Osage County Football gears up for playoffs

* Editor's Note: This story has been revised for accuracy (July 24, 2012)

Now that the regular football season is over the three Osage-fueled teams, Woodland, Hominy and Pawhuska, are gearing up for the playoffs.

Reigning Class A state champions, Woodland, finished the season with yet another undefeated regular season (9-0) but find themselves on the tough side of the playoff bracket for the second season in a row.

Hominy and Pawhuska faced some adversity in the regular season but are going into the post-season with a hopeful mentality.

Woodland

The Cougars finished the regular season with an undefeated record of 9-0 and have every intention of taking their side on the field at Oklahoma State University’s Boone Pickens Stadium in this year’s state championship game.

Woodland head coach Joe Sindelar said he’s confident his team yet again, has what it takes to be one of two teams left standing in Class A.

“Feel good about the season, the kids did a great job,” Sindelar said. “We feel good about it, we feel good about where we are.”

Sindelar said most teams look at the playoffs as a clean slate from the regular season but with his experience he said he’d rather take the continuous game-by-game approach.

“We have a unique group of kids who have the ability to buy into the big picture…we don’t feel like there’s a break in the season,” he said. “I think the fact that instead of putting high important on district games, we try to win every game, so we don’t change our mentality every week, we’re not going through a big change right now.”

Woodland will host Hulbert this Friday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m. in Fairfax.

Sindelar said based off of the scouting report Hulbert is well rounded offensively and defensively. He added that Hulbert also runs a single-wing offense where, a wingback and tight end are aligned together, something not too common in the area.

But with players like Zachary Willie; Osage tailback; Tracey Wilson; Austin Franks and Zalin Edwards, that shouldn’t be a problem.

With only a couple days left to prepare Sindelar said the team remains confident.

“We’re really excited about the next several weeks, it’s another tough start in the bracket,” he said. “We’re looking forward to competing and in a couple of weeks we’re looking forward to playing back at Boone Pickens field again.”

Hominy

The Hominy Bucks are looking at another chance to prove they’re a young but capable team in the playoffs.

The Bucks finished the regular season 5-5 in Class A.

Hominy head coach Ron Harmon said it’s been somewhat of a rollercoaster season for his team as injuries plagued many of the players.

“We had some uniform injuries that really kind of set us back in the later half of the season,” he said. “We had a real tough schedule in the first half, an easier second half but we really had some young kids step up and grow up.”

Throughout most of the regular season Harmon said freshmen had to fill some big shoes but he said that could only help his team this Friday.

The Bucks will travel to Fairland this Friday, Nov.11, for a 7:30 p.m. game with Fairland.

Harmon said Fairland has faced similar adversaries as the Bucks, which should make for an interesting match up.

“I think we are similar, both of us are kind of beat up, we were unexpected to be in this position, they were second in their district…” he said. “We’re coming back on adjustments, trying to step what we’re doing well.”

Players to look out for in Friday’s match up are Cody Pickerton, Steven Sullins and Blake Bohner, Osage.

Harmon said so far the team has confidence and knows how important the game is.

“The locker room has been real positive,” he said. “Our kids really practiced well…the kids know what to expect going into this one, it’s do or die.”

Pawhuska

Despite a rough regular season the Pawhuska Huskies are looking to start fresh in the opening game of the playoffs.

The Huskies finished the regular season 5-5 and have wiped their slate clean to a record of 0-0 as they enter the playoffs.

The Huskies will travel to Adair this Friday, Nov. 11, and play at 7:30 p.m.

Pawhuska head coach Eddy Scott said his team is looking at the postseason as a chance to redeem themselves after a sluggish regular season.

“I think our season didn’t go as well as we wanted it to go, kids played hard and I was proud of them,” Scott said. “All you got to do is go 0-0 in the playoffs. You got to continue to win and keep going, if you lose, you’re done.”

Pawhuska players to look out for are Jeremie Tuller and Zackery Wilson.

Scott said his team has done their homework on Adair and is anxious and prepared.

“They have a really good quarterback, running back, decent wide receiver, we need to stop them,” he said. “Our kids are ready to go, I never question that they’re excited and ready to be here, ready to get the playoffs started.”