Fool me once, twice, ah, not a third time
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@Oklahoman.com
No excuses, Shawnee simply has me baffled right now. The biggest thing I’m not remembering is that Tucker Brown adds two dimensions to the Wolves’ team.
No, not rushing and passing. With Brown at QB, it allows Brett Davis to really shine at his most natural position: wide receiver.
With opponents tracking down Brown and the underrated Jon Wright at running back, Shawnee is going to be able to tire down defenses with WRs like Davis and Forrest Reed.
Two statement-making wins has Shawnee back in the 5A rankings, but no time to breathe for Brown and Co.
Up next is a battle at No. 5 Bixby. Who is going to bend first? The Spartans have only given up 30 points all season (27 in a week 1 loss to Jenks) while Shawnee has racked up 78 points in the last two weeks.
One thing that worked in Shawnee’s favor was that Brown’s first two games back were at home, but the teams it faced were anything but cupcakes.
A certain swagger comes with having Brown back, and it’s a swagger the Wolves will combine with execution to move to 3-2.
The pick: Shawnee 28, Bixby 16.
Week 5
Jenks over Owasso
Putnam City over Westmoore
Duncan over Western Heights
Shawnee over Bixby
Sequoyah-Claremore over Berryhill
Perkins over Alva
Morrison over Christian Heritage
Edmond Santa Fe over PCNorth
Edmond Memorial over Midwest City (game of the week)
Weatherford over Douglass
Junior stepping up for Yukon
by Brandon Chatmon
bchatmon@oklahoman.com
Junior linebacker Seth Bowerman has been a key to the 3-1 start for the Millers.
In talking to coach Todd Wilson today, he said Bowerman was a pleasant surprise for his team, ranking amongst the top tacklers for Yukon.
“He’s a very good athlete,” Wilson said.
So keep in eye out for #22 next time you watch a Yukon Millers game.
Despite big loss, Newcastle defense is seen as a stength
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@oklahoman.com
Newcastle lost last Friday at Clinton, 42-6, but senior quarterback and safety Trevor Evans said he still feels like the team has a great defense.
“We have a really good defense,” Evans said. “We didn’t really show it last week, but our defense is stacked. Even though Clinton beat us really bad, they couldn’t run up the middle on us at all. That’s something positive we could take from that game; well, it was about the only positive thing.”
Through its first three games, Newcastle gave up just 28 points, and one of them was on a punt return touchdown against Jones. In fact, Jones’ other touchdown was scored after return down inside the Racer 5-yard line.
Slowly creeping up in 2A
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@Oklahoman.com
Not much press has been written about Valliant. Frankly, coach Brett Jones doesn’t mind either way.
The Bulldogs are off to a 4-0 start and are coming off a 45-18 victory over Coalgate. Competing in the same district as
Davis, Valliant is not billed as the favorite but is slowly playing its way to that status.
“We just worry about ourselves,” Jones said. “Everything else – we can’t control that.”
Trevyn Gardner and Jordan Mings have been the potent one-two punch with Gardner rushing for more than 100 yards in each of the first four games.
He may only be 5-foot-6 and 140 pounds, but Shawn Gribnitz grabbed everyone’s attention with 20 tackles at linebacker last week.
“Coalgate did a good job blocking our line, leaving Shawn a chance to really rack up some numbers.”
Valliant was 7-4 last year and admittedly “just happy to be in the playoffs.” That’s not the case this year — they’re looking for more.
The Bulldogs are at Atoka Friday night.
Oddball stat: Through four games, Guthrie is leading the state with 230 points. Four other teams have more than 200 (SW Covenant, Corn Bible, Morrison and Timberlake) with several more knocking on the door.
Conversely, Ryan is the only team to not have allowed a single point this year. Timberlake has given up six while Rush Springs has permitted seven but Ryan stands alone at zero.
Parham, DeGiusti to get some rest; PC-Westmoore showdown
McGuinness is 4-0 but that doesn’t mean the Irish aren’t making adjustments. Fullback Joey DeGiusti will remain at that position, but will see less time at linebacker. Ditto for running back Kris Parham who also doubles as a cornerback. DeGiusti said the goal is to keep both players fresh. The pair still play on defense, but split time.
At Putnam City, the Pirates are getting ready for their showdown with Westmoore. This game could be over in about an hour, not because one team will blow the other out, but because both love to run the ball. Both PC coach Mark Little and Westmoore coach Mike Whaley played college football at Southwstern under Otis Delaporte who preached defense, running the ball and good special teams.
It’s worked for both. Westmoore has been highly successful under Whaley and PC has seen some of its best seasons under Little.
Déjà vu for Broken Bow
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@Oklahoman.com
Broken Bow has only netted 13 points in the last two weeks. But the Savages do have a victory, one that was all too familiar to them.
Five years ago, Broken Bow defeated Sallisaw 7-0. Last Friday, it was a repeat as Broken Bow outlasted them again 7-0.
“It really did just come down to us making one more play,” coach Greg Werner said.
The hits just keep coming as 3-1, 1-0 district foe Hilldale makes its way to Broken Bow Friday night.
Hilldale is coming off an impressive 42-10 victory over Poteau to start its district campaign.
Werner said he has no special plan to try to stop the high-powered Hilldale offense, saying when trying to adapt to other teams, that’s when the real trouble starts to happen.
Broken Bow will be without its starting nose guard, Colten Meddock. The 215-pound senior has an ankle injury.
Four in a row? Eufaula has raced out to a 3-1 start and has scored more than 40 points in each of its last three contests, including a 48-12 win over Savanna last week.
First-year coach Johnny Bohannon has been impressed with a lot of things, most notably the play of his quarterback, Ethan Sharp.
“He’s really learning how to control the game,” Bohannon said. “He’s making solid throws but his natural leadership has really been a bright spot.”
With game five against Heavener, it’s a throwback game, said Bohannon. What he means by that is with all the spread offenses running wild, Heavener simplifies things: good ol’ Power I.
“It is a tough adjustment,” Bohannon said. “You play all these teams who are looking to air it out more that you almost forget that there are teams who will just try to out-muscle you.”
Bohannon said besides Sharp, the play of Trevor Walch has been a big reason for the 3-1 start.
“It’s tough to say what Trevor does because he does just about everything,” Bohannon said.
Who can beat the Chelsea Lady Dragons?
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@Oklahoman.com
It’s not meant to be a rhetorical question, but the way the Lady Dragons have played this year, it very well might be.
Thirty-six games, 36 wins, 34 shutouts. It’s tough to beat that. Leading the charge has been senior pitcher Kasha Kolb.
When people put up monster stats, it’s been popular to say “those are video game numbers.”
I don’t know…even with video games, I don’t think some of these numbers could be duplicated.
So I ask, what is the most impressive? The eight perfect games? The 22 no-hitters? The 34 shutouts? The 533 K’s in 234 innings? Take your pick. Or wait, what about allowing no earned runs the entire year and only two unearned tallies all season?
With all the hoopla (deservedly so) about Kolb, coach Daryl Ping does not want to dismiss the contributions of some of the other Chelsea players.
A big move was a continuation move from last year. Halfway through last season, Ping moved leadoff hitter Chelsey Davis to the 5-spot.
“It puts a little pressure off her and allows her to play more freely,” Ping said.
And the results? Davis is leading the team with a .480 average and is second on the team with 24 RBIs.
Ping said he would take his No. 1-5 hitters against any other team in the state. Well, looking at the stats, hmm, tough to say.
Kolb is leading off. The goal of the leadoff hitter is to get on base. Kolb has managed to earn 21 walks and is batting .345 this season.
In the two spot, Chelsey Helt has done “whatever is necessary to help the team.” Helt has 15 sacrifices and her .396 clip is none too shabby.
Bre Winters is in the three-hole. Interesting note about her is that Ping said Winters is the best power hitter on the team and is ALSO the best bunter. Winters is leading the team with 25 RBIs.
Hitting cleanup is Jodi Patterson, who has driven in 20 runs.
Senior night was Monday, and Ping said it was about as emotional as he’s ever been since being the coach.
He presented each senior with a 16X20 frame with a collage of pictures for each girl. There were tears in the girls’ eyes, and even he was close to cracking.
A point Ping wants to make is the next time he sees his girls cry, he wants it to be because they’ve won their first ever state title.
For more on Kolb, see Thursday’s Oklahoman.
From bad to worse in Claremore
By Ray Martin
rmartin@oklahoman.com
Claremore started the season 2-0. They opened with an impressive win against cross-town rival Oologah. Things were looking up for the Zebras, who won only three games a year ago.
Three weeks later, things aren’t so great in Claremore.
In weeks three’s loss to Owasso, Zebra running back Timmy Butcher suffered a high ankle injury, and will remained sidelined until at least week six. Claremore coach Keith Bell said of the injury “He’s our workhorse and one of our senior leaders. We are losing a lot more than just him on the field.”
In the district opener against Tulsa Kelley, Claremore lost another senior leader. Quarterback Blake Grauer suffered a broken hand during the Zebra’s first possession, and Kelley cruised 24-0.
Grauer passed for over 1400 yards last season, and will be out at least 4-6 weeks.
Its bad news for the Zebras, who face Coweta on Friday. With their two most productive offensive weapons watching from the sidelines, the playoffs are becoming more and more of a stretch.
Bell is optimistic though, and says a few changes in the offense should put Claremore back on track. Cody Baskas will take the snaps. He’ll start for the first time ever on Friday and, while he doesn’t have the cannon that Grauer did, Bell says he’s a great runner.
“We just have to change a few things with the offense,” Bell said. “But the team had a great week of practice after an emotional let down last week. Cody is a great runner and I think we will be ok.”
If Claremore can somehow stay in playoff contention, they could be full strength when the post-season begins. This could be bad news for class 5A. After all, they haven’t lost a game at full-strength yet.
Carney blasts way into first softball regionals
By Zach West
zwest@oklahoman.com
Carney head softball coach Kendra Barnes wasn’t sure what was more amazing – her team of just nine players winning districts for the first time ever, or the way in which it was done.
Last weekend, it was probably both.
In an astounding series of high-scoring contests, the Bulldogs won their Class B district over Paden and Mason. In five games spanning two days, 170 total runs were scored, the most coming in a 28-26 Paden victory over Carney in the first game Friday. In the four games they played, the Bulldogs averaged 18.5 runs and failed to score in only one out of 27 innings.
“It was one of those deals where the teams were scoring six or seven runs each inning,” said Barnes, in her first year as the Carney coach. “That was scary, coming into an inning knowing that you had to score a bunch of runs just to keep up. It was a lot of fun, though. It was better than sitting there walking runs in. They were hitting all over the place.”
After losing to Paden, Carney had to win two straight to advance. After winning the first contest 15-10, they took the second by a seemingly pedestrian tally of 15-7 – the lowest combined score of the tournament.
“We were really pumped going in, but then we got beat on Friday,” Barnes said. “We had to battle back, suck it up and play ball. When it was win or go home, we buckled down and won it. It was absolutely amazing.”
Even more amazing considering the Bulldogs team consists of just five seniors, one junior, two sophomores and one freshman – nine in total. With nary a winning season in school history, Carney is now 14-7 and will play at Red Oak in the regional tournament Thursday.
“When we started the season, we didn’t even know that we were going to have enough to play. Four weeks ago, I didn’t know if we were going to have enough to finish the season,” Barnes said. “Now, we’re pretty excited.”
Other interesting tidbits from the scoring barrage at Carney:
- In Carney’s 28-26 loss to Paden, the Bulldogs’ Robin O’Donnell scored in all seven at-bats, and hit two inside-the-park home runs. Teammate Haley Evans also had an inside-the-park home run in the game.
- As is the case with many small schools, Carney had to rely heavily on just one pitcher during the tournament. Rebeca Scott pitched 18 out of 20 innings on Friday, and while she gave up plenty of runs, she also notched 17 strikeouts in the process.
As good as Blackmon and Owens?
By Justin Harper
jharper@oklahoman.com
I wrote an article about Plainview wide receiver Justin Blackmon in Tuesday’s paper and had a breakout which compared Blackmon’s stats with that of Muskogee’s Jameel Owens, the state’s highest recruited player. Blackmon’s numbers were a tad better, but came against Class 3A foes. Owens posted his against 6A competition. Still, the two are neck and neck, both are unreal players and both will be heading to Division I-A.
The article caught the attention of former Sand Springs coach Brad Odom who says he knows someone else who belongs in their class. Shane Devers, a Sand Springs senior, has more catches (34) than the dynamic duo and touchdowns (7). He’s racked up 550 yards receiving in just four games. He already holds the school record for TD catches in a career and in a single season.
Pretty sweet stats. Now, Sand Springs did play Tulsa Noah, a home-school team. That’s a definite stat-padder. Owens might catch 20 balls in that game — by halftime. Still, I’m going to check the Devers kid out. Odom says he’s overcome a lot. And, obviously, his production is terrific. I’ll let you know what I find out.
