Mac has clinched; LHS needs win; Ike has been eliminated

While Week 9 helped clear up the playoff picture somewhat, there are still many questions left to be answered but for seven area teams their playoff berths are wrapped up tightly and two of those are high-powered district champions  Anadarko and Frederick  teams that everyone expects to make strong title runs.

Also safely in the playoffs are MacArthur, Duncan, Hollis, Tipton and Velma-Alma.

For all the others,however, there are some scenarios that will have them joining those seven teams in the playoffs, or others that will have them packing away the gear. Here is how we see things shaping up on the final week of the regular season:

District 6A-3
Pretty simple to follow; Norman North is the champion, Edmond North is second and Yukon visits Putnam City North to decide third and fourth.

Eisenhower has been eliminated at 1-5 in district and 2-7 overall with a tough assignment against the district champion left on the schedule.

District 6A-4
Five weeks ago one state newspaper had Lawton High ranked No. 1, but that was right when a rash of injuries riddled the Wolverines, taking out eight starters.

Now LHS is 3-3 and tied with Mustang, Southmoore and Edmond Memorial for the third and fourth in 6A-4. Edmond Santa Fe is the champion and Norman has second wrapped up, which may actually aid the LHS cause because those two play this week and with the Tigers already in the playoffs will they might not be fully focused on the Wolverines who now are in a must-win situation.

What makes this interesting is that Southmoore and Mustang play each other, so the winner of that game will be one of the playoff teams with a 4-3 record. Edmond Memorial has winless Putnam West, so there is a good chance the Bulldogs will go to 4-3 as well.

If LHS wins as well, then there is likely to be a three-way tie for third and the good news for Wolverine fans is that they have the edge in the marginal point system at plus-24 compared to Memorial's minus-8, Mustang's plus-2 and Southmoore's minus-2. Memorial could only climb to plus-7 if it beats West by 15, while the best Mustang could be with a big win is plus-17 and the best Southmoore could do with a big win is plus-13.

In any of those scenarios, a simple win by LHS of any margin would give the Wolverines third, but the problem at hand is how to stop Norman's talented offense. More on that in the Wednesday Constitution, our day each week to talk with the LHS coaches and players.

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