Edmond POW: Memorial’s Justin Merideth…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
If you’ve read the Edmond blogs this season, you know I bought into Memorial coach Justin Merideth from the word ‘go.’
From being out at the practices in August to seeing how he interacted with the kids, had a feeling the Bulldogs weren’t being given the proper respect.
In the picks, Memorial went 10-2 according to my predictions. Seriously, that’s just how much I believed in Merideth.
For the historic season the Bulldogs had, I’m giving the Edmond Player of the Week to coach Justin Merideth.
Is that allowed? Well, it’s my blog, so I’m going to say yes.
Memorial (8-4) gave everything it had in a 28-14 loss to Jenks. It wasn’t overwhelmed by the moment. And after being down 14-0, the Bulldogs fought back to 14-14 going into the fourth quarter.
Merideth, who has mentioned his staff every time I’ve talked to him, was able to get the most out of his kids and the coaching staff devised a great plan throughout this season.
I’ve harped on the move of putting Kameron Doolittle at QB and having senior leader Blake Umberham sit and how well everybody handled that situation, but that really was the spark that made this season take off.
Memorial won the city championship for the first time in 12 years and made the quarterfinals for the first time ever since the Edmond split.
Replacing the defense will be tough, but the offense should have a lot more explosion with several key components (topped by Doolittle and Cale Olbert) coming back.
Other Memorial contenders:
Josh Sierra, RB: Had a one-yard TD run to make it 14-7.
Adrian Shoecraft, LB: Had an interception and a fumble recovery.
Nelson Medeiros, DB: Had an interception.
Parker Langford and Kameron Doolittle: Duo combined for the touchdown to make it 14-14.
Edmond: Playoff Week 2 recap…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Well, as we enter the semifinals for the larger schools, we’re closing the books on the football season for Edmond teams.
Memorial (8-4)
I must admit a wry smile came across my face when I heard it was Memorial 14, Jenks 14 heading into the fourth quarter. Could it really happen?
It’s a credit to the coaching staff and to those players that they went as far as they did before bowing out in a 28-14 defeat.
You don’t need me to say it, here’s senior leader, captain Nelson Medeiros:
This season meant a whole lot to us. It’s something we won’t forget. With the change in coaches, we didn’t know how it would go, but it was great. We were city champs, and we achieved most of our goals. We never quit. Even when we were down 14-0, we kept fighting for each other. We tip our hats to Jenks. But yeah, this was a great season for us.” – Medeiros
There ya go.
Every time I went to a Memorial practice or anything like that, you could feel the good vibes. The kids loved being around each other, and the coaching staff is basically just kids who happen to be a little older. The chemistry was apparent throughout the season.
Coach Justin Merideth did a fantastic job in his first season, and the offense should be loaded with Cale Olbert and Kameron Doolittle coming back as well as Connor Myers on defense.
The defense will take a hit with all those senior leaders departing. But much like Edmond North, it’s going to be this year’s Memorial team that opened people’s eyes to Bulldog football.
The Boneman Curse…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
I thought it was a myth, an urban legend. No, it’s real, my friends. If you want to win, don’t have me cover your playoff game right now.
With the zone strategy, we’ve basically been picking teams from our zones to cover for the playoffs and that’s led to bad news for Edmond and private school clubs when they see me in the parking lot.
I’ve driven a long ways in back-to-back weeks to basically write “team wrapup” stories.
First was Edmond North and the 90-mile trek to Lawton where the Wolverines wore down the Huskies in the second half of a 34-16 win.
But Friday takes the cake. Making my first trip to Sallisaw and driving 180 miles (or six hours roundtrip) to see Bishop McGuinness get off to a bad start and Sallisaw earn a huge 20-14 victory.
Who’s next on my hit list: Heritage Hall. Yep, I’m making the 140-mile trip to Pawhuska on Friday for that one. Beware, Charger fans, the Boneman is coming.
Lawton winning wasn’t a shock. Sallisaw fought for that one and definitely deserved it even though I LOCKed the Irish last week. But I tell ya, starting to wonder if this curse thing is legit. And for those wondering, headed to Douglass and Weatherford on Saturday at Yukon.
The Boneman Curse…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
I thought it was a myth, an urban legend. No, it’s real, my friends. If you want to win, don’t have me cover your playoff game right now.
With the zone strategy, we’ve basically been picking teams from our zones to cover for the playoffs and that’s led to bad news for Edmond and private school clubs when they see me in the parking lot.
I’ve driven a long ways in back-to-back weeks to basically write “team wrapup” stories.
First was Edmond North and the 90-mile trek to Lawton where the Wolverines wore down the Huskies in the second half of a 34-16 win.
But Friday takes the cake. Making my first trip to Sallisaw and driving 180 miles (or six hours roundtrip) to see Bishop McGuinness get off to a bad start and Sallisaw earn a huge 20-14 victory.
Who’s next on my hit list: Heritage Hall. Yep, I’m making the 140-mile trip to Pawhuska on Friday for that one. Beware, Charger fans, the Boneman is coming.
Lawton winning wasn’t a shock. Sallisaw fought for that one and definitely deserved it even though I LOCKed the Irish last week. But I tell ya, starting to wonder if this curse thing is legit. And for those wondering, headed to Douglass and Weatherford on Saturday at Yukon.
Semifinal sites set
Here’s the semifinal times/dates:
Class 6A
Jenks vs. Southmoore, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Putnam City Stadium
Tulsa Union vs. Broken Arrow, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, University of Tulsa
Class 5A
El Reno vs. Carl Albert, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Putnam City Stadium
Bixby vs. Guthrie, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Stillwater High School
Class 4A
Weatherford vs. Douglass, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Yukon
Star Spencer vs. Sallisaw, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sapulpa
Class 3A
Seq. Claremore vs. Cascia Hall, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Collinsville
Berryhill vs. Dewey, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Skiatook
Class B
Garber vs. Laverne, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Woodward
Ryan vs. Canton, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Norman
Class C
DC-Lamont vs. Timberlake, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Enid
Seiling vs. Forgan, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Woodward
Semifinal sites set
Here’s the semifinal times/dates:
Class 6A
Jenks vs. Southmoore, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Putnam City Stadium
Tulsa Union vs. Broken Arrow, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, University of Tulsa
Class 5A
El Reno vs. Carl Albert, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Putnam City Stadium
Bixby vs. Guthrie, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Stillwater High School
Class 4A
Weatherford vs. Douglass, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Yukon
Star Spencer vs. Sallisaw, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sapulpa
Class 3A
Seq. Claremore vs. Cascia Hall, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Collinsville
Berryhill vs. Dewey, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Skiatook
Class B
Garber vs. Laverne, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Woodward
Ryan vs. Canton, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Norman
Class C
DC-Lamont vs. Timberlake, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Enid
Seiling vs. Forgan, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Woodward
Semifinal sites set
Here’s the semifinal times/dates:
Class 6A
Jenks vs. Southmoore, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Putnam City Stadium
Tulsa Union vs. Broken Arrow, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, University of Tulsa
Class 5A
El Reno vs. Carl Albert, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Putnam City Stadium
Bixby vs. Guthrie, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Stillwater High School
Class 4A
Weatherford vs. Douglass, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Yukon
Star Spencer vs. Sallisaw, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sapulpa
Class 3A
Seq. Claremore vs. Cascia Hall, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Collinsville
Berryhill vs. Dewey, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Skiatook
Class B
Garber vs. Laverne, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Woodward
Ryan vs. Canton, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Norman
Class C
DC-Lamont vs. Timberlake, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Enid
Seiling vs. Forgan, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Woodward
Semifinal sites set
Here’s the semifinal times/dates:
Class 6A
Jenks vs. Southmoore, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Putnam City Stadium
Tulsa Union vs. Broken Arrow, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, University of Tulsa
Class 5A
El Reno vs. Carl Albert, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Putnam City Stadium
Bixby vs. Guthrie, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Stillwater High School
Class 4A
Weatherford vs. Douglass, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Yukon
Star Spencer vs. Sallisaw, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sapulpa
Class 3A
Seq. Claremore vs. Cascia Hall, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Collinsville
Berryhill vs. Dewey, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Skiatook
Class B
Garber vs. Laverne, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Woodward
Ryan vs. Canton, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Norman
Class C
DC-Lamont vs. Timberlake, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Enid
Seiling vs. Forgan, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Woodward
Ed Memorial vs. Jenks Capsule…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Memorial (8-3) vs. Jenks (11-0)
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Hunter-Dwelley Stadium, Jenks
Memorial (8-3)
Why the Bulldogs can win: Well, it won’t be easy, let’s go ahead and say that first. Their defense has been crazy-good in the last seven games. People can combat that with “look at the competition.” Take out Mustang and Edmond North, and the seven-game winning streak doesn’t really jump out at ya. But 24 points in seven games is something any team should be proud of.
Memorial key stats:
Passing: Kameron Doolittle 45-79, 533 yards, 5 TDs, 5 INTs; Blake Umberham 42-87, 449 yds, 3 TDs, 8 INTs
Rushing: Doolittle 906 yds, 6 TDs; Cale Olbert 646 yds, 6 TDs; D’Juan Brooks 402 yds, TD
Receiving: Jacob Stivers 19 rec., 229 yds, 2 TDs; Nelson Medeiros 11 rec., 174 yds, TD
Defense (through 10 games): Adrian Shoecraft 97 tackles, 2 sacks, INT; Jordan Marczewski 79 tkls, sack, INT; Medeiros 23 tkls, 3 INTs
Quotes:
We’re coming in at an all-time high. We feel like we belong on the field with these guys. This will be the toughest challenge, but we’re ready for it.’ – senior Nelson Medeiros
When I think of Jenks, I think of champions. That’s where we want to be. These are the type of of games where you can make a name for the program.” – junior Kameron Doolittle
Jenks (11-0)
Why the Trojans can win: Why not? With Sawyer Kollmorgen and Zack Langer leading the way and a huge offensive line, paced by Bob Graham and Jake Alexander, they’re as close to unstoppable as a team can be. And it’s not like Jenks hasn’t been tested. With wins over Tulsa Union, Broken Arrow and Bartlesville on the resume, that’s simply not true. And the distractions haven’t stopped them once on the field.
Jenks key stats:
Passing: Kollmorgen 128-187, 2,012 yards, 20 TDs, 5 INTs
Rushing: Zack Langer 1,700 yards, 31 TDs
Receiving: Jacob Bertelli 26 rec., 594 yds, 6 TDs; Brandon Kitchens 42 rec., 583 yds, 8 TDs
Defense (could not find reliable stats)
Key matchup: Memorial defense vs. Jenks offense. There is no doubt in my mind Memorial’s offense is going to struggle this week. Getting points of any kind will be a tough chore. But what if Memorial’s defense can shut down Jenks? All the sudden this game gets real interesting real fast.
Boneman’s Last Word: I’ma two minds of this game. One, Memorial just absolutely gets steamrolled early and never bounces back. Never been here before and it shows. The other, well, I see a tight game with not a lot of points either way, but Jenks just being too much in the end. Memorial’s defense will have to play even better than it did vs. Edmond North to win this one. And that was a legendary defensive outing in Week 9.
The pick: Jenks 21, Memorial 3. I don’t think Jenks will have the ball that many times, so it won’t score as much. Love the toughness of the Bulldogs, but it ends here.
Ed Memorial: Playoff jabs…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Memorial (8-3) vs. Jenks (11-0)
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Hunter-Dwelley Stadium, Jenks
The biggest obstacle facing Memorial at Jenks is going to be on the offensive side of the ball. Memorial is just not that explosive type of offense that can put up points in bunches.
The long, drawn out drives have actually been one of their strengths this season because even when the team hasn’t found the end zone, the offense has been able to kill some clock.
But against Jenks, Memorial is going to need a couple of of big plays from Kameron Doolittle or Jordan Marczewski or Nelson Medeiros or someone in the passing game, so the running game can be established.
I went up and down the line this week at practice and asked why is this the Memorial team that has reached the quarterfinals when no other team had since the Edmond split?
One repeated answer: family. This group feels like a family. They play for each other. The bond doesn’t end after practice, they hang out with each other. Will it be enough to be beat Jenks? I don’t know, but when you have that type of friendship, you push yourself to doing things you didn’t know you could do.
Here’s a short video with myself and Ryan Aber breaking it all down.
