The Guthrie football squad will need to take care of business Friday night at Taft Stadium and quickly will shift their attention to another game just down the road in Oklahoma City.
The Bluejays will finish the regular season with a 7 p.m. kick with the Northwest Classen Knights. Win or lose, the heavy favorite BlueJays (9-1) are in the playoffs, but a win and some help could lead them to one more game inside Jelsma Stadium.
Last week McGuinness gave the Jays their worse loss (32-0) in the Rafe Watkins era, but now the Jays are the biggest Irish fans. McGuinness (9-0) host Deer Creek (8-1) and with both an Irish and Guthrie win the Jays will finish second in the district and would host the Duncan Demons in the first round of the playoffs next week. However, a Deer Creek win does not necessary eliminate the Jays from that second spot.
If Deer Creek were to defeat McGuinness by five points or less, along with a Guthrie win, the Irish still win the district title, Guthrie would finish second and Deer Creek third because of the point system with all three teams having one district loss. A Deer Creek win by six or more points and the Antlers take first, McGuinness second and Guthrie third.
The third place team will go on the road to Lawton MacArthur for the first round playoff game.
The first and third place finisher will be sent to the bottom of the Class 5A bracket, where they will be joined with Tulsa East Central, who will likely win the 5A-4 district. According to majority of the rankings and coaches rankings, that would put three of the state’s top four teams on one side of the bracket.
For all the math to work the Jays will have to tend to business with the Knights, who will look to finish the regular season with a 5-5 record. The four wins is already more than any other Knight team in the last five seasons.
The Knights have district wins over Guymon and Western Heights with a run happy offense. Senior Lorenzo Alexander is the marquee running back in the offense and runs behind an athletic offensive line.
Guthrie will look to rebound from a loss for the first time since the start of the 2011 season. Watkins is 23-4 in games following a loss in his 12 seasons in Guthrie.
The game can be heard on Triple Play Sports Radio 105.1 FM, streamed on Guthrie Sports Page and is available on your hand held device. More information can be found at GSP. The Guthrie radio crew will provide scoring updates from the McGuinness and Deer Creek game throughout the broadcast.
Playoff scenarios for District 5A-2
McGuinnes and Guthrie win:
McGuinnes is first, Guthrie is second and Deer Creek is third
Deer Creek (win by 5 points or less) and Guthrie win:
McGuinness is first, Deer Creek is second and Guthrie is third
Deer Creek (win by 6 points or more) and Guthrie win:
Deer Creek is first, McGuinness is second and Guthrie is third
McGuinness win and Guthrie loss:
McGuinness is first, Guthrie is second and Deer Creek is third
Deer Creek win and Guthrie loss:
Deer Creek is first, McGuinness is second and Guthrie is third
Carl Albert win over El Reno:
Carl Albert finishes fourth and will play Del City in the first round
El Reno win over Carl Albert:
El Reno finishes fourth and will play Del City in the first round
Bishop McGuinness: First with win. First with loss of five or less points and Guthrie win. Second with loss of six or more points and Guthrie win. Second with loss and Guthrie loss.
Guthrie: Second with McGuinness win. Third with Deer Creek win.
Deer Creek: First with win and Guthrie loss. First with win of six or more points and Guthrie win. Second with win of five or less points and Guthrie win. Third with loss.
Thats ALOT of win looz win loooozzze LOL my head is spinning !!!
Are you sure about the scenario where Deer Creek wins by 5 or less? If Deer Creek wins by 5 and Guthrie wins by 15, I thought it would be a three way tie with McGuinness in 1st with 80 points, Deer Creek in 2nd with 78 points and Guthrie in 3rd with 50 points.
If ER gets in the playoffs over CA……………well I don’t know what I’d do, but I’d laugh doing it
You’re right KRD – I copied and pasted too much and did not edit that part. The easy way to remember for a Guthrie fan is the Jays are second with a McGuinness win and third with a Deer Creek win.
honestly…. Maybe guthrie did lose on purpose lol. I dont wanna be in the lower bracket with TEC. If i read that right. McGuinness can have em lol, with DC.
But, im guessin that puts Bishop Kelley on the upper, they look solid also. turnin out to be a tough 5ay bracket. Lot of equality.