SAQ: McAlester-El Reno
Your Saturday Afternoon Quarterback look at El Reno’s 21-14 win over McAlester.
First, a few thoughts that didn’t make it into the game story in Saturday’s paper:
Remember the name Tony Kiefer. The McAlester quarterback is just a sophomore, and he’ll only get better. That’s saying a lot, because he was pretty good Friday night, particularly in the toughness category. He had to carry the ball 38 times. In the first half, only one play wasn’t a run or pass by Kiefer.
He threw the screen and mid-range routes well, but struggled with some of his deep throws. Of course, that only means he’s like 90 percent of the high school QBs in the state. Kiefer’s biggest problem when he went deep was that he got too much air under his throws, turning a lot of them into jump-balls. That’s fixable. Kiefer and McAlester will be good the next two years.
McAlester breakdown: The Buffs just couldn’t get it done inside the El Reno 30. In addition to the three stops El Reno made inside the 10, McAlester had a turnover on downs at the 28 and a missed field goal after reaching the 12, as well as another turnover on downs at the ER 39.
Those struggles were damaging for another reason beyond the obvious. Most of them came at the end of long, grinding, time-consuming drives, so it gave the Buffs less time and less energy for their rally. The El Reno offense couldn’t do much of anything in the third quarter. It had only one first down, so McAlester spent a lot of time on offense in the third.
McAlester had 121 more yards and 16 more first downs than El Reno, but the Indians made game-changing plays, and the Buffs didn’t.
El Reno breakdown: The numbers in the paragraph above might suggest that the El Reno offense wasn’t all that sharp, but that’s not the case at all. McAlester had the ball so much, that El Reno ran only 40 offensive plays, compared to 77 for McAlester.
The El Reno defense got hit by the big play early. McAlester’s first three offensive snaps went for 12, 23 and 28 yards. But of the next 74 plays, only nine went for double-digit gains. And all three interceptions were big, but especially the two picks that came inside the 5-yard line.
And the Indians have a pretty good kicker, too. Joseph Vorva, a sophomore backup quarterback, had plenty of leg on a 40-yard field goal try that was just a little wide in the fourth quarter.
Up next: Next year, this will be a district game, but for now, it’s a 5A semifinal. El Reno vs. Carl Albert will be played Friday night at 7:30 at Putnam City Stadium after CA knocked off Tulsa Kelley in overtime Friday night. The winner gets the Bixby-Guthrie winner for the 5A title.
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
Game blog: McAlester at El Reno
10:12 p.m.: El Reno stopped McAlester quarterback Tony Kiefer at the 1-yard line on fourth-and-goal with :44 left. Two personal-foul penalties on the Buffs moved the ball out of the danger zone and El Reno was able to run out the clock on a 21-14 win.
El Reno advances to the 5A semifinals
El Reno-McAlester preview capsule
McAlester (10-1) at El Reno (11-0)
When: 7:30 tonight
Where: Memorial Stadium, El Reno
Looking ahead: The winner advances to the semifinal round to play the Carl Albert-Tulsa Kelley winner at a neutral site.
Why McAlester could win: Defense. The Buffs are allowing just a touch over 200 yards per game and only one team — Tulsa East Central — has scored more than 18 points against them. McAlester can run the ball, too, which pairs well with a stingy defense in the playoffs, especially on the road.
Why El Reno could win: The Indians have had the total package, with an efficient offense and strong defense, especially when they needed it. This team has had its eyes on the gold ball all year, and they don’t want to see another season end before they get a chance to play for it.
Key stats
Rushing
McAlester: Tony Kiefer, 1,073 yards, 20 TDs; Caleb Carney, 517 yards, 1 TD
El Reno: Jakeil Everheart, 724 yards, 13 TDs; Cory Dauphin, 553 yards, 13 TDs
Passing
McAlester: Kiefer, 135-of-234, 1,656 yards, 15 TDs, 9 INT
El Reno: Everheart, 100-of-181, 1,416 yards, 10 TDs, 4 INT
Receiving
McAlester: Alvery Braxton, 32 rec., 589 yards, 8 TDs; Cody Leflor, 30 rec., 366 yards, 3 TDs
El Reno: Jovia Franklin, 41 rec., 621 yards, 9 TDs; Ray Little, 22 rec., 300 yards, 2 TDs
Defense
McAlester: Jesse Patton, 118 tackles; Tim Curry, 98 tackles, 5 sacks; Delante Redway, 6 INT
El Reno: Tyler Palmer, 102 tackles; Tank Mulanax, 92 tackles; Cody Dauphin, 8 sacks; Matt Pruitt, 6 INT
Key matchup: El Reno run game vs. McAlester defensive front. McAlester is one of the best teams in 5A against the run, allowing barely 100 yards per game. While El Reno is a fairly balanced offense, it does lean a little more toward the run game and will need to establish that to keep the passing attack open.
The pick: El Reno 24-20. I went with ER to win it all in 5A, and I still like them. Jakeil Everheart has the offense looking sharp, averaging nearly 37 points per game the last six weeks. McAlester’s D will provide a challenge, but I think the Indians can handle it.
