0) T-1. Caddo – 4-0 (8-1) T-3. Webbers Falls – 2-2 (7-2) T-3. Quinton – 2-2 (5-4) T-5. Porum – 0-4 (2-7) T-5. Midway – 0-4 (0-9) — Week 10 Games
• Dewar at Caddo
• Webbers Falls at Quinton*
• Porum vs Midway *Played Thursday — C-3 Standings 1. Wilson: 6-0 (8-1) T-2. Coyle: 5-1 (7-2) T-2. Wesleyan Christian: 5-1 (6-3) T-4. Copan: 3-3 (4-5) T-4. Watts: 3-3 (4-5) 6. Oaks-Mission: 2-4 (3-6) 7. Bluejacket: 1-6 (1-8) 8. South Coffeyville: 0-7 (0-10) — Week 10 Games
• Wilson vs Watts
• Coyle at Wesleyan Christian
• Copan vs Oaks-Mission
