Oakville Looks to Clinch Playoff Spot Friday

The Oakville Tigers will have an opportunity to secure a spot in the Class 6 state playoffs when they take the field against the Northwest Lions on Friday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. at Oakville.

An Oakville win coupled with a Eureka win over Fox in the other District 1 matchup would advance both Oakville and Eureka to the state tournament. On paper, this scenario seems very possible.

The Tigers (4-4 overall, 3-3 in the Suburban West Conference) face their second straight winless opponent in Northwest (0-8 overall, 0-6 in the SWC). in the Tigers’ district opener.

Eureka (6-2 overall, 5-1 in the SWC) crushed Northwest 63-6 a week ago, and the Wildcats will be huge favorites to eliminate Fox from playoff contention. Oakville hosts Eureka in the regular-season finale on Oct. 28 in what could be a game that has little on the line besides a District 1 title.

The Tigers will be looking to avenge last season’s loss to Northwest. The Lions got their only win of the 2010 season when they beat Oakville 14-13 on Oct. 22. The loss ruined Oakville’s chances of making it to the playoffs. The Tigers qualified for state in 2008 and 2009.

Northwest has been dominated in all eight of their games. The Lions have lost by an average margin of 38.9 points per game and have been shut out in half their contests. They haven't scored more than seven points in a single game and have tallied an average of 3.3 points per game.

Oakville, which had defeated Northwest five times in a row prior to last season’s hiccup, will be led by sophomore QB Andy Oliver. Oliver was an efficient 6 of 11 for 243 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions in last week’s win.

Senior brothers Javon and Jaron Henderson will look to carry over their momentum from the win over Fox.

Javon returned an interception 80 yards for a touchdown, caught two touchdown passes and ran for another. Jaron grabbed a 70-yard TD pass from Oliver and finished with 3 catches for 152 yards.