OSSAA board approves independent football schedules for 4 schools, denies 5 others

The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association Board of Directors approved four schools and denied five others from playing independent football schedules for the 2026 and 2027 seasons on Wednesday. The board made the decisions during its monthly meeting. The programs that were approved were Caney Valley (7-2 vote), Capitol Hill (5-4 vote), Cordell (7-2 vote) and Enid (5-4 vote).

The schools that were denied were Classen SAS, Guymon, John Marshall, Northwest Classen and U.S. Grant in 5-4 votes. The board has 15 members, but two — Dudley Darrow of Enid and Brad Herzer of Oklahoma City — recused themselves in each vote. The four others who make up the 15 were not present.

All of the programs requesting to go independent have been struggling to be competitive, with many low on numbers compared to their opponents. All of the programs that were approved of competing as independents were winless this past season. It was a major struggle for the programs that were denied, as well.

Classen SAS went 0-10 and John Marshall finished 2-8 while competing as Class 5A schools, Northwest Classen had a 2-9 record and U.S. Grant went 3-7 while in Class 6A-II and Guymon finished 5-5 as an independent. This article will be updated. Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @nicksardis .

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSSAA approves independent football schedule for Capitol Hill, 3 others The OSSAA Board of Directors approved four schools and denied five others from playing independent football schedules for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. The OSSAA Board of Directors approved four schools and denied five others from playing independent football schedules for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.