High schools: OSSAA to consider Class 7A football proposal

The largest 16 schools, Class 7A, include Tulsa Union, Jenks, Broken Arrow and Owasso, while the other 12 would be from the Oklahoma City metro area.

All of the high schools in Edmond, Moore and Norman would be included, along with Mustang, Yukon, Putnam City and Putnam City North, based on current attendance averages — which could change before this proposal is adopted.

Based on the current numbers, programs such as Lawton, Midwest City and Tulsa Washington would stay in 6A.

“From where I am, I like the idea,” said Midwest City coach Darrell Hall. “It makes the odds better for our program, and I like that.

“Does it water down the system? Probably so. But from where I'm sitting, at a school with a little over 1,400 students (in average attendance), it's hard to compete against schools with over 4,000.”

The proposal would not impact the current rules governing how Class 5A and below are set.

“We had really good, hard discussions in trying to lay everything out,” Denton said of the committee, which included about a dozen members.

“Whether it's a good option or a bad option, it's an option to put out there. If we get the right kind of discussions, maybe an ideal solution will come out of it. At least we're keeping it out there, and trying to solve a problem that everyone's talked about, but no one knows how to solve.”