LARRY OWEN

SPORTS EDITOR

The next phase of the 2022 high school football season will get underway for five of the six Okmulgee County teams on Friday night.

The next phase of 2022 is district play, where, for the next seven weeks, every game is very important in regards to a possible playoff appearance on November 11. The only county gridiron squad not opening district play Friday is the Dewar Dragons, who will begin their district schedule October 7 at Webbers Falls. The reason for the late start to district play is that the Dragons compete in District B-5, which consists of only six teams - Dewar, Midway, Caddo, Webbers Falls, Quinton, and Porum.

While Dewar will face two more non-district opponents over the next two weeks, the other five county varsity football teams will begin their journeys towards a Top 4 finish in their respective districts.

Okmulgee, Beggs, and Morris will battle five other teams - Kiefer, Victory Christian, Sperry, Kansas, and Westville - for the top four spots in District 2A-7, while Henryetta will compete with Prague, Okemah, Keys, Tahlequah Sequoyah, Vian, Roland, and Warner for the top four spots in District 2A-5.

Wilson will compete with Coyle, Oaks-Mission, Copan, South Coffeyville, Watts, Wesleyan Christian, and Bluejacket for the top four spots in District C-3. Editor’s Note: Oaks-Mission and Bluejacket have already met in district action with Oaks-Mission defeating Bluejacket 48-0 on September 1.

Okmulgee and Beggs will begin district play today in front of their home fans, while the other three county teams will start district action on the road.

The Okmulgee Bulldogs, who sit at 2-1 on the year, will welcome the 2021 District 2A-7 champion Victory Christian Conquerors (1-2) to historic Harmon Field for its district opener, while the Beggs Golden Demons will play host to district newcomer, the Westville Yellowjackets at the newly named Tate Field in Beggs. Both Beggs and Westville enter today’s district opener with identical 1-2 records.

The Morris Eagles, who are 2-1 and enjoying a 2-game winning streak, will open district play by making a trip to Kiefer to battle the Kiefer Trojans, who sport a spotless 3-0 record this season.

The Henryetta Golden Knights, who awarded new head coach Weston McGill his first coaching win last Friday at Hartshorne, will begin district play in a new district (2A-5) with a trip to Prague and a showdown with a familiar foe, the Prague Red Devils, who enters Friday’s district opener with a spotless 3-0 season record.

The Wilson Tigers, who have won their first two games of 2022 in commanding fashion (40-8 over Olive and 60-6 over Bowlegs), will kick off action in their new district (C-3) with a trip to Coyle and a showdown with the Coyle Bluejackets, who enter the district opener with a 1-2 record and a 2-game losing streak.

The Dewar Dragons will open the home portion of their 2022 schedule in a non-district battle with the Arkoma Mustangs. Dewar enters the home opener with a spotless 2-0 record and sporting a 37-game regular- season win streak. Arkoma comes into today’s non-district contest with a 1-2 record with the first two games coming against members of District B-5. Arkoma began the 2022 campaign September 2 with a 44-28 victory over Midway and has suffered back-to-back mercy-rule losses to Webbers Falls (54-8) and Wetumka (47-0).

Kickoff for today’s football action featuring Okmulgee County teams are scheduled for 7 p.m. at each venue.

--- 2A-5 Games Henryetta (1-2) at Prague (3-0) Warner (3-0) vs Vian (1-2) Okemah (1-2) at Tahlequah Sequoyah (0-3) Keys (0-3) at Roland (0-3) ---

2A-7 Games Okmulgee (2-1) vs Victory Christian (1-2) Beggs (1-2) vs Westville (1-2) Morris (2-1) at Kiefer (3-0) Kansas (2-1) vs Sperry (1-2) --- C-3 Games Wilson (2-0) at Coyle (1-2) Oaks-Mission (3-1, 1-0) at Wesleyan Christian (2-1) Watts (2-1) at South Coffeyville (0-3) Copan (1-2) at Bluejacket (1-2, 0-1)