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6A-I State Championship

Because there is an extreme air of pride in small towns that reaches from the schools to every business. Most of the people in those towns all know each other by first name and know that person's family history. TX HS football is definitely like that in smaller classes. Everyone goes to every home game and every playoff game.

That small-town component is lost when you get to places like Union, Jenks, Owasso, and BA (and Bixby will probably follow suit soon). You get some people who go to the game for hometown pride, but you won't get as many to travel 2 hrs away. 20 minutes away you'll get a lot more fans without any familial or other connections to the team. If I were Jenks and Owasso, I'd start lobbying hard right now. Wonder what OSSAA could or would do if the 2 schools contracted with TU separately to play the game, split the gate receipts, and hired their own officials crew? It just seems stubborn and pig-headed to make 2 teams travel 2 hours away when there are a number of very suitable game sites 20 minutes away. The OSSAA acts as if they're not aware of the school funding issues districts in OK have been facing. Paying bus drivers for 5 hours vs 8 hours on a weekend is a big deal, bus fuel, pre-game and post-game meals (likely out of town), busing bands and cheerleaders that extra distance. It's a poor decision by the OSSAA to not have an alternate arrangement for these situations. It's not the east side schools fault the west side schools can never keep pace. Heck, Stillwater isn't even really a west side school.

BLA - you're on a roll and absolutely correct. You simply can't put 5,000 fans in 1,200 seats. UCO is an unsuitable venue for the larger classes.
 
By virtue of Bixbi's 57-7 beat down of Jenks this year it would come to reason that they could very well be the best team in the state of Oklahoma bar class.

Still have to beat Gundy's kid I guess.

GO TU!!!
 
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BLA - you're on a roll and absolutely correct. You simply can't put 5,000 fans in 1,200 seats. UCO is an unsuitable venue for the larger classes.
UCO is unsuitable for the smaller classes as well. Many of those towns simply close down and go to the game. A number of years ago I was at a class 2a rivalry game where the teams were 1 and 2. Just about 4000 went through the gate, which was more than the population of either town.
 
By virtue of Bixbi's 57-7 beat down of Jenks this year it would come to reason that they could very well be the best team in the state of Oklahoma bar class.

Still have to beat Gundy's kid I guess.

GO TU!!!
I know Stillwater has beat everyone down too. I just don't know that they have the same quality of depth at every position that Bixby has. Stillwater has a stud QB and some good parts and are seemingly well coached. Bixby has several D1 players and upcoming prospects. I seriously would love to see an Owasso and Bixby matchup to see who the king of the hill is because, IMO, they are the 2 best teams in OK regardless of class.
 
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Just found out Owasso is assigned to the visitors side.
Seems weird...

Odd numbered rows on the bracket get the home side in odd numbered years. Owasso is on row 2 this year so they'll be the visitors.

I found a 360 view of the stadium online and verified that there are only 9 rows of benches. Approx 1,200 seats. That would put over 8,000 seats on the home side.

Bixby will be visitors for their game too. I'm sure they're thrilled.
 
Odd numbered rows on the bracket get the home side in odd numbered years. Owasso is on row 2 this year so they'll be the visitors.

I found a 360 view of the stadium online and verified that there are only 9 rows of benches. Approx 1,200 seats. That would put over 8,000 seats on the home side.

Bixby will be visitors for their game too. I'm sure they're thrilled.
That makes a bad situation ridiculous. The favorites in the top divisions are away teams with even more limited seating. Can't wait to hear if scalpers are in abundance.
 
But aren't the private schools forced to play up at least one classification if not 2?

I've long been an opponent of singling out the private schools. The ones in Oklahoma don't exist for the purpose of winning every state championship. Their limited enrollment is a product of controlling class size and quality of education, not to win a state championship at a small school category. Parents send their kids to those schools because they don't trust the public school system to educate them properly or keep their kids safe.I'm pretty sure it's the same in OKC. Everyone acts like Cascia Hall, Bishop Kelly, McGuiness, etc. are mini IMG Academies and they're not. Each of those schools may get 1-2 players who would not attend those schools if it weren't for a scholarship, certainly not enough to make the kind of difference everyone seems to imply. Everyone was always pissed that you'd have kids moving out of Tulsa Public Schools into Jenks and Union years ago and thinking something was shady. Hasn't anyone noticed the trend of people moving out of Tulsa into the'burbs and suburban districts? Heck, to go to Jenks you don't even have to move out of Tulsa. There are plenty of kids who go to Jenks schools who live in a pretty urban and sketchy part of Tulsa. And there are some pretty sketchy parts of east Tulsa that feed into Union schools...so it's not hard for these families, if they want to, to get their kids into those districts without it being completely nefarious.

I still think all the private schools should play in their own league.. theys shouldnt be competing in a public school bracket. Period.

My sons 5A public hs baseball team has played against private schools from all classes and its amazing how 2A and 3A classed private schools have lineups that hit .400 as a team and multiple pitchers that throw mid 80s..
 
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RIP

He graduated from Cleveland, Ok 4 years before my freshman year. I didn't realize I was that close to being in high school with him.
 
I still think all the private schools should play in their own league.. theys shouldnt be competing in a public school bracket. Period.

My sons 5A public hs baseball team has played against private schools from all classes and its amazing how 2A and 3A classed private schools have lineups that hit .400 as a team and multiple pitchers that throw mid 80s..
Not really amazing at all, ironic maybe.... Private as an adjective fits quite well in that belonging to, or accessible only to a specific group allows them to pick and choose. Unlike public schools who are required to educate every student regardless of ability, disability, or economic status most private schools just close the door on students that don't fit their agenda, demographic, or economic and social status.
 
The private schools recruit from across the metro Tulsa or metro OKC areas, while the legit 2A or 3A public schools are limited to players drawn from a district with perhaps a few hundred students. That just isn't fair. Also, the private schools have the latest technological gear, such as big-screen closed-circuit TV systems, which smaller schools don't have. Finally, when I was coaching kid baseball 35 years ago at least one exclusive private school routinely "encouraged" -- required, really -- parents to "red shirt" their kids so they would have an extra year of physical maturity. I bet they still do that. The current system, in which small rural schools compete against private metro schools just isn't a level playing field.
 
fyi - Former Jenks Coach Allan Trimble passed away this morning from ALS.
Babe and Demon, this may throw a kink into what should be an easy win for Owasso. I can see the Jenks' kids coming out and playing WAY above their talent level with a little extra guidance and motivation for what would be an incredibly inspirational victory for the entire Jenks' community. Unfortunately for the Owasso kids, they must know now that almost the entire state of OK save for family and people from Owasso are rooting for Jenks this weekend.
 
Babe and Demon, this may throw a kink into what should be an easy win for Owasso. I can see the Jenks' kids coming out and playing WAY above their talent level with a little extra guidance and motivation for what would be an incredibly inspirational victory for the entire Jenks' community. Unfortunately for the Owasso kids, they must know now that almost the entire state of OK save for family and people from Owasso are rooting for Jenks this weekend.

Yea,
It’s going to be much tougher now. Especially considering I believe Owasso beat them handily when they dedicated/named their stadium for Trimble.

Jenks is playing well and now has max emotion behind them.
 
Yea,
It’s going to be much tougher now. Especially considering I believe Owasso beat them handily when they dedicated/named their stadium for Trimble.

Jenks is playing well and now has max emotion behind them.

Jenks also has a built in excuse for losing now... just sayin'..
 
The current Jenks Senior class were Sophomores during Coach Trimble’s final season, so this is going to be a very emotional game for a lot of those kids.

I expect them to go all out to win one more for their Coach.
 
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Finally, when I was coaching kid baseball 35 years ago at least one exclusive private school routinely "encouraged" -- required, really -- parents to "red shirt" their kids so they would have an extra year of physical maturity.

This is still true, I attended a private school and the grade below me had kids from my grade who were held back in middle school to prepare for HS baseball. Although the best player from that group wasn’t held back, I believe he pitches for the Braves now, formally played for the Astros.

It was most common in baseball, I didn’t see it much in football, basketball, track, or soccer.
 
Finally, when I was coaching kid baseball 35 years ago at least one exclusive private school routinely "encouraged" -- required, really -- parents to "red shirt" their kids so they would have an extra year of physical maturity.

This is still true, I attended a private school and the grade below me had kids from my grade who were held back in middle school to prepare for HS baseball. Although the best player from that group wasn’t held back, I believe he pitches for the Braves now, formally played for the Astros.

It was most common in baseball, I didn’t see it much in football, basketball, track, or soccer.
You went to school with Dallas Keuchel? That’s pretty cool.

It’s done a lot for football around here. There are boys with June birthdays who are 2 months older than my daughter and are a grade behind her. There are kids with February and March birthdays, nearly 6 months older than my daughter who started a year behind her.
 
Just bring a lawn chair and sit on the sideline. It's not dangerous at all.

You may be on to something. I'm now hearing that they'll be adding some temporary bleachers plus opening an endzone hill side for fans with blankets and lawn chairs.

No one will be turned away due to capacity this weekend.
 
This is still true, I attended a private school and the grade below me had kids from my grade who were held back in middle school to prepare for HS baseball. Although the best player from that group wasn’t held back, I believe he pitches for the Braves now, formally played for the Astros.

It was most common in baseball, I didn’t see it much in football, basketball, track, or soccer.

I think this is as if not more common in the big "football" schools where kids need to be at or near college level athletes to start. Parents understand the competition which exists to play for these schools. Holding boys back along with private training are fairly common.
 
You may be on to something. I'm now hearing that they'll be adding some temporary bleachers plus opening an endzone hill side for fans with blankets and lawn chairs.

No one will be turned away due to capacity this weekend.

Kind of ridiculous. Hey OSSAA just have a venue large enough to host. Come on man!!!!!

GO TU!!!!
 
Kind of ridiculous. Hey OSSAA just have a venue large enough to host. Come on man!!!!!

GO TU!!!!

Owasso Public Schools is offering free bus transportation to any students that want to attend the game. This is a great idea and should help keep inexperienced drivers off the turnpike on Saturday night.

I know that the band is taking 9 bus loads as well. I just don’t know where they’ll put everyone.
 
Owasso Public Schools is offering free bus transportation to any students that want to attend the game. This is a great idea and should help keep inexperienced drivers off the turnpike on Saturday night.

I know that the band is taking 9 bus loads as well. I just don’t know where they’ll put everyone.
I forget how much room there is at UCO but putting the bands behind or off the corner of the endzones may be an option. That's how Notre Dame does it, and that's how my high school did it before we got a new stadium my sophomore year.

In HS the band had a small semicircle of stands and those of us on the drumline stood on the grass about 5 yards from the back of the endzone. Pretty cool view. Drums only got wiped out once or twice that year. lol
 
Great 6A2 title game last night. It’s a shame the OSSAA chose not to televise these games. The Bixby - Stillwater game was one for the ages. Bixby’s 5th title in the last six years.

Seriously! They couldn’t have screwed these games up anymore!
In Edmond and no TV :(

I don’t know many folks who would pay $11 to stream the games. I was told by Jenks, BA, and Owasso folks that the Semi’s broadcasts were terrible. All but one turned it off, asked for a refund, and listened on the radio.

I’m fortunate that I work the Owasso game and get to watch from the press box. Should be a helluva game though, last nights will be hard to beat!
 
They are making it difficult for fans that just want to watch some football.

I guess we’ve always got King of Queens reruns to fall back on.
 
They are making it difficult for fans that just want to watch some football.

I guess we’ve always got King of Queens reruns to fall back on.


They are tired of people noticing that the west schools are getting trounced so bad some people think we have west and east state champions.

They are also obviously allergic to money and common sense.
 
You went to school with Dallas Keuchel? That’s pretty cool.

It’s done a lot for football around here. There are boys with June birthdays who are 2 months older than my daughter and are a grade behind her. There are kids with February and March birthdays, nearly 6 months older than my daughter who started a year behind her.

When I taught elementary school, it seems that the boys with summer birthdays seem to struggle more in elementary school that the girls. For what it;s worth, when my wife was teaching 1st grade in Owasso she had parents of little boys that did very well in school request a "sports retention". She did not know what that meant, so she sent them to the principal. The parents filled out the paper work and just like that the kid repeated 1st grade.
 
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This is the first I've gotten to watch of either team. Initial thoughts: That Owasso QB is nice and those Jenks boys are a cocky bunch.
 
Seriously! They couldn’t have screwed these games up anymore!
In Edmond and no TV :(

I don’t know many folks who would pay $11 to stream the games. I was told by Jenks, BA, and Owasso folks that the Semi’s broadcasts were terrible. All but one turned it off, asked for a refund, and listened on the radio.

I’m fortunate that I work the Owasso game and get to watch from the press box. Should be a helluva game though, last nights will be hard to beat!
I usually watch when it’s Jenks vs Union or whatever. This seems totally screwed up ... and so rinky dink you wonder if unnamed persons with OHSAA personally profited from the push to streaming.
 
Also pretty sure Robert Allen is doing color commentary for this and he's terrible
 
So they took $60,000 to force the game onto streaming. Then voted to hold it in place go force as many people as possible to streaming. At $11 a pop I’m skeptical they are going to get that money back, maybe I’m wrong, You figure Cox offered that for the 6A games alone. Dumb. And smelly. Crooked smelly.
 
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Portable bleachers on wheels and porta-johns on the visitor’s side. The local tractor pull must have not needed them this weekend.

No score at the half.
 
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Owasso and Bixby win close games against teams in championship. Jenks has worse record but is playing better at the right time.

So...
Pretty much doesn't really resolve what might have happened if Owasso played Bixby in 6a championship. Will have everybody arguing their favorite team till the end of time, with no winning argument.

Only winning argument here is Hayden Grant will look great in Blue & Gold.
 
I didn’t see the Owasso/Jenks game being a defensive battle. Both teams came in averaging over 40PPG.

Made for a much more intense game than I expected.

Owasso came in with starting WR Peyton Lusk down and the 2nd string RB, who has been a starter since Jacobs was injured, got hurt on the first series. The 3rd string guy got hurt in the 2nd quarter.

Proud of these guys for pulling it out despite that!
Jenks played a helluva game too!
 
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