Game Capsule: Bartlesville at Southmoore
Southmoore (10-1) at Lawton (9-2)
When: 7:30 p.m. tonight
Where: Moore Stadium
Southmoore
Why the SaberCats can win: Southmoore has the talent to compete with any team in the state. What the SaberCats don’t have is playoff savvy and know-how. That comes with experience and Southmoore is only in its second year of existence as a program. However, one of the main things teams with playoff experience stress is to not overlook anyone in the playoffs. And another aspect is having focus without being too nervous or affected by outside distractions. And while Southmoore has just one postseason game in its history, that one game gave the SaberCats a big dose of both of those factors.
After a lack-luster and fortunate 34-32 win over a four-win Lawton Ike team in the first round, players acknowledged they didn’t prepare well and didn’t take the Eagles serious enough.
Lesson learned. Southmoore has had great practices all week and players are so zoned in, nerves won’t be a problem.
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Bartlesville
Why the Bruins could win: Bartlesville has an explosive high-scoring offense. The Bruins are one of the few teams in the state which pile up yardage on pace with Southmoore. And, on average, the Bruins have scored more points per game — 37.3 to 35.9.
And those numbers haven’t been padded against weak foes. The Bruins put 40 points on No. 1 Jenks. Even in their two losses (Jenks and Broken Arrow), the Bruins averaged 34 points per game. In the regular season, Bartlesville scored 40 or more points in half of its games.
Having said all that, Bartlesville’s first-round playoff win over Owasso came by the low score of 14-7.
Key matchup: Bartlesville receivers Mike Thompson and Garrett Powell vs. Southmoore corners Julian Wilson and Nyko Symonds.
Thompson and Powell are each among the top receivers in the state individually. As a duo, they are lethal. And their stats are almost identical. Thompson: 51 catches, 980 yards and 10 touchdowns; Powell 48 catches 952 yards and 12 TDs.
Southmoore is as well-equipped as any team to slow the terrific tandem. What’s more, Wilson and Symonds have already gotten a crash course in dealing with a pair of star wideouts when they squared off with Del City standouts Donovan Dan and Chris McAlsiter. And they’ve worked against other terrific wideouts in Mustang’s David Glidden and Midwest City’s Cole Eddy. After tonight’s game, they will have gone up against six of the top seven receivers statistically in 6A.
The pick: Southmoore 26, Bartlesville 23. It could be an offensive shootout to the tune of 45-42, but I’m expecting both defenses to perform well. The offenses are virtually a wash. But I see Southmoore having the talent edge on defense. This one could have a lot of sways in momentum. Southmoore showed last week it can handle that. So, SaberCats head to the semifinals.
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