Wolverines eye perfect season, district title with Senior Night win over Valliant

All that stands between the Vian Wolverines and a combination of a perfect regular season and a District 2AII-4 championship is 48 minutes of game time tonight.

The Wolverines will seek an unblemished 10-0 regular season as well as clinching the district championship outright when they entertain the Valliant Bulldogs at 7 tonight for Senior Night at St. John Stadium.

“It’s the biggest game of the year,” Vian coach Gary Willis said. “We need to win it to win the district. The boys have been working hard and are ready to go. We’re ready to go and get this one over with, and hit the playoffs running.”

Of course, the Wolverines (9-0 overall, 6-0 in district play) can make it a 3-fer as a win tonight not only will clinch the district title and a undefeated regular season, but a victory tonight also will get the Vian seniors a victory on their night.

“It’s always good to win on Senior Night,” Willis said.

There’s a lot on the line for the visiting Bulldogs (5-4, 5-1). If the ’Dogs upset the Wolverines, it will force a tie for the district title between the two teams, which would end up making Valliant the top seed from the district for the Class 2A, Division II playoffs and the Wolverines second.

“There’s a lot at stake for them,” Willis said about the Bulldogs. “They have a good running back and a couple of good linemen. They play hard.” There is even a third scenario that could materialize by night’s end. If Valliant upsets Vian and Henryetta defeats Atoka tonight on the Knights’ Senior Night, a threeway tie would be forged between Vian, Valliant and Henryetta. Under that scenario, district points will decide who will be the top, second and third seed from the district for the playoffs, which would likely favor Vian to get No. 1 seed from District 2AII-4.

Willis said he could not be happier with where his team is right now as they get ready to play their biggest game to this point in the season.

“We like where we’re at right now,” he said. “We’re good and healthy. The main thing is to stay that way regardless (of tonight’s outcome) as we go into the playoffs. We need to crank it up and get on a little high here and make a playoff run.”