High school football picks - Week 2

Last week's results: 21-4

Overall record: 21-4

This week

Thursday

- Bixby at East Central - Would imagine Bixby is ready to take some frustration out after getting pounded by Jenks. Trevon Cherry and East Central might be the unlucky ones in that scenario. The pick: Bixby 45, East Central 20.

- Locust Grove at Kansas - A Locust Grove player may very well end up with "40" tackles in a game before the season is over. The pick: Locust Grove 57, Kansas 10.

- Yukon at Norman North - John Kolar's new nickname: Mr. Thursday Night. The pick: North 35, Yukon 13.

Friday

- Union vs. Jenks - Rev up the hyperbole machine. The pick: Trojans 32, the (high school) U 30.

- Bentonville (Ark.) at Broken Arrow - Tigers -- the ones from this state -- staring at a possible 0-3 start. The pick: Bentonville 17, Broken Arrow 13.

- Owasso at Muskogee - Fear not with John Cole Neph. The pick: Rams 30, Roughers 10.

- Edmond Memorial "at" Edmond North - An Edmond team is guaranteed to win. The pick: North 23, Memorial 20.

- Stillwater at Mustang - A matchup destined to get lost in the schuffle. The pick: Mustang 29, Stillwater 17.

- Southmoore at Westmoore - SaberCats and Jaguars. Oh my. The pick: Westmoore 32, Southmoore 14.

- Central at Booker T. Washington - Central couldn't hang with Memorial. Playing the Hornets won't make things better. The pick: BTW 55, Central 6.

- Bartlesville at Cascia Hall - Two unlikely opponents. Very intriguing, though. The pick: Bville 34, Cascia 33.

- Enid at Sand Springs - Sandites beat up on Hale in Week 1. But then again, everyone is likely to beat up on Hale this year. The pick: Sandites 29, Enid 21.

- Midwest City at Carl Albert - Game should be played at Tinker. The pick: Bombers 20, Carl Albert 19.

- Lawton Mac at Lawton - Highlanders vs. Wolverines. Much better than an unoriginal clash of two Tiger teams. The pick: Lawton High 23, Mac 21.

- Bishop McGuinness at Bishop Kelley - Catholics would much rather team up and play OSSAA execs. The pick: McGuinness 17, Kelley 13.

- Edison at Memorial - Underrated Tulsa showdown. The pick: Edison 31, Memorial 28.

- Pryor at Wagoner - When will Jason Freeman start to get recognition as one of the better coaches in the state? The pick: Pryor 32, Wagoner 20.

- Catoosa at Collinsville - Cardinals picked up right where they left off in 2013. The pick: Cville 37, Catoosa 10.

- McAlester at Coweta - Buffs are tough. The pick: McAlester 40, Coweta 21.

- Stilwell at Tahlequah - The winner can claim the Illinois river. The pick: Stilwell 34, Tahlequah 31.

- Skiatook at Oologah - Don't sleep on Skiatook. The pick: Bulldogs 23, Oologah 17.

- Jay at Grove - The loser has to claim Highway 10. The pick: Jay 25, Grove 20.

- Glenpool at Beggs - Demons look scary this year. The pick: Beggs 36, Glenpool 22.

- Fort Gibson at Hilldale - A rookie QB will have to win the Rock. The pick: Fort Gibson (minus J.R. Singleton) 20, Hilldale 18.

- OCS at Metro Christian - Both clubs randomly join in at the McGuinness-Kelley game. The pick: Metro 27, OCS 24.

- Vinita at Nowata - Tough for a Hornet to sting something made of iron, let alone Ironmen. The pick: Nowata 31, Vinita 27.

- Berryhill at Cushing - At least Cushing had a semi bye week vs. Bristow in Week 1. The pick: Berryhill 28, Cushing 24.

- Lincoln Christian at Holland Hall - Dutch hoping to break down scoring dam. The pick: LC 29, HH 10.

- Kingfisher at Hennessey - Hennessey may need help in this one. The pick: Kingfisher 42, Hennessey 14.

- Roland at Tahlequah-Sequoyah - Cherokee Nation unveils construction plans during halftime show. The pick: Roland 28, Sequoyah 17.

Fort Gibson QB J.R. Singleton tears ACL

Fort Gibson's championship hopes took a big hit on Monday.

Coming off a 44-27 rout of Tahlequah in the first week of the season, the Class 4A No. 4 Tigers had to immediately deal with a horrendous phrase.

"Torn ACL."

And who suffered the season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury? Quarterback J.R. Singleton.

Fort Gibson head coach James Singleton — J.R.'s father — confirmed the news.

"Torn ACL," he said. "Like anything else, your heart goes out to your child, not only as a coach but as a dad."

J.R. Singleton, a 6-foot-1, 198-pound senior signal caller, engineered Fort Gibson's early rally at home against Tahlequah. Down 6-0, Fort Gibson scored and went ahead on Chris Walker's 1-yard touchdown run, and Singleton followed with two touchdown strikes — 40 and 60 yards — both to Jordan London.

Fort Gibson coasted from that point on.

Little did Fort Gibson know, though, that it has already received a crushing blow.

According to James Singleton, J.R. Singleton suffered the knee injury on a simple option play toward the boundary.

"It was kind of a freakish thing how it happened," James Singleton said. "His cleat got caught in the turf when he turned to flip the ball."

J.R. Singleton finished the game with 261 yards and three touchdowns while completing 11 of 14 pass attempts. He also ran for 34 yards on 11 carries. On defense, he had four tackles.

On Monday, J.R. Singleton took to social media after finding out the fateful diagnosis.

"I never thought it would end up this way..." he tweeted. In a separate tweet, he said, "Thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers.. You have no idea how much it means to me!"

As for who his starting quarterback will be moving forward, James Singleton said that London and Dylan Murray will compete for the spot.

"Jordan has been taking reps this week, and Dylan has also been taking reps," James Singleton said. "We like what both guys bring to the table."

London is a 6-1, 186-pound senior, and Murray is a 5-11, 163-pound sophomore.

James Singleton said they would determine a starting quarterback on Thursday.

Texas League title chasing

Tulsa and Midland exited Game 1 of their respective Texas League Divisional Series looking for answers. Now, both teams are looking for a Texas League title.

The chase for the title starts tonight at ONEOK Field. Tulsa vs. Midland — a showdown of two teams that finished second in their respective divisions at the overall end of the regular season.

It would appear to be a mismatch at first glance. Tulsa won the regular-season series 9-3. The Drillers have superior pitching and have been hitting well as of late.

But, Midland knocked off a solid Frisco team to reach the finals, so sometimes the outcome isn't as obvious.

Series breakdown

Pitching

Advantage: Tulsa

The Drillers are going to have the pitching advantage in pretty much every series. Having Eddie Butler, Tyler Anderson and Carlos Hernandez is tough for any other Double-A club to overcome. Then you toss in guys like Ryan Arrowood and Jayson Aquino, and you've got quite a staff.

Midland sports Nate Long, who led the league in wins during the regular season. Again, though, the RockHounds posted a 2.31 earned run average to advance to the championship series.

Hitting

Advantage: Tulsa

Both clubs were middle of the pack in hitting during the regular season. Both actually recorded the same batting average, .252, during the regular season.

Tulsa enters the finals after hitting .256 to get past Arkansas. In 15 at-bats, Taylor Featherston had a .467 batting average. And both Featherston (.733) and Cristhian Adames (.727) slugged better than .700 against the Travelers.

Midland's Matt Chapman (.800) was the only RockHound with slugging percentage above .600.

As a team, Midland hit .226 against Frisco.

Defense

Advantage: Midland

Tulsa's defense can be questionable at times, despite having solid gloves in Featherston, Trevor Story, Adames and Tyler Massey.

Still, though, better to go with the RockHounds.

Intangibles

Advantage: Tulsa

The Drillers haven't won the Texas League crown since 1998, so they're due, right?

The games in Midland could get interesting, considering Midland was 40-30 at home this season and Tulsa was 39-31 on the road.

Side note: How crazy would it be if these two teams faced off in the finals next year, and Tulsa was with the Oakland Athletics and Midland was with the Colorado Rockies. Both clubs become Tulsa and Midland become minor league free agents once the playoffs are over.

However, it's not likely to happen. But hey, you never know.

Prediction: Tulsa in 4. Why not?

Bishop McGuinness rekindles public-private debate, sues OSSAA

It looks like public-private school debate is back. Credit Bishop McGuinness for the revival this time.

After the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association decreed a set of rules to attempt to level the playing field among public and private high schools in Oklahoma, one of the private schools has opted to fight back.

"...BMCHS has been provided no legitimate or legal reason for why it is being forced into division 6A to compete with schools up to six times the ADM of BMCHS," Bishop McGuinness states in its lawsuit against the OSSAA.

Bishop McGuinness' boys basketball team has become a staple at the state tournament every year — regardless of classification. Now the girls basketball team is paying the price, provoking Bishop McGuinness' angst in the lawsuit.

"This rule unfairly denies a team the right to compete in the proper division classification based solely on gender," the lawsuit says.

In its passing of Rule 14, the OSSAA set forth four guidelines for private institutions. If the school met three of the four qualifications, it was to move up a class and compete at a higher level, thus moving Bishop McGuinness from 5A to 6A this school year.

 “We expect the rules passed by the OSSAA to be applied fairly to all members and to not deliberately discriminate against one group,” McGuinness principal David Morton said in a release. “Rule 14 not only discriminates against private high schools, but seeks to purposefully put their student-athletes at a disadvantage and in potentially unsafe playing conditions in certain sports. We expressed these concerns with the OSSAA when they added the rule, but the association’s board of directors unfortunately chose to move forward.”

Because of the OSSAA's location within the Western District of the State of Oklahoma, that's where the lawsuit was filed.

In the lawsuit, Bishop McGuinness also cites violations under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Bishop McGuinness also says Rule 14 violates "the terms and provisions of the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act."

"We believe that forcing our girls' basketball athletes to compete at the Class 6A level based solely on the success of the boys' basketball team is inherently discriminatory toward female athletes," Bishop McGuinness athletic director Gary Savely said in the release.

Texas League playoffs: Drillers/Travelers - Game 1 notebook

Drew Rucinski was dealing

The former Union High School hurler had quite the rousing return home on Wednesday night.

He skirted around an unearned run in the first inning, and at one point retired 11 Drillers in a row in Arkansas' 4-1 win.

He didn't need a gaudy strikeout count. He didn't need to be perfect. The dominance was evident, regardless.

"Each time you go on the mound, it's a new experience," Rucinski said. 

He's right. And his last experience at ONEOK Field (4 1/3 innings, six earned runs, nine hits) wasn't ideal.

But Game 1 of the Texas League playoffs was a new experience.

"You get excited for it, being in the playoffs," said Rucinski, who picked the win after allowing five hits in seven innings of work. "Just go out there and do what you can do."

Being in the same division that consists of only four teams, a pitcher is bound to face the same hitters over and over. Rucinski used that as leverage, instead of being a hindrance.

"It's tough because they know what you're going to throw," he said. "But luckily you kind of know what you want to throw against them, too."

Butler bottomed out

Eddie Butler and Rucinski were putting on a pitching clinic, and then the wheels fell off for Butler.

In the fifth inning, Jett Bandy and Matt Long singled off of Butler with one out. Butler followed by walking Eric Stamets and Kaleb Cowart on eight straight pitches.

A strike to Maikol Gonzalez seconds later drew a derisive cheer from the 3,396 in the stands.

Offensive surprise

Alex Yarbrough, the Texas League's Player of the Year, had two hits against the Drillers in Game 1, but both were singles and amounted to very little.

Brian Hernandez, the league's Player of the Month in August, was 0-for-5.

Those are the two big bats to try and silence in Arkansas' lineup, and Tulsa managed to do that.

Instead, it was Bandy, Long, Stamets and Cowart that derailed the Drillers' effort. The bottom four in the Travelers' lineup finished 6-for-12.

Long and Stamets both legged out triples, and Stamets and Cowart both drove in runs.

Changes for Game 2

Tulsa has Tyler Anderson, the league's Pitcher of the Year, going in Game 2, so that's a plus.

But look for some other possibilities from manager Kevin Riggs in the second game before the series shifts to Little Rock, Arkansas.

Possibilities include:

- Having O'Dowd catch. Will Swanner, who was on the bench for Game 1, could also catch with O'Dowd remaining as the DH.

- Inserting Jared Simon in the outfield. That would likely mean shifting Tyler Massey to center field and having Delta Cleary Jr.'s speed on the bench.

- Moving Ryan Casteel to first base. Jayson Langfels didn't look comfortable with the glove in his hand at first game in Game 1.

- Moving Featherston back to second base. The trio of Trevor Story (third base), Cristhian Adames (shortstop) and Featherston (second base) makes the most sense, but Adames and Featherston swapped their roles on Wednesday.

Prediction

Called for a 5-3 Tulsa win in Game 1. That didn't even come close to happening.

For Game 2, a 6-4 Drillers win seems reasonable. After all, if Tulsa doesn't win the second game, this thing is over.

High school football picks - Week 1

Thursday

- Oologah at Collinsville - Collinsville running back Ryan Haymaker scored five touchdowns against Oologah last season. Don't expect that to happen again. The pick: Cville 21, Oologah 17.

- Norman at Norman North - Norman North has John Kolar. Good enough for me. The pick: North 27, Norman 20.

- Locust Grove at Salina - Pirate ship strongly afloat in 2014. The pick: Locust Grove 44, Salina 13.

Friday

- Owasso at Broken Arrow - David Alexander wins his debut as the Tigers' head coach. The pick: BA 28, Owasso 17. 

- Bixby at Jenks - Two title contenders, just two different classes. The pick: Jenks 40, Bixby 10.

- Union vs. Southlake Carroll (Texas) in Arlington - Not going to pretend to know anything about Carroll. The pick: Union 20, SLC 19.

- East Central at Bartlesville - Trevon Cherry is solid at quarterback for the Cardinals, but he needs help. The pick: Bartlesville 24, East Central 16.

- Claremore at Pryor - One of the better matchups in Week 1. The pick: Pryor 20, Claremore 17.

- Hale at Sand Springs - Hale looked rough in the All-City Preview. The pick: Sandites 56, Hale 6.

- Muskogee at McAlester - Rafe Watkins may very well bring Muskogee back to prominence. But not this week. The pick: McAlester 38, Muskogee 17.

- Booker T. Washington at Midwest City - Stop me if you've heard this before: state championship preview? The pick: Hornets 23, Midwest City 20.

- Edison at Bishop Kelley - BK coach JJ Tappana called it the "Midtown Mash." I like it. The pick: Edison 27, BK 24.

- Coweta at Wagoner - Somehow this showdown gets overlooked every year. The pick: Coweta 23, Wagoner 17.

- Tahlequah at Fort Gibson - Most of Tahlequah's offensive weapons are gone. FTG still has J.R. Singleton. The pick: Fort Gibson 35, Tahlequah 20.

- Shawnee at Bishop McGuinness - Start of Shawnee's title run? The pick: Wolves 33, Irish 21.

- Central at Memorial - Chargers quietly a solid program in the Tulsa area. The pick: Memorial 32, Central 13.

- Glenpool at Berryhill - Just seems like a close game. The pick: Berryhill 20, Glenpool 17.

- Holland Hall at Cascia Hall - A private school will win in this one. The pick: Cascia 35, Dutch 20.

- Sallisaw at Catoosa - Craig Benson left Sallisaw, and Cale Wilson and Jadon Davenport are gone, too. Black Diamonds need polishing. The pick: Catoosa 31, Sallisaw 13.

- Bristow at Cushing: Gage Stallworth was good and went mostly unnoticed. The pick: Cushing 21, Bristow 16.

- NOAH at Metro Christan: Tough to know what NOAH has each year. Whatever it is, it's likely not up to Metro's standard. The pick: Patriots 34, NOAH 12.

- Kellyville at Kiefer - When I worked in Sapulpa, this would have been 11- vs. 8-man game. And Kiefer still might have won. The pick: Kiefer 32, Ponies 10.

- Keys at Checotah - Could be a rough go in Tuffy Thornton's return to Cherokee County. The pick: Checotah 41, Keys 9.

- Tahlequah Sequoyah at Okemah - Justin Hooper, Sequoyah's running back, get familiar with the name. (Also, Sequoyah would like to have this basketball game from the state tournament as a do-over.) The pick: Sequoyah 27, Okemah 22.

Saturday

- Victory Christian vs. Jones (at Choctaw) - Have a cup of coffee with the Conquerors. The pick: Victory Christian 29, Jones 24.

- Davis vs. Vian (at Choctaw) - Davis was good last year. No, really, really good. But 15-0 is hard to replicate. The pick: Davis 34, Vian 22.

Tulsa vs. Arkansas: Texas League playoff preview

Breaking things down before the playoffs kick off at ONEOK Field.

Pitching
Advantage: Drillers
Sending a combination of Eddie Butler, Tyler Anderson, Carlos Hernandez, Jon Gray an Daniel Winkler to the mound to start each game of a five-game series would be a threat of epic proportions — and likely too much for any opposing team to overcome at the minor league level. But, the Drillers will only have three of the five available for the Texas League playoffs.

Butler will get the ball in Game 1, and Anderson — the Texas League's Pitcher of the Year — will also pitch at ONEOK Field in Game 2. Then Hernandez takes over in Game 3.

As for Gray and Winkler, neither figure to return in the playoffs due to injuries. Well, in Gray's case, it's more precautionary than anything.

Having Ryan Arrowood and Jayson Aquino available helps the Drillers, too, but relievers Kraig Sitton, Cole White and Nate Striz have been inconsistent lately.

Arkansas' arsenal of arms can't be overlooked, either. The Travelers allowed the fewest amounts of runs (508) in the Texas League, and credit is due in regards to starters, Drew Rucinski, Michael Roth, Orangel Arenas and Nate Smith.

The problem for Arkansas, however, is that Roth and reliever Cam Bedrosian were called up the Angels before the Texas League playoffs.

Losing two MLB-caliber arms in Double-A will hurt any team, thus giving Tulsa a slight edge in the arms race heading into the postseason.

Hitting
Advantage: Drillers (surprisingly)
When it came to hitting in the Texas League, the South Division did the heavy lifting. The North did the grunt work while trying to score runs.
The Drillers and Travelers were separated by one run during the regular season: Tulsa 570, Arkansas 569. Both were also low in the home run-hitting department, with the Drillers falling three short of 100, while Arkansas was dead last in the league at 79.
The offensive statistics, however, may be a little misleading since Arkansas boasts the league's Player of the Year in Alex Yarbrough. The Travelers also have August's Player of the Month in Brian Hernandez (.364/.458/.535 in August). But outside of those two, only Mike Bianucci really strikes fear into the heart of Tulsa's pitchers.
Tulsa can't exactly lay claim to any overwhelming offensive presences, but Ryan Casteel (.280 average, 16 home runs, 194 total bases), Cristhian Adames (.267) and Taylor Featherston (218 total bases) make for tough outs.

Bottom line: don't look for the North Division playoffs to become a home run derby contest of any kind.

Fielding

Advantage: Arkansas

Of the 508 runs that Arkansas allowed this season, 456 of them were earned. So rarely did the Travelers not make a team earn every run scored.

Chalk that up to solid defense.

Tulsa allowed 85 unearned runs, and that was good for the middle of the pack in the league.

The Drillers' combination of Adames-Featherston-Story in the infield is strong, and Massey in right field is good. But inconsistency tends to hamper the Drillers at times (see Adames' four-error game against Springfield on Sunday).

Intangibles

Advantage: Arkansas

Credit the intangible advantage to having Game 5 in Little Rock, despite the Travelers' 35-35 home record this season.

Arkansas has also been the more consistent ball club this season, finishing the season 75-65, good enough for 3 1/2 games better than Tulsa.

The Drillers, though, have been playing better lately. Tulsa also was 39-31 away from ONEOK Field this season, so playing in Little Rock might not bother the Tulsa too much.

Analysis

Seems cliché to say Game 1 is a "must win" game, but I like the odds for the team that wins the opener.

If Arkansas earns a split in Tulsa with Butler and Anderson pitching, the Travelers should feel pretty good when heading home. If Tulsa can secure wins with its two best pitchers, you'd have to like the Drillers to steal one in Little Rock.

If Arkansas had Roth and Bedrosian, I'd like its chances. But such is not the case.

The pick: Tulsa wins Game 1, 5-3, and wraps up the North Division series in five games.