It would be only fitting if Friday’s slate of regular season finales in District 5A-4 came down to the final minutes.
After all, there have been more close games this season than any other since the Grove Ridgerunners joined the district in 2010.
The Ridgerunners themselves are 21 points away from being a playoff team, having loss to Collinsville, Pryor and Coweta by a touchdown each. The main difference between those three losses and last week’s 20-14 win over Central is turnovers. The Ridgerunners stuck to a conservative game plan, turned the ball over once, and let the Braves make the crucial mistakes. It was the first game this season where Grove had less than three turnovers.
This close-but-not-quote theme extends to just about every team in the district. Collinsville downed Pryor 20-19 last week in a game that could possibly decide the district champion. The Tigers had been living dangerously for some time. In addition to the win over Grove in which they scored the winning points with 10 seconds remaining in the game, Pryor also has an overtime win over Coweta and a seven-point win over Central. The Cardinals have a seven-point win over Coweta (a recurring theme is developing there) and an overtime loss to Claremore.
East Central, who, at 4-2 in district play, is tied for third with the Zebras, came back from a 21-7 halftime deficit to down 1-win Tahlequah 28-27 last week. They also have a two-point win over Central in which they also trailed big at halftime, along with the requisite 7-point over Coweta.
What are the reasons for this? The programs traditionally at the top of the district, East Central and Coweta mainly, are down from year’s past. Other programs, like Grove and Tahlequah, are markedly better, even if their records aren’t reflective of that.
As competitive as things have been in-house, the postseason future for District 5A-4 appears bleak. The eight schools went a combined 8-16 in non-district play, only two teams posted winning records and none of them went 3-0. The biggest win may have been by Coweta, who downed Bishop Kelley (currently tied for third in 5A-3) on a desperation touchdown heave on the final play.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the district’s four playoff teams go 1-3 or 0-4 in the first round of the playoffs. But then, as the results from week to week have shown, just about anything can happen.
