Before 7:30 Friday night, 16 high school football teams had high hopes of running the table in the postseason and bringing home a gold ball.  Three hours later, eight dreams were kept alive and eight were crushed.

This year, the 4A state football tournament was wide open.  Sure Clinton looked good going in, and so did Douglass.  However, cinderella stories are not limited to March Madness.

Here’s a few things we learned from the first round:

• Clinton 38, Cushing 6 – No surprise here.  Clinton did what they were supposed to do, and put Cushing away easily.  The Red Tornadoes are The Oklahoman’s favorite to win the championship, and the way they have been playing this season, it is hard to disagree.  If they can continue to play at this level, the Red Tornadoes should cruise to the big one at Boone Pickens.

• Hilldale 22, McLain 12 – Late in this one, Hilldale QB Bryatt Alexander threw his fifth pick of the day, but Hilldale WR Jarrard Poteete stripped the ball from the defender who brought down the interception.  That gave Hilldale a 10 point lead, and would be enough for Hilldale to earn a date with Clinton in the second round.  If Hilldale wants to be taken seriously, they will have to leave everything out on the field against Clinton.

• Catoosa 24, Broken Bow 21 – It was a close call for the undefeated Catoosa Indians, but the avoided a loss from an upset-minded Broken Bow team.  The Savages kept themselves in this one through their pass game, but Catoosa would get a late stop and run out the clock to keep their perfect record alive.  However, could Catoosa not be as good as we think?  We will have to see how they respond against Glenpool.

• Glenpool 28, Piedmont 25 – Representing 4A-1, Piedmont gave the Warriors a run for their money.  The Irish handled the Wildcats easily, but it was a different story last Friday.  This was a back and forth game, and would come down to the final seconds.  Piedmont scored a touchdown with 11 seconds left, recovered the onside kick, but fell to Glenpool after getting sacked the first play and then throwing an incomplete pass to the end zone.  Not that this is the BCS or anything, but that win against Piedmont a few weeks ago looks a lot better for McGuinness.

• Douglass 19, Woodward 20 – The biggest upset of the night came in Oklahoma City.  The Trojans were on the verge of putting away the Boomers, but fumbled on the Boomer one-yard line and Woodward’s Garrett Roach recovered the ball and went 99 yards in to the end zone with 37 seconds left in the game.  The Boomers live to see another day, but the season draws to a close for Douglass.  Once again, the Irish racking up quality wins in retrospect.

• Wagoner 57, Fort Gibson 14 – The 9-1 Wagoner Bulldogs took it to Fort Gibson.  The Bulldogs beat up on a Fort Gibson team that finished the season with a 4-6 record, and anything but a blowout victory would have been unacceptable.  I’m sure Wagoner was ready to pack their bags en route to Douglass High School, but I’m sure the ‘Dogs will be more than happy to face Woodward.

• Sallisaw 62, Jay 21 – The Black Diamonds throttled Jay High School, and made a statement scoring 45 of their 62 points in the first half.  Jay scored two trash touchdowns in the second half, and limped out of Sallisaw with a loss, and the Black Diamonds will host McGuinness next Friday.

• McGuinness 14, Harrah 7 – You already know what happened at Pribil if you have been keeping with Irish On Deck.  The Fighting Irish defense helped McGuinness defeat the Harrah Panthers in a battle that was not won with offense, but with huge stops and a costly Harrah turnover.  The Irish could not establish a pass game, but they did not need to in the end.  Coach Jones’ post-game speech to the team was short, but he got his point across.  To win a state championship, you have to be near perfect, and how much does the team really want it?  We’ll find out in less than a week.

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