Things are pretty simple this week in the Altus High School Bulldog football camp.

Win the next two and have an opportunity to get into the playoffs or lose either game and pack up the equipment until next year.

The Bulldogs begin what amounts to a two game season on Friday when they travel to Edmond to meet the Deer Creek Antlers. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Altus enters the game with a 3-5 overall record and a 2-3 mark in district play. Deer Creek is 4-4 and 3-2 in the district.

“We want the season go more than next week,” AHS Head Coach Lyn Hepner said. “We have a lot to say in whether that happens or not. I just think we haven’t seen these guys get everything they deserve in a game for all of the work they have done. We’re due for a full game against a quality opponent.”

Hepner said he doesn’t bother telling the players about all of the playoff possibilities.

“They can do that,” Hepner said. “They know that the fourth place in our district plays first over there and that is Shawnee.”

Deer Creek is a big physical football team and in many ways the Antlers and Altus mirror each other especially on defense. Both line up in the odd stack defense. The big difference is the amount of times Deer Creek blitzes and stunts.

“They use every conceivable stunt known to man,” Hepner said. “These guys blitz against the people we’ve seen about every play. They are flying from every conceivable direction. The thing about that is, it’s a gamble. If we can break that front line it ought to be very good for us.”

Offensively Deer Creek are about 75 percent run and 25 percent pass. Deer Creek uses the spread some but also the I. The Antlers’ big weapon is quarterback Alex Christiansen (6-3, 220, Jr.) who is a big physical runner.

“He basically makes them go,” Hepner said. “They are going to run him, he will throw some; there will be a lot of quarterback draws and quarterback keeps.

Keys to victory

Hepner in his scouting report to players, kept it pretty simple. On offense, control the line of scrimmage and be ready for the blitzes. On defense, “contain the quarterback and play relentless D.” On special teams, protect and cover and play smart.

Playoff scenarios

There are still many possibilities.

The best one for Altus goes like this. Defeat both Deer Creek and Chickasha next week. Then if Chickasha beats MacArthur and Deer Creek defeats MacArthur, the Bulldogs would be third and would probably travel to Midwest City Carl Albert for the first round.

Under that same scenario with the exception that MacArthur defeats Chickasha and Deer Creek, the Bulldogs would be fourth and travel to Shawnee in the first round.

If Altus wins their final two games and if MacArthur defeats Chickasha but loses to Deer Creek, that would create three-way tie for the third and fourth spots in the district. That would bring the point system tie breaker and the Bulldogs are not in good shape in that regard.

Currently MacArthur is a plus 25 points, Deer Creek a plus 22 points and Altus a plus three points.

Duncan and El Reno will meet next week with the winner claiming the district title. The loser will be second in the district.