Colcord, Oaks on road to start playoffs
The Colcord (Okla.) Hornets will hit the road Friday for the opening round of the Class 2A Oklahoma State Football Playoffs.
The Hornets (8-2, third seed District A-8) will travel to Okemah, which finished 9-1 and district runner-up in A-7 behind Mounds. The Panthers won eight straight games to start this season before losing to Mounds in Week 9.
Colcord coach Austin Martin said the Panthers are an “old school, Wing Ttype offense.”
“They’re a good football team with good tradition,” Martin said.
Martin said he sent out a message to his players on Saturday, challenging them to do something that hasn’t been done in several years — win a road playoff game. Colcord hasn’t won a road playoff game since the 2015 season, he said.
“We can do something that not many Colcord teams have done and that’s win a road playoff game,” Martin said. “It’s a big challenge for us and I want the kids to accept it. It’s a way for them to leave their legacy and their mark on Colcord football.”
The Hornets are led offensively by multi-threat senior quarterback Stormy Odle. Odle has completed 51 of 94 passes for 1,018 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s also rushed 88 times for 767 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Senior Trey Duncan leads the Hornets in rushing with 103 carries for 959 yards and 14 touchdowns.
A quartet of players lead the receiving statistics. Jesse Martinez has 10 catches for 299 yards and three touchdowns, along with 15 carries for 230 yards in the rushing game. Gabe Winfield has 11 catches for 219 yards and has completed 15 of 27 passes for 241 yards.
Stone Mayberry has caught 12 passes for 218 yards, while Eyan Williams has 13 catches for 205 yards.
Mayberry leads the team with 87 total tackles, while Winfield has 76. Asaskey Pendry and Trey Larmon have 69 and 67 tackles respectively, while Larmon has 12 sacks.
The Hornets have 21 interceptions as a team, led by Briar Mayberry with five and Winfield.
Oaks heads to Timberlake
The Oaks-Mission Warriors finished the regular season in a three-way tie for second place with Midway and Sasakwa.
Through a points tiebreaker, the Warriors fell to the fourth seed and must travel to undefeated Timberlake to open the Class C playoffs.
“We all beat each other,” said coach Jon Claborn. “We went through three (rounds of) tiebreakers.”
The Warriors (7-3) were supposed to play Timberlake in the second round last year but the game was canceled because of covid-19 protocols. The Hornets’ opening round game was also canceled.
“We were in the playoffs for two weeks and didn’t take a snap,” Claborn said.
Timberlake (10-0) was state runner-up last season and has been highly ranked all season, Claborn said.
“They’re definitely a championship caliber team again this year,” he said. “They got most of their team back.”
Caden Balderas has 27 carries for 382 yards and nine touchdowns, while Carlos Balderas has 42 carries for 386 yards and six touchdowns.
Quarterback Shaun Reed has 49 carries for 379 yards and six touchdowns.
Defensively, Carlos Balderas has five interceptions, while Jakeb Walker has four fumble recoveries. Leading tacklers are Caden Balderas and Josh Hawley, Claborn said.
“We’re 7-3, we’ve won every home game, that was a big goal of ours,” Claborn said. “We had a big win on the road at Midway. We’re a different team than weeks 1, 2 and 3. The seniors have all grown up and contributed in different ways.
“It’s a long shot but we’re not scared of anybody. We’ll put together a game plan and take a shot at (Timberlake). When you get to this point in the season everybody’s pretty good.”