Battle of the ’Burbs
Owasso vs. Bixby
Thursday, 7:30 p.m., H.A. Chapman Stadium, University of Tulsa campus. Bixby is the designated home team.
Tickets: $10, available at gofan.co and at the box office at the northwest corner of the stadium property. Until noon on Thursday, tickets also are sold at the Owasso High School and Bixby High School athletics offices.
Radio: Owasso, KYFM 100.1; Bixby, Sports Animal 97.1.
Live stream: Owasso, owassoathletics.org; Bixby, bixbyps.info/livestream.
Tulsa World rankings: In Class 6AI, defending champion Bixby is No. 1 while Owasso is No. 3.
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Attendance: At 30,000-seat H.A. Chapman Stadium, the attendance for last year’s Battle of the ’Burbs was 21,500.
Tulsa World meteorologist Kirsten Lang's Thursday kickoff forecast: The heat drags on. Temperatures will be in the low 100s with light winds and lots of sunshine. Make sure to stay hydrated and exercise caution when outside in the late afternoon hours. Kickoff: sunny, 102 degrees; heat index 111. Halftime: hot, 99; heat index, 108. End of game: clear, 94; heat index, 102.
The match-up: In this QuikTrip-sponsored battle of Class 6AI powers, Owasso and Bixby are matched for the third time in a year. In the 2022 opener — the inaugural Battle of the ’Burbs — Bixby prevailed 49-14. In the 6AI championship rematch, the Spartans won 69-6 and captured their program’s eighth state title in nine years.
Owasso in 2022: After having been 1-4 at midseason, the Owasso Rams got hot, upset previously unbeaten Union in a six-overtime semifinal classic and ultimately closed with a 9-5 record.
Bixby in 2022: With seven titles in eight seasons of 6AII competition, the Bixby Spartans were dominant during their first season in 6AI. In 12 victories, Bixby outscored its opponents by 681 points. Before losing 38-35 to Jenks in the regular-season finale, the Spartans’ state-record win streak had been extended to 58 games and at that time was the nation’s longest high school football win streak.
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About the Across the Sky podcast. The weekly weather podcast is hosted on a rotation by the Lee Weather team: Matt Holiner of Lee Enterprises' Midwest group in Chicago, Kirsten Lang of the Tulsa World in Oklahoma, Joe Martucci of the Press of Atlantic City, N.J., and Sean Sublette of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia.
Bill Haisten
Tulsa World Sports Columnist & Writer