Class 5A Title First Look
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The Class 5A state championship game is set for Saturday afternoon at 1PM in Edmond as #2 Carl Albert will square off with #6 McAlester for the gold ball. The Buffaloes return to Edmond for the second straight year while Carl Albert is hunting for their sixth gold ball in the last seven after missing out on a trip to Edmond last year. Prep Redzone Oklahoma will have plenty of content throughout the week, previewing the state title game and then plenty to check out during and following Saturday’s game. But up now, we take our first look at the 5A state championship game.
#2 CARL ALBERT TITANS (11-2)
Aug. 26 – Lost To Coweta 44-14
Sept. 2 – Beat Midwest City 39-25
Sept. 9 – Lost To Muskogee 35-28
Sept. 16 – Beat Elk City 45-2
Sept. 22 – Beat Lawton Eisenhower 41-0
Sept. 30 – Beat Shawnee 59-7
Oct. 6 – Beat Southeast 70-18
Oct. 14 – Beat Bishop McGuinness 31-24
Oct. 21 – Beat Guthrie 41-7
Nov. 4 – Beat Piedmont 38-21
1st Round – Beat Lawton MacArthur 45-7
Quarterfinals – Beat Del City 19-0
Semifinals – Beat Grove 55-21
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: 16-1 (18th Appearance)
For the 18th time in school history, the Carl Albert Titans are playing for a state championship. There are few programs that have been to the title game as many times as Carl Albert, let alone have the record that the Titans have when playing for it all. They are 16-1 all time in the state championship game. The one loss came in 2008 to Booker T Washington. The Titans are also returning to Edmond after capturing five consecutive state championships from 2016-2020. We expected the Titans to be in this position in the summer when the Titans came in at #1 in our Class 5A rankings in the preseason. They look to finish as the top team in Class 5A.
OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION: 40.4 Points Per Game
Carl Albert’s offense has been one of the more consistent units in Class 5A this season as they come into this week averaging just over 40 points per game. They have eight games this season where they’ve scored at least 40 points and they are coming off a very impressive performance in the semifinals against Grove where they put up 55. There’s no secret about what the Titans want to do on the offensive side of the ball and that’s run. Now, don’t get us wrong, they can also pass the ball and they showed that against Grove. But when you have one of the best running backs in the state, there’s nothing wrong with handing it off and letting him go to work.
DEFENSIVE PRODUCTION: 16.2 Points Per Game
While the offense has been incredibly consistent, you can make the same argument that the defense has been as well. And it also feels like they are starting to peak at the perfect time. They gave up just over 16 points per game this season but if you take out their non-district losses to Coweta and Muskogee, that number is drastically better. The Titans definitely got our attention following the quarterfinal round when they shut out rival Del City. They turned around and would dominate a Grove offense that had been potent all season long. They forced turnovers, they limited the Grove running game and most of the yards and points came after the game was decided.
NOTABLE
Carl Albert has been led this season by an emerging superstar in junior running back Xavier Robinson Xavier Robinson 6'2" | 225 lbs | RB Carl Albert | 2024 State OK . With nearly 2,500 yards on the ground and 37 touchdowns on the season, Robinson has rewritten the rushing record book for a single season at Carl Albert. He broke the school’s single-season rushing record earlier this month and has only expanded his record over the last few weeks. Robinson is no doubt going to be a finalist for our Player Of The Year award and he might just be the favorite if he helps carry the Titans to a state championship. We’ll dive more into Robinson and his season later this week in our “Players To Watch” feature. But Robinson has produced big in the biggest games.
#6 McALESTER BUFFALOES (11-2)
Aug. 26 – Beat Broken Bow 34-24
Sept. 3 – Beat Scottlandsville, LA. 35-20
Sept. 9 – Beat Ada 34-0
Sept. 23 – Beat Memorial 52-0
Sept. 30 – Beat Del City 34-33 (OT)
Oct. 6 – Lost To Coweta 49-0
Oct. 13 – Beat East Central 68-7
Oct. 21 – Beat Durant 52-20
Oct. 28 – Lost To Sapulpa 28-27
Nov. 4 – Beat Glenpool 44-6
1st Round – Beat Collinsville 27-14
Quarterfinals – Beat Piedmont 60-42
Semifinals – Beat Bishop McGuinness 39-29
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: 2-3 (6th Title Appearance)
McAlester has returned to Edmond for the second consecutive season and it’s their sixth state championship game appearance in school history. Last year, the Buffaloes had a perfect season come to an end with a silver ball as they lost an instant classic to Collinsville in the title game. McAlester is searching for their first state championship in nearly 35 years as 1988 was the last time the Buffaloes raised the gold. They definitely don’t have the championship history and success that Carl Albert has enjoyed over the last three decades. But under head coach Forrest Mazey, the Buffaloes have once again become one of the top contenders in 5A year in and year out.
OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION: 38.9 Points Per Game
A lot of what we said about Carl Albert’s offense can be repeated right here with McAlester as the Buffaloes have been very consistent and more importantly efficient on the offensive side of the ball. They’re averaging just under 40 points per game and have looked really good in the last two weeks against Piedmont in the quarterfinals and then over the weekend against Bishop McGuinness. Like Carl Albert, the Buffaloes are going to want to establish the run and that’s what they were able to do against the Irish on Friday night. Another thing we like about the McAlester offense is how aggressive they’ll be on that side of the ball. They will keep their offense on the field more times than not.
DEFENSIVE PRODUCTION: 20.9 Points Per Game
Well we knew that this year’s McAlester defense might not be what we saw from that unit last season as their famous “Black Death Defense” gave up a little over 10 points per game a season ago. This year, they’re giving up just over 20 points per game but they haven’t taken a giant step back either. This year’s McAlester defense is definitely a “bend but don’t break” defensive unit and another big element to their success this season has been turnovers. They have been able to turn teams over incredibly well this year. The Buffaloes did a good job of limiting McGuinness in the semifinals but they’re running into a Carl Albert team that’s starting to click on offense.
NOTABLE
While Carl Albert has been led this season by their star running back in Robinson, it is believed that the Buffaloes will not have their star running back Erik McCarty Erik McCarty 6'2" | 175 lbs | DB McAlester | 2023 State OK for the state championship game. McCarty has been banged up at various times this season, but in the quarterfinal round, McCarty injured his knee and he did not play in their semifinal win over Bishop McGuinness. McCarty, an Oklahoma commit, was last year’s Prep Redzone Oklahoma Player Of The Year and it’s possible that Robinson might be this year’s winner. The Buffaloes were able to win in the semifinal without McCarty as senior running back Blaze Baugh Blaze Baugh 5'10" | RB McAlester | 2023 State OK stepped up and carried the Buffs back to Edmond.