6A-II State Championship Preview: Bixby vs. Sand Springs

This Friday, Bixby will look to get revenge while Sand Springs attempts to get its first Gold Ball in nearly 50 years.

"After we lost to Sand Springs, we were like, ‘hey, we got to get it together or we're going to be going home in Week 1,’” said Bixby running back Nic Roller.

But, Spartans head coach Loren Montgomery says that his team is playing better now. “We started playing a little bit better at defense and coming together as a team, and when you do that this time of year it's usually a good thing,” he said. “So, hopefully we're getting it together at the right time.”

"We don't want to go from winning state to not making the playoff, or losing in the first round,” added Roller. “We got the athletes to really keep this going and start something here at Bixby.”

As each team strives for a win, get ready to hear the word "physical" a lot.

"The biggest thing is that [they played more physical]. Their defense was in our backfield all night long," said Montgomery.

On the other side, Sand Springs Head Coach Dustin Kinard says his team needs to play just as intense as the Spartans. "We just have to match their intensity, their physical play,” said Kinard. “That wasn't their best effort; we know that.”

"It's going to be a physical game,” added senior linebacker Jacob Taber. “They're hot right now, but we're going to play the same defensive scheme that we did last time and we're going to play hard."

Sand Springs simply does it with defense, and they’re hopeful it can lead them to their first championship since 1966.

"It's a great opportunity,” said Tabor. “It's really exciting. The towns' all painted up; the marquees have all Sandite support on them. It's really nice to see what the community has in store for us."