There is one last hurdle to climb for the Altus High Bulldogs in their effoirt to secure a playoff bid.

The Bulldogs travel to Chickasha to face the Fightin’ Chicks in the final district and regular season game of the year. Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m.

A victory all but assures the Bulldogs a playoff spot. If Altus (4-5, 3-3) wins and if Lawton MacArthur defeats Deer Creek the Bulldogs will place fourth and nail down the final playoff spot. That would send the Bulldogs to Shawnee the winner of District 5A-1, for the first round of the playoffs. MacArthur (6-3, 4-2) is considered a heavy favorite and should defeat the Antlers on the Highlanders senior night at home.

Even if Deer Creek (4-5, 3-3) defeats MacArthur, the Bulldog could close out the Antlers if they defeat Chickasha by six points or more. That would create a three-way tie and tie breaker system would be used. The Bulldogs are currently nine points ahead of the Antlers and a six point win would guarantee the playoff spot. The most a team can get in any one game is 15 points. A tie on the point system between the Bulldogs and Antlers would send Altus to the playoffs by virtue of the Bulldogs victory over Deer Creek.

There are many other playoff possibilities that are really far fetched. One could even net the Bulldogs a third place spot in the district standings. That could occur if Altus defeats Chickasha and Deer Creek pulls off an upset and beats Lawton MacArthur by a large enough point spread. That would create a three way tie for the third and fourth spots in the standings between MacArthur, Deer Creek and Altus. The tiebreaker point system would then come into effect. If for example Altus downs Chickasha by 15 points and if Deer Creek defeats the Highlanders by nine or more, the Bulldogs would get third place. That would send Altus to Midwest City Carl Albert in the first round of the playoffs.

That situation is very, very unlikely.

There is a scenario where Altus does not make the playoffs. If the Bulldogs lose to Chickasha and Deer Creek defeats the Highlanders, the Bulldogs are out.

If Altus loses to Chickasha and Deer Creeks loses it would create a three way tie and the tie breaker for the final playoff spot. Chickasha would have no chance because they are 42 points behind the Bulldogs on points. Deer Creek could slip into the playoffs under that scenario if they lost for example by only one point to MacArthur and Altus lost by 11 points or more to Chickasha,

Deer Creek must make up 10 points on the Bulldogs in any tiebreaker system.

That’s the long and short of it. The best thing for the Bulldogs is just take of business and win. If that happens chances are they will be playing next week.

‘That our focus,” AHS coach Lyn Hepner said. “Win and we’re in, take care of business.”

In Chickasha the Bulldogs will face a team that loves to throw the football. The Chicks have had little success with running the football so they throw it about 80 percent of the time. In a loss to Duncan, they threw 61 times.

Junior quarterback Chase Rodgers (6-2, 187 Jr.) is the leading passer in Class 5A in terms of total yardage. The Chicks have done an excellent job of protecting him. The key matchup could be the Bulldogs defensive front against the Chickasha offensive line. Altus got good pressure on Deer Creek quarterback Alex Christianson last week and Hepner is looking for more of the same.

“I want to see how Kyle, Jacob and Connor does (defensive ends Connor Cunningham and Kyle Sullivan and nose guard Jacob Billarrial).

Chickasha has no chance to make the playoffs and that could make them a dangerous football team because there is no pressure on them.

“They are a senior laden ball club and it will be their Super Bowl,” Hepner said. “This is the last game these seniors will ever play. I’ve watched the film and those guys protect him (the quarterback) well. He is an above average passer and he has four very good receivers. I have to characterize them as the best 3-6 team in the state. You can tell they spend a lot of time on offense. It’s very sophisticated. They are going to complete some passes. We’ll have to get after it.”

Defensively, the Chicks use a standard 4-3 alignment.

Bulldog notes: Altus tried a fake punt a play called the possum punt on a fourth and 20 situation last week in Deer Creek. It went for a minus two yards. It’s unlikely fans will see that play against. “The possum punt has been buried,” Hepner laughed.

Hepner is still using the word consistency when talking about the offense. The Bulldogs on their first possession of the second half drove 70 yards for a touchdown. “If we can do that, a lot of people will have trouble with us. It gets back to consistency. Let’s keep using that word until it happens. That was the very same team that couldn’t move the ball the first half. We want that team that methodically moved the ball and hammered them(Deer Creek).

“You can take one play in each game and it changes the whole complexion. How important is it to not take off a play or not bust (an assignment). That’s got to be the theme and yesterday I thought Stefan (Offensive Coordinator Stefan Seifried) did a good job of emphasizing that to the offense.”