Broken Arrow is 6-0 and averaging 46 points per game, its best start since the program's lone state title in 2018.
The Tigers, ranked No. 3 in the state by Sports Illustrated, travel to No. 1 Bixby on Friday, Oct. 30, in a game that could decide the District 6AI-1 championship. Bixby has won four straight 6AI state titles.
Broken Arrow is winning with a punishing ground attack. Quarterback Shamar Banner and tailbacks Corey Sango Jr. and Octavian Roberson have combined for 1,199 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns through six games, Tulsa World columnist Bill Haisten reported. The trio averages 200 yards per game, and Broken Arrow averages 6.8 yards per carry when any of them touches the ball.
The Tigers average 42 rushing attempts and 301 yards on the ground per game, Haisten reported. Banner, a senior who moved to the Broken Arrow district from Duluth, Georgia, in May, has averaged only 13 pass attempts per game but has converted 61% of them. He recently committed to the University of Tulsa.
Head coach Travis Hill's roster includes at least 10 players with college offers or commitments. Safety Semaj Stanford, ranked the nation’s No. 3 safety by 247Sports, committed to Oregon after weighing 30 major-college offers. Stanford recorded 109 tackles and five interceptions as a junior, returning two for touchdowns, according to a preseason NewsOn6 feature.
Senior defensive back Bryson “BB” Brown is committed to Oklahoma State. Senior defensive back Braeden Baker is committed to the Air Force. Sophomore receiver Joseph Williams holds early offers from Missouri, Oklahoma State, Arizona and Iowa State.
Sophomore left tackle Devin Smith already has offers from OU, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Tulsa, Purdue, Kansas, Tennessee, Arizona and Arizona State. Seven more Tigers hold small-college offers.
Stanford, who doubles as a receiver, averages 23 yards per catch as a target for Banner. He scored 11 touchdowns on offense as a junior.
"Win state. Probably win state," Stanford told NewsOn6 in August when asked about his senior-season goal. "Everybody on the team wants to cement their legacy in Oklahoma, and that's always big."
The last time Broken Arrow opened 6-0 was 2018, when the David Alexander-coached Tigers ran the table and won the school's only football state title. In the six-game stretches from 2019 through 2025, Broken Arrow posted a combined 22-20 record, Haisten reported.
Hill, in his second season as head coach, told the Tulsa World the Tigers have not hit any milestones yet. He said his players have answered every call so far and that the team has a chance for special opportunities.
Before the Bixby game, Broken Arrow hosts 19th-ranked Mustang on Thursday, Oct. 15, then faces Southmoore. Mustang enters at 4-2 overall and 2-1 in district play. Hill called the Broncos a real threat.
The 6AI state title game is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 4, in Edmond. Four regular-season games remain. With a first-round bye, Broken Arrow would need three postseason wins to capture the championship.
