6A-D1 Championship First Look
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The Class 6A-D1 state championship is set for 1PM on Saturday night at UCO’s Wantland Stadium. We’ll see a familiar face in the Jenks Trojans, but their opponent is somewhat surprising after Edmond Santa Fe beat Union in the semifinals on Saturday, making it to their first title game in almost two decades. Prep Redzone Oklahoma will have preview content throughout the week to get you ready for Saturday afternoon’s title game. Let’s get started with our 6A-D1 championship first look, taking a look at both teams in the match-up!
EDMOND SANTA FE WOLVES (10-2)
Aug 28 – Lost To Owasso 48-21
Sept 4 – Lost To Stillwater 45-32
Sept 11 – Beat Edmond North 42-35
Sept 28 – Beat Edmond Memorial 46-20
Oct 3 – Beat Westmoore 69-14
Oct 9 – Beat Yukon 42-21
Oct 15 – Jenks Game Cancelled
Oct 23 – Beat Broken Arrow 35-28
Oct 30 – Beat Enid 41-21
Nov 5 – Beat Norman 42-31
1st Round – Beat Edmond North 63-24
Quarterfinal – Beat Westmoore 56-22
Semifinal – Beat Union 21-14
Championship History: 0-1 (2nd Appearance)
For the second time in school history, Edmond Santa Fe will be playing for a state championship. The school’s first season came in 1994, they would make it to their first state championship game in 2003, coincidentally, that came against Jenks. They would come up short that year, losing 17-10. That was the first and only time Santa Fe found themselves playing for a gold ball. Until 2020. The Wolves have had several teams during the last decade that believed they had the talent and ability to go all the way to play for a gold ball. Even last year, Santa Fe would beat Broken Arrow and Jenks on the road and would capture the district title. They went into the playoffs hoping to contend for a state title but would be upset in the quarterfinals. This year, they left no doubt. Blowing out their first two playoff opponents and then beating Union in the semifinals.
Offensive Production: Scoring 42.5 PPG (46.6 PPG In Playoffs)
The Edmond Santa Fe offense has been one of the best offenses in the state when you look at not only their scoring production but how they’re getting the job done. They are averaging over 42 points per game and that’s gone higher in the playoffs, averaging over 46 points per game in their three playoff wins. But what’s impressive is how they’re getting it done. They can beat you in the passing game, as well as the running game. Coming into the season, a big question would be around the quarterback position as the Wolves would have a new starter there. They’ve gotten over 2,000 yards and nearly 30 touchdown passes from their quarterback spot. Meanwhile the rushing attack has been one of the best in the state. Santa Fe has accounted for 40 touchdowns on the ground this season from a variety of players.
Defensive Production: 26.9 PPG (20 PPG In Playoffs)
Things didn’t start well for Santa Fe this season as they fell to 0-2 out of the gate and had to struggle by rival Edmond North in their third game of the season. The defense gave up 48, 42 and 35 in consecutive weeks. That really did some damage when it came to their scoring average for the season. If you take those three games out, the Wolves are only giving up around three touchdowns per game. Santa Fe certainly has talent on their defensive side of the ball as they have future D1 players at all three levels of their defense. And at times, you can say it’s been a bend but don’t break defense. In their semifinal win over Union, they capitalized on turnovers that set up points for their offense. But in all reality, they’re playing for a state title because the defense came up with stop after stop against a high-powered Union rushing attack.
Notable
Edmond Santa Fe has played Jenks ten times and have a 1-9 record against the Trojans. Before last season’s 33-30 win on the road, the Wolves had lost their first nine meetings against the Trojans. The first four meetings came in the playoffs. Since the split in Class 6A, these two teams have been district opponents. They were supposed to meet this season on October 15th. But the game was called off and eventually cancelled due to Covid. Because of that game being called off, Jenks only had five district games as opposed to Santa Fe’s six district games. With Santa Fe having a 6-0 record and Jenks sitting at 5-0, Santa Fe was crowned district champion and received the district’s one seed going into the playoffs. Instead of squaring off for a district title, they’ll play for it all.
JENKS TROJANS (10-1)
Aug 28 – Beat Springdale Har-Ber, AR. 31-15
Sept 4 – Lost To Bixby 42-35
Sept 11 – Beat Union 28-0
Sept 25 – Enid Game Cancelled
Oct 2 – Beat Broken Arrow 38-30
Oct 8 – Beat Norman 42-13
Oct 15 – Edmond Santa Fe Game Cancelled
Oct 23 – Beat Yukon 38-7
Oct 30 – Beat Edmond Memorial 48-6
Nov 5 – Beat Westmoore 49-21
1st Round – Beat Moore 51-19
Quarterfinal – Beat Norman North 63-16
Semifinal – Beat Owasso 39-15
Championship History: 16-10 (27th Appearance)
For the 27th time in school history, the Trojans are playing for a state championship. That extends their state record for most appearances in the championship game. The next closest school is Clinton with 25. Clinton is also playing in the 4A semifinals, so they have an opportunity to add another notch on their belt. But for Jenks, this is their third straight appearance in the title game. Head coach Keith Riggs has led the Trojans to the title game in each of his first three seasons. However, they haven’t won a gold ball since winning four in a row from 2012-2015. It’s been four plus years since Jenks was on top of the mountain. You have to go back to the late 80’s into the early 90’s to find a five year stretch where they didn’t win a title. The Trojans are looking for their 17th title in school history. That would break a tie with Clinton and put Jenks alone in 2nd place in state history. Ada is currently in 1st with 19 state championships.
Offensive Production: Scoring 42 PPG (51 PPG In Playoffs)
The Jenks offense has been incredibly consistent and has even gotten better with the playoffs beginning. They are averaging 42 points per game and when you run down their schedule, you’ll see that’s basically where they’ve been at, with the exception of the playoffs, where they are averaging over 50 points in their three playoff wins. The season low in points came in their rivalry game against Union when they scored 28. They only needed a safety to win that game as the defense had a shutout that evening. Even in their loss to Bixby, they still put up big numbers offensively. That Union game was the only time Jenks failed to score 30 points in a game this season. Jenks is coming off a semifinal performance where they put up 39 on Owasso. The Rams hadn’t given up 30+ points all season and only gave up 20+ points on just two occasions.
Defensive Production: 16.7 PPG (16.7 PPG In Playoffs)
Just like the offensive side of the ball, when you flip it and look at the Trojans on defense, you’ll see that same consistency. The defense gave up nearly 17 points per game during the regular season and they’ve stayed the same in the playoffs with that same average. And the defense has really stepped up over the last month or so. Really since the halfway point of the regular season, they’ve been playing outstanding. They gave up 42 to Bixby and then 30 against Broken Arrow but have been dominant other than that. They haven’t given up 20+ points in any of their playoff games, including completely shutting Owasso down in the semifinals.
Notable
Jenks has an 8-4 record against teams from the westside in state championship games. When you look more in depth at that record, the Trojans actually lost their first four championship games against westside opponents. Since losing to Duncan in the 1978 3A state title game, the Trojans are a perfect 8-0 when they go against westside competition in the state championship game. And if you include Enid as a westside team, make the overall record 9-4 and they’ve won their last nine against westside competition. The last time they played a team from the westside was the 2012 title game, when they beat Norman North 55-20. That was the first of four straight titles.