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
Douglass’ defense the difference
BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com
For the second consecutive week, Douglass’ defense dominated teams that have been known for putting up big offensive numbers.
In Friday night’s 14-0 win over Wagoner, the Trojans held the Bulldogs to just 44 total yards — five rushing — to advance to this week’s Class 4A semifinal against Weatherford.
But it’s not like Wagoner didn’t have chances to score.
The Bulldogs had the ball with first and goal from the 2 midway through the third. Douglass’ defense held strong, though, helped by a Wagoner penalty, before the Bulldogs missed a field goal.
Wagoner had another chance to score late in the game, starting in Douglass territory, but once again, the Trojans’ defense held.
Douglass, which allowed 14 points in each of the last four regular season games, has now put up back-to-back shutouts to open the playoffs.
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
High school football fans left in the dark during playoff time
In case you missed it, Mel Bracht wrote today on the playoff TV blackout.
Here’s the article: Oklahoma high school football fans left in the dark during playoff time
It’s sort of surprising that both Cox and KSBI were surprised that they could broadcast the games with a rights fee payment to Fox Sports. I do think it’s disappointing that playoff games broadcast have gone down since Fox Sports won the rights last year. But they shouldn’t have to. Fox is willing to sell the rights to games they choose not to broadcast for what seems like a reasonable fee.
During the presentations to the board last year, both Fox and Cox said they would be willing to sell broadcast rights to the games. KSBI wanted exclusivity.
The next time the rights are up for bid, the OSSAA should make all rights non-exclusive, with the rights-holder getting first shot at any live or tape-delayed broadcasts and having to inform the OSSAA within a one or two week window. If they decide not to broadcast those games, another station should be able to pay a small rights fee to the OSSAA in exchange for the broadcast. Or maybe just have the stations bid on the state championship games only and not the other playoff rounds. Just one man’s opinion. But one way or another, I wish more of these games (and ANY non-finals games) would be televised.
Game Blog: Carl Albert at Tulsa Kelley
Angelo Prassa Stadium, Tulsa Kelley
By Ryan Aber
raber@opubco.com
Here’s the final box:
CARL ALBERT 34, TULSA KELLEY 31 2OT
Carl Albert#0#7#7#7#7#6# — #34
Tulsa Kelley#0#7#0#14#7#3# — #31
Tulsa Kelley — Jonathan Nuding 70 fumble return (Robert Williams kick)
Carl Albert — J.T. Realmuto 15 run (Austin Manger kick)
Carl Albert — Markell Walker 28 pass from Realmuto (Manger kick)
Carl Albert — Realmuto 8 run (Manger kick)
Tulsa Kelley — Jack Cameron 22 run (Williams kick)
Tulsa Kelley — Cameron 4 run (Williams kick)
Carl Albert — Realmuto 1 run (Manger kick)
Tulsa Kelley — Stephen Sherwood 5 run (Williams kick)
Tulsa Kelley — FG Williams 38
Carl Albert — Realmuto 1 run
GAME IN FIGURES
Carl Albert##Tulsa Kelley
17#First downs#9
56-256#Rushing a-yds#39-160
94#Passing yds#51
9-18-1#Passing C-A-I#3-10-2
2-1#Fumble no.-lost#2-1
7-41#Penalty no.-yds#7-46
10-2#Team Records#11-1
Millwood’s Henry ready for tonight’s return
By Ryan Aber
raber@opubco.com
I went out to Millwood’s practice for a bit yesterday and one of the firs tplayers out of the locker room was linebacker Trayvon Henry.
Henry has been suspended since the season’s third week after a violation of an undisclosed team (and school) rule.
Henry thought his senior season was lost but worked his way back into the good graces of Millwood’s administrators and coaches and, it appears, has done the right things since the problem surfaced.
While Henry didn’ t talk specifically about what happened, he did say he’s learned a lot from it and is more careful about the people he hangs around now.
Henry wasn’t able to return to practice until Wednesday and didn’t seem like he missed a beat, laying a brutal hit on a teammate during the practice.
“It’s great to be back,” a beaming Henry said before practice yesterday. “I’m excited about getting this chance. I didn’t think it was going to happen. I thought high school football was done for me.
“I’m glad I got a second chance.”
Henry remains committed to Kansas and said coaches there remained behind him during his time away. And he also remains committed to staying out of trouble.
“I’m not trying to have anything else happen that would mess things up for me,” Henry said. “I’m trying to get back into (concentrating on) school and football and get everything right.”
Star Spencer matches up well with Oologah
By Ryan Aber
raber@opubco.com
Last week, Elk City used its no-huddle, spread offense to give Star Spencer a scare before the Bobcats pulled out a 44-33 first-round win over the Elks.
“Elk City wore us out a little bit,” Star Spencer coach Darrell Hall said. “With the depth we have, the no-huddle gave us some problems.”
Tonight, though, 9-2 Star Spencer hosts Oologah in a second-round matchup.
The Mustangs like to throw the ball — quarterback Alex Brunson has thrown for 1,428 yards and 13 touchdowns this season — but the pace is more to the Bobcats liking.
“It’ll be tough, though,” Hall said.
The winner of tonight’s game will play the McGuinness-Sallisaw winner next weekend at a neutral site to be determined.
Shoulder injury won’t keep Southmoore’s Haywood out
Perhaps its wishful thinking for opponents or just a joke, but the rumor that Southmoore standout Austin Haywood is out for the season couldn’t be more wrong.
Apparently word circulated at school that Haywood had the same injury as Sam Bradford and was done for the playoffs. Well, here’s how that misinformation likely came about — people saw Haywood, in street clothes, with his arm in a sling on the sideline during last week’s win over Lawton Ike. And with all the attention afforded Bradford’s shoulder, that injury would be a trendy one to toss out as to why Haywood was in a sling.
It’s all nonsense, though. Haywood will be back in his usual spots at tight end and defensive end tonight against Bartlesville. And it’s not even his return to full-speed action. Haywood has been practicing all week. The injury Haywood was dealing with was a strained shoulder muscle. The OU commitment has scored 18 touchdowns for the SaberCats this season in 10 games.
Game Capsule: Bartlesville at Southmoore
Southmoore (10-1) at Lawton (9-2)
When: 7:30 p.m. tonight
Where: Moore Stadium
Southmoore
Why the SaberCats can win: Southmoore has the talent to compete with any team in the state. What the SaberCats don’t have is playoff savvy and know-how. That comes with experience and Southmoore is only in its second year of existence as a program. However, one of the main things teams with playoff experience stress is to not overlook anyone in the playoffs. And another aspect is having focus without being too nervous or affected by outside distractions. And while Southmoore has just one postseason game in its history, that one game gave the SaberCats a big dose of both of those factors.
After a lack-luster and fortunate 34-32 win over a four-win Lawton Ike team in the first round, players acknowledged they didn’t prepare well and didn’t take the Eagles serious enough.
Lesson learned. Southmoore has had great practices all week and players are so zoned in, nerves won’t be a problem.
.
Bartlesville
Why the Bruins could win: Bartlesville has an explosive high-scoring offense. The Bruins are one of the few teams in the state which pile up yardage on pace with Southmoore. And, on average, the Bruins have scored more points per game — 37.3 to 35.9.
And those numbers haven’t been padded against weak foes. The Bruins put 40 points on No. 1 Jenks. Even in their two losses (Jenks and Broken Arrow), the Bruins averaged 34 points per game. In the regular season, Bartlesville scored 40 or more points in half of its games.
Having said all that, Bartlesville’s first-round playoff win over Owasso came by the low score of 14-7.
Key matchup: Bartlesville receivers Mike Thompson and Garrett Powell vs. Southmoore corners Julian Wilson and Nyko Symonds.
Thompson and Powell are each among the top receivers in the state individually. As a duo, they are lethal. And their stats are almost identical. Thompson: 51 catches, 980 yards and 10 touchdowns; Powell 48 catches 952 yards and 12 TDs.
Southmoore is as well-equipped as any team to slow the terrific tandem. What’s more, Wilson and Symonds have already gotten a crash course in dealing with a pair of star wideouts when they squared off with Del City standouts Donovan Dan and Chris McAlsiter. And they’ve worked against other terrific wideouts in Mustang’s David Glidden and Midwest City’s Cole Eddy. After tonight’s game, they will have gone up against six of the top seven receivers statistically in 6A.
The pick: Southmoore 26, Bartlesville 23. It could be an offensive shootout to the tune of 45-42, but I’m expecting both defenses to perform well. The offenses are virtually a wash. But I see Southmoore having the talent edge on defense. This one could have a lot of sways in momentum. Southmoore showed last week it can handle that. So, SaberCats head to the semifinals.
OSU 31, Colorado 28: Thoughts and observations
by Brandon Chatmon
bchatmon@opubco.com
–I was very upfront about my belief that Zac Robinson shouldn’t play against Colorado. I felt OSU should be able to be Colorado with its running game and defense. Guess I was wrong…
–…or maybe I was right. If OSU had lost that game, it would have, again, been because they beat themselves. I didn’t envision five fumbles (three lost). I figured if OSU was going to turn it over it would be interceptions.
–What more can be said about Brandon Weeden. I wasn’t surprised by Weeden’s play. He just has that “it” factor much like Zac. Some people have it, some don’t it’s just that simple.
–The Cowboys need to do something about their kick coverage. A big part of the problem has been their battles with injuries. They had Donald Booker covering kicks last night, it just shows how depleted their depth really is. So I don’t know what really can be done at this point, unless they start pooch kicks.
–That Perrish Cox punt return was special. Excellent vision, excellent desire to make a big play.
–I wasn’t sure about the black uniforms at first but now I like them. That said, they are probably burning as I write this.
–OSU’s run defense was outstanding again. True enough CU only ran the ball 22 times but they averaged 0.6 yards per carry for 13 rushing yards.
–Once the coaches got the confidence in Weeden, he delivered. And his 16.8 per completion shows he is looking downfield and willing to take chances. Both good attributes.
–The last thing I expected was to see Keith Toston fumble AND Kendall Hunter fumble AND Perrish Cox to muff a punt.
–Give Colorado credit for capitalizing on OSU mistakes. They scored after Toston’s fumble, Cox’s muffed punt and the blocked FG. Then returned a kickoff for a touchdown. There’s their 28 points.
–This week I wrote about Patrick Lavine making big plays when the Cowboys need it… and who forced the fumble with CU driving late? Pat Lavine. He had eight tackles including two for loss and the forced fumble.
–Cornerback Andrew McGee played extremely well. But he’s been doing that all season, so it wasn’t a huge surprise.
–The Pokes were able to get a pass rush without having to blitz, which is a good sign for OSU heading into Bedlam.
–I wrote about Toston in my insider. If he’s not a all-big 12 running back, I’ll be shocked. He has earned it at this point, what more does he have to do?
–The biggest issue I saw with Alex Cate is that he didn’t play with confidence, almost like he didn’t EXPECT to play well. It’s hard to have success if you don’t envision success beforehand.
–When Weeden was asked if he was surprised how well he played, he said “Honestly, no.” His body language throughout the night showed he expected to have success when he was called upon. And he delivered.
–If you don’t think Quinn Sharp has a big effect on games, last night was a good example. He couldn’t kickoff the last few kicks and one was returned for a touchdown. And his punt average (34 yards) was not what the Cowboys have become accustomed to. They need him to be healthy for Bedlam.
–Weeden needs to be ready for Bedlam with Zac ailing. Even if Robinson starts, one hit on that shoulder and “hello Brandon”
–Bottom line: OSU will have to play A LOT better if they want to beat OU in Bedlam. It can be done however. Unless one team runs away with the turnover margin, OSU’s offensive line against OU’s defensive line will decide this game. And both units are among the Big 12’s best.
