Football playoffs open Friday

Football playoffs open Friday with four LeFlore County teams geared up to play with two teams home and two away.

Talihina and Pocola are home while Panama and Arkoma open on the road.

Talihina (10-0) and ranked first in Class A-II is the district champion and opens at home against Ketchum (6-4), the fourth-place finisher out of District A-II-4.

The Golden Tigers finished as the top scoring and defensive team in the county during the regular season. Ketchum finished behind Hominy, Fairland and Woodland in its district.

The teams faced two same opponents in Liberty and Porter. Talihina defeated Liberty in district play, 62-7, while Ketchum opened with a 40-7 win over Liberty.

The Golden Tigers downed Porter, 34-6, in week 2 while Ketchum defeated Porter, 34-0. The Talihina game can be viewed HERE for anybody who can’t attend.

Pocola finished second in District A-I-4 behind defending state champion Rejoice Christian and hosts Pawnee.

The Indians are 8-2 while Pawnee (7-3) was third in A-I-3 behind Tonkawa and Pawhuska. Pawnee’s three losses came by a combined 16 points. Pawnee also posted wins over Hominy, which was the district champion in Ketchum’s district.

For anybody who can’t make the game, it can be viewed:

Key insights into the football playoffs

Both teams have explosive offenses. Pocola cruised to easy wins except against Vian and Rejoice Christian, the two teams that defeated the Indians. Pawnee scored at least 30 points in every game aside from a 14-6 loss to district champion Tonkawa in Week 10.

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Panama was third in A-I-4 behind Pocola. The Razorbacks (7-3) make the long trip to open at Pawhuska, which finished 9-1 with the lone loss coming to Tonkawa.

Panama’s defense will be tested against another potent offense in Pawhuska, which averages 50.4 points per game, including an 80-point performance in a win over Quapaw, and over 60 points six times this season.

The Panama and Pawhuska game can be viewed HERE.

Arkoma , 3-7, is the fourth place team out of B-II-4, and the Mustangs go to B-II-3 district champion Cherokee, which was 9-1 in the regular season. Cherokee’s only loss came in week 2 at Pioneer-Pleasant Yale.

The Arkoma and Cherokee game can be viewed HERE.

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