Exactly how big was Caddo’s win Thursday? Barring upsets at the end of the season by a Bruin opponent, Caddo will be heading to the playoffs. The length of the Bruins’ playoff drought spans 10 years to 1999. That was when Robby Hall’s squad was 6-5 with a first-round loss to Panama.

That was also when the Bruins were still playing 11-man football in Class A. Caddo followed with a 24-game losing streak that was snapped in 2002, the first year of eight-man for the Bruins.

It’s not automatic, but the last two district games are against Central (1-4 in B-2) and Macomb (0-5 in B-2). Ryan and Fox will likely not be removed from the top two spots, meaning Caddo will have to travel. Caddo could lose one of the last two and still take third place if Alex doesn’t win out. Alex still has to play both Fox and Ryan and isn’t likely to upset both. If Caddo was upset in both games, Alex would only need to beat Paoli to take third, and it would be a stretch for Allen to knock Caddo out of fourth because Allen also has Fox and Ryan left to play.

Caddo’s home game against Thackerville Friday will be challenging, but it is not a district game.

I’m not leaving out the Victory Life Academy Eagles, who could clinch a playoff spot by winning out, but still has to take on Thackerville. The Eagles will have their most important game in the history of the program Friday. VLA will host Tipton and then be on the road against Thackerville. Two wins wouldn’t be automatic for VLA but a win over Temple, would mean Temple would have to beat both Cement and Thackerville at the end of the year to replace the Eagles. A loss to Temple would mean VLA would have to upset a very talented Thackerville team and take care of business against Grandfield.

Not so clear yet for the Lions. It will be a very decisive Week 8 in Durant’s district. Many believe it will once again boil down to Durant or Ardmore at the end of the year. It’s likely, but too far away to make that declaration.

The most clear cut scenario is for Shawnee. No disrespect to the Wolves’ last two opponents, Noble and Capitol Hill, but Shawnee would most likely secure first place with a win over Guthrie.

If the Lions win out they would lock it up by insuring that neither Ardmore or Harrah can reach five district wins. There could even be a three-way tie for second-place if Durant wins out, Guthrie loses to Shawnee but wins the last two and Carl Albert beats Ardmore and wins its Week 10 game.

The outcome of Carl Albert/Ardmore this Friday will determine which two games Durant must win out of the last three. Carl Albert, Ardmore, Durant and Harrah all play each other in the last three weeks.

A loss to Harrah would be devastating, but would not automatically eliminate Durant from contention. Durant could beat Carl Albert and Ardmore and finish 4-3 with a head-to-head tiebreaker over. It won’t be easy. Harrah is very much alive at 4-3 and 2-2 in the district and is having its best season in quite some time.

Losing two of the last three would leave Durant at 3-4, with whichever two of the final three teams that beat Durant only needing one other win (except for Carl Albert) to eliminate the Lions.

If Durant, Harrah and Ardmore all lose to Carl Albert and split their fourth-place round robin such as — Durant loses to Harrah, Ardmore beats Harrah, Durant beats Ardmore — then there would be a three-way tie for fourth coming down to the district tiebreaker points.

I’m probably over-thinking the whole thing, I’m wrong about a great deal of it, but know this: this is easily the most interesting last few weeks of local football in a long time.

5A-2

Week 8: Harrah at Durant, Noble at Capitol Hill, Guthrie at Shawnee, Carl Albert at Ardmore

Week 9: Durant at Carl Albert, Ardmore at Harrah, Shawnee at Noble, Capitol Hill at Guthrie

Week 10: Durant at Ardmore, Carl Albert at Harrah, Noble at Guthrie, Shawnee at Capitol Hill