Harrison will play for Ponca City Friday
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@oklahoman.com
Yesterday, I wrote on here that Ben Harrison, a linebacker for Ponca City, might not play in Friday’s season opener at Sand Springs. Well, I just got off the phone with coach Bo Hannaford and he told me that Harrison will play.
“He did a lot of things today,” Hannaford said. “He’ll play, I don’t know how much yet, but he will play.”
Harrison had 42 tackles and five interceptions last season.
Perkins-Tryon quarterback out for Friday
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@oklahoman.com
Perkins-Tryon quarterback Jake Hart won’t play in the team’s season opener Friday at Jones.
Hart bruised his calf in Perkins-Tryon’s second scrimmage at Chandler. He was cleared by doctors today, but likely won’t see any playing time at quarterback.
Coach Lloyd Wertman said he will probably kick for the team, though.
Sophomore Austin Shirm will start in Hart’s place. Hart threw for 1,152 yards and eight touchdowns last season, and rushed for 523 yards and six scores.
Perkins-Tryon fell at home in last year’s opener to Jones, 20-17.
Lanie out for Alva
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@oklahoman.com
Alva will be without its number one receiver for its Week One home game against Oklahoma Christian.
Trent Lanie’s knee began bothering him over the summer, and it was re-aggravated during Alva’s first scrimmage Aug. 14 at Mooreland.
“He got his knee scoped on Thursday,” Alva coach Steve Gale said. “We wanted to get it taken care of before district play and before it develops into something worse.”
Lanie, a senior, had 816 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns last season.
* The Alva-OCS game looks to be a good one. Last season, Alva won at OCS 13-12 after slowing down Saints’ quarterback Landon Greve.
Greve had a tremendous first half, and OCS led going into the break. But Alva made adjustments and slowed Greve down enough to get the one-point win.
Greve, then a sophomore, threw for 357 yards in the game, but was intercepted four times.
Now Greve is gone to Colorado, and it will be converted receiver George Overbey lining up under center for OCS.
“I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t too sad to hear that he was gone,” Gale said.
Star is ready for Millwood
by Brandon Chatmon
In 2006, Star Spencer was hammered by Gerald Jones-led Millwood, 40-8, at L.W. Good Stadium.
This year, the Bobcats are looking forward to taking on Millwood especially getting the chance to take on the Falcons at home on Friday night. Star coach Darrell Hall said his team has had good practices in preparation for the game.
“They have a since of urgency,” said Hall, whose team played well during the all-city previews, finishing runner-up to Douglass. “We needed to get game-time tempo and you can’t wait until game-time to get it. We know it will be a tempo game because Millwood goes no-huddle.”
And don’t think Star Spencer forgot about last year’s blowout win.
“My seniors are fired up and ready to go,” Hall said. “They know it’s going to be the last time they play Millwood, ever! They have a sense of urgency about what’s going on.
“That’s why they’re tough games, they’re all about bragging rights.”
Darkhorse QB in 2A
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@Oklahoman.com
Bethel may feel like it’s been snake bitten. Despite three winning seasons in coach Kevin Nichols’ six-year reign (with two 7-3 clips), the Wildcats have still yet to reach the playoffs.
And even though Bethel is losing its offensive star, running back Josh Dutton, the Wildcats believe this year will be the year.
One reason for such optimism would be the budding star that is QB Jace Johnson. Now a senior, Johnson tied the school record with four touchdown passes in a win against Wellston last year – only to break the record the next week with five in a victory over Meeker.
“Jace’s strength is the way he takes care of the ball and doesn’t commit stupid mistakes,” Nichols said. “He’s an extremely accurate passer.”
Johnson only threw five interceptions in contrast to his 17 touchdowns.
Bethel finished 2006 at 7-3 but fell short of a berth based on tie-breaker points. The Wildcats needed an eight-point margin of victory in their final game but only defeated Heritage Hall, 14-13.
While there may be other signal callers in 2A getting the recognition, Johnson just might be able to sneak through the cracks and more importantly – give Bethel its first taste of playoff football.
“Jace worked extremely hard during the summer,” Nichols said. “He wants to be the guy that leads us to the playoffs for the first time.”
When Bethel met Bridge Creek last year, it was a two-man show with Dutton going head-to-head with all-everything Michael Aska for Bridge Creek. Dutton’s ground-and-pound performance gave the Wildcats a 35-28 victory.
This year’s battle should be just intense as Aska is back and Johnson is ready to take the reins for Bethel.
While there are some games won as soon as the schedule is released, umm, this is not one of them.
Questionable: Easily, the most ambiguous term for a player’s condition. But going into Friday night, it’s more than appropriate for a handful of players on the Holdenville football team.
Coming off a 2-8 campaign in 2006, the Wolverines are returning 12 starters, including seven on the defensive side of the ball. But how many will actually suit up is still to be determined.
One person who is going to be out there is Eric George. The sophomore running back has been dealing with a slight groin pull and a slight concussion, but Holdenville coach Wayne Jaggars said George is ready to go.
The status is not so certain for senior linebacker Daniel Alexander. He’s not suffering from an on-the-field injury, but a massive spider bite on his foot has left him questionable.
And the news is not so good for linebacker Daniel Venable. The junior has battling stitches this week after an accident. Jaggars said Venable has not practiced all week.
There’s been no doubt to the status of QB Tanner Robinson. After accumulating more than 1,300 total yards and seven touchdowns last year, Jaggars said Robinson has looked more relaxed and comfortable so far.
Holdenville hosts Eufaula Friday night.
Most overlooked game of the week…
by Brandon Chatmon
I was peeking at the Week 1 schedule and I noticed a game I thought hasn’t caused much buzz up here at the office but will be a good matchup:
Broken Bow at Chickasha
Broken Bow is a quality class 4A team and Chickasha is led by Wyatt Kinnamon. This game should be one to watch. It wasn’t one of our top 10 games and it’s not a game everyone wants to see like Carl Albert/Tulsa Washington or the Moore War.
But it’s a game that will be very interesting and if you have the chance to attend I wouldn’t hesitate to do so if I were you…
Another good one to watch would be Oklahoma Christian at Alva. The Gale brothers aren’t the only talented Goldbugs.
Eating lightning, crapping thunder
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@Oklahoman.com
Just like Mickey was trying to get Rocky pumped up in the Rocky movies, same thing has been going on for Okemah…at least that’s what coach Steve Briggs is trying to accomplish.
After what he deemed as a spirit-less effort against Stroud in their first scrimmage, the Panthers showed more emotion, and the product was much better results against Warner.
“You have to keep a nice balance between having the kids too keyed up but also playing with passion,” Briggs said.
Okemah is paced by the Boyd family. In fact, Briggs wishes there were more Boyd boys coming along.
Senior linebacker Travis Boyd stands at a taut 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds. But he pales in comparison to his younger brother, Chris.
A mere freshman, Chris Boyd is 6-foot-5 and 312 pounds. Let me reiterate – only a freshman.
“He’s an absolute monster,” Briggs said. “He has a chance to be something truly special.”
Travis Boyd had 88 tackles last year and has 244 through his first three seasons.
The Panthers will, however, be without defender Nick McGee. The fourth leading tackler for Okemah tore his ACL during spring practices and will miss this season.
Okemah visits Yale Friday night.
New system, new opportunities: After an 0-3 start last year, there was not much hope for Stigler to make the playoffs. But a 4-3 district record saw the Panthers sneak into the postseason.
And under new coach Chris Douglas, optimism is high in Panther country.
Douglas is coming from SW College in Winfield, Kansas. He said he is excited about coming back to Oklahoma after graduating from Poteau.
As a surprise to no one, Douglas is bringing a new system, but shockingly, it’s not a spread offense.
Douglas is bringing in a one-back, zone-scheme blocking offense to Stigler, which will be led by senior quarterback Chance Sherwood. Chris Cole is moving from guard to tackle to bolster the offensive front.
Stigler receiver Mark Patton will miss Friday’s game against Haskell. Patton is slated to start at the X slot once at full strength.
Harris will play for Prague
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@oklahoman.com
Prague quarterback Dakota Harris, who was held out of last Friday’s scrimmage at Luther with a foot injury, began practicing again Monday.
Harris will play Friday’s season opener at Sperry.
Harris, a junior, took about a week and a half off from practice and is nearing 100 percent health.
“He’s gotta get in a little better shape,” Prague coach Charles Atchison said. “We’re definitely a much better team with him. He probably could have played earlier, but we wanted to let it heal.”
Atchison said the team will take advantage of Harris’ strength, which is his arm.
“We’ll probably be throwing the ball 30 or 40 times,” Atchison said. “We’ve got some really good receivers. We’ll go up there and play well.”
Harris threw for more than 1,800 yards and ran for more than 1,000 yards last season
No butterfingers here
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@Oklahoman.com
Quarterback’s best friend is a sure-handed receiver. Kingston sophomore signal caller Nate McLain is quickly becoming buddy-buddy with senior Cameron Smith.
Smith averaged over 20 yards per catch, hauling in 25 balls for 570 yards as well as five scores last year.
Standing at 6-foot-3 and only 180 pounds, there’s nothing that stands out for Smith until he gets out there on the field.
“He just does a great job of catching with his hands and not using his body,” Kingston coach Jeremy Atwood said. “It’s a lost art nowadays.”
And Smith continues to just do his thing so far in scrimmages. Atwood said Smith has had huge play in both scrimmages, where he’s just able to leap up and snatch it away from everyone else.
It wasn’t too long ago that any score would have excited the Kingston faithful. Three years ago, Kingston only tallied 26 points while giving up more than 43 points per contest.
My, how things have changed.
Welcome back, two-way player: The numbers were so low last year at Marietta that no one was allowed to play on both sides of the ball.
It’s all about baby steps for a team that finished 0-10 last season. This year, one sole player will get the opportunity to play both ways. Eric Gomez will play center as well as linebacker for the Indians.
This will be Graham Snelding’s first year as the Marietta coach. He was an assistant in Texas and missed being at the helm. He previously coached at Pawhuska.
All-around talent: Is there anything Austin Rogers can’t do for Davis?
Simple answer is no if you ask Wolves coach Jody Weber. Davis brings along two jerseys to every game for Rogers. One is a lineman’s jersey while the other is his jersey for a tight end. Truth is Weber doesn’t know how he’ll utilize Rogers until it gets to game time.
Rogers can also play defensive tackle as well as center. And if you ask Weber, he said Rogers could even pull off being a wide receiver.
Weber said his team has been extremely lucky and has not had any major injuries going into Friday night’s home game against Wynnewood.
Newkirk loses Aupperle
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@oklahoman.com
Coach Barrett Shupe already had a team full of youth and inexperience. Then, his senior quarterback went down.
Chris Aupperle, who also players linebacker, tore his MCL and meniscus during practice before the team’s first scrimmage. Shupe hopes to have Aupperle back in two or three weeks.
“It wasn’t like he got hit or anything like that,” Shupe said. “He stepped, threw and somebody barely rolled into him. It breaks my heart because he’s a senior, but I’m happy he gets to come back.”
Starting in his place will be freshman Shea Johnston.
“Of our 32 players, 23 are either freshmen or sophomores,” Shupe said. “And, it’s all sophomores on the offensive line.”
Shupe said that the offense has been scaled back to help Johnston adapt, which has helped his young line.
That kind of youth could mean a rough year for Newkirk, but that still is some unbelievable experience for a young team. If you think about it, the Tigers will have several of their starters for the next two years. And, Johnston is getting experience now that could be vital next season.
