Morrison looks good, but next year could be rough
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@opubco.com
MORRISON — Morrison could very well win the Class A championship, thus adding to an illustrious football history.
But next year could be a different story.
The Wildcats are graduating 12 seniors, which represents roughly 37 percent of its team. And Morrison only has two juniors on its roster this year — tight end Kyle Dotter and running back Elam Cronquist.
Cronquist got some carries late in Saturday’s 48-10 quarterfinal rout of Christian Heritage. He carried the ball 4 times and finished with minus-1 yards.
This team is senior dominated — both in numbers and talent. Quarterback Shawn Walls throws a beautiful ball, and running backs Cale James and Joey Quinata were impressive in the win over Christian Heritage.
Joey’s little brother, Dylon Quinata, could be the future of Morrison football. He is just a freshman, but in Saturday’s game, the RB/SS had 3 sacks, had a 42-yard run and caught a touchdown from Walls. Quinata took a few snaps late in the game, so it’s possible that he takes over under center for Walls next season.
The quarterback position will be the toughest one to fill for Morrison, so if Dylon Quinata can step in, that would be huge in the transition from these 12 seniors. There are no other quarterbacks listed on Morrison’s roster, so unless there is a stud 8th grader, Dylon or someone else will have to step up.
But, that is all in the future. What’s important right now is that Morrison looks very, very tough. The Wildcat defense gave up just 44 yards on the ground and swarmed Christian Heritage quarterback Grant Lindsey all game. It will be very interesting next week, when Morrison faces Hennessey and electric running back Auggey McCulley.
Cascia Hall: 27 ‘n countin’…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
One play most certainly does not define a game. But when Cascia Hall QB Sam Clancy found WR AZ Moyer for a 51-yard TD late in the first half, the Commandos were ready to roll.
Cascia Hall, down 10-0, came back and won 13-10 against Tuttle on Saturday at Yukon in a 3A semifinal. I picked Cascia to win, so I CAN say I saw it coming.
Let me explain the Boneman logic (oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one). I figured Tuttle would come out and show its strength early. It would try to send a message that Tuttle is 3A while CHall is 2A. The Tigers did. They were forcing turnovers, the Commandos running game was next to nothing and Clancy was in trouble all half.
But something happened. The pass protection got better, Clancy wasn’t rattled and found his receivers in stride with chances to run after the catch.
I was especially impressed with Pete Testa. That man’s a gamer, I says. Cascia Hall had too much balance as Tuttle just relied on Sterling Koons and Paco Moore.
Normally, that works. But the Commandos brought their big boy pads. Tuttle didn’t earn its first first down in the second half until 8 minutes were left in the fourth.
There is a reason why Cascia Hall has won 27 straight games. It’s no fluke. So we go from a potential Tuttle-Clinton rematch for it all to a Cascia Hall and Sequoyah-Claremore showdown for the 3A crown. Eh, who knew?
Tuttle has nothing to be ashamed of. It was a very well-played game and felt like a championship (no offense to Sequoyah-Claremore).
It’ll be interesting to see if Cascia has a letdown. Head coach Joe Medina was already preaching that after the game: “This was nice. But we’re not satisfied. We’ve got one more.”
It’s the Augie McCulley show…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Every now and then, the writing gods give us a break. I entered Friday night knowing no matter what happened, I was writing about Hennessey’s Augie McCulley.
He’s playing with a broken left elbow…yes, a broken left elbow. It’s an easy story to write. But what I didnt’ expect was for him to rush for more than 200 yards again and score three times in the second half to give Hennessey a 30-21 win against Hominy.
Hennessey was too cute in the first half as McCulley only had 10 carries and two of those resulted in lost fumbles. In fact, the Eagles had four TOs in the first half.
It felt like deja vu with last year’s quarterfinal game against Prague. But only down 21-6 at half through all that, Hennessey righted its ship.
And got simple.
Hennessey lined up in the HOG formation with McCulley spear-heading the attack. None too shabby. Why get cute when simple is effective.
McCulley didn’t bust one the entire game. His longest rush wasn’t for more than 30 yards but it was the consistent pounding that eventually did the Bucks in.
He ended up with 37 carries for 242 yards and three touchdowns to help Hennessey move on to the semis against either CHA or Morrison (my boy, Jason, will be there).
I’d count Hennessey out but McCulley does not quit. The first guy doesn’t bring him down, and he’s prone to drag tacklers several yards before always falling forward like all good backs do.
He’s not getting many looks from schools because of his less than stellar size, but McCulley is a baller. Give ‘em a shot.
For more, see the story in Saturday’s Oklahoman as well as a video interview with McCulley on Sunday.
Before I go, special kudos to Hennessey principal Bryan Barnes, who let me drive to his house to send my story. There are not many internet options in Hennessey and his house was a block away. Made my night SO much easier.
Alright, back tomorrow I’m sure with some Tuttle-Cascia Hall thoughts. Will I be eating crow for picking the Commandos? We’ll find out.
The Stooges: Week 13
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Well, we’re picking all games this week. As for last week, well, the cream of the crop rose to the top again. Ray and Ryan are showing their superiority. On with the show…
Week 13
Mustang vs. Jenks
Boneman: Jenks; Jason: Jenks; Ray: Jenks ; Ryan: Jenks
Midwest City vs. Tulsa Union
Boneman: MWC (Bomber Magic); Jason: Union; Ray: Union ; Ryan: Union
Carl Albert vs. Lawton MacArthur
Boneman: CAlbert (game of the week); Jason: CAlbert; Ray: Carl Albert; Ryan: CAlbert
El Reno vs. Tulsa Washington
Boneman: Tulsa Washington; Jason: El Reno; Ray: Tulsa Washington; Ryan: Tulsa Washington
McGuinness vs. Grove
Boneman: McGuinness; Jason: McGuinness; Ray: Grove ; Ryan: McGuinness
Glenpool vs. Broken Bow
Boneman: Glenpool; Jason: Glenpool; Ray: Glenpool ; Ryan: Glenpool
Clinton vs. Sequoyah-Claremore
Boneman: Clinton; Jason: Clinton; Ray: Clinton (LOCK) ; Ryan: Clinton
Tuttle vs. Cascia Hall
Boneman: CHall (I’ll be there LIVE); Jason: Tuttle; Ray: Tuttle ; Ryan: Tuttle
Heritage Hall at Sequoyah-Tahl.
Boneman: HHall; Jason: HHall; Ray: HHall ; Ryan: HHall
Vian at Kingfisher
Boneman: Kingfisher; Jason: Kingfisher; Ray: Kingfisher ; Ryan: Kingfisher
Sulphur vs. Lincoln Christian
Boneman: LChristian; Jason: LChristian; Ray: LChristian ; Ryan: LChristian
Chandler at Millwood
Boneman: Chandler (LOCK); Jason: Millwood; Ray: Millwood ; Ryan: Chandler
Hominy at Hennessey
Boneman: Hennessey (I’ll be there LIVE); Jason: Hennessey (LOCK); Ray: Hennessey ; Ryan: Hominy
CHA at Morrison
Boneman: Morrison (lesson learned); Jason: Morrison (I’ll be there LIVE); Ray: Morrison ; Ryan: Morrison
Okeene at Woodland
Boneman: Okeene; Jason: Okeene; Ray: Okeene; Ryan: Okeene
Tonkawa at OCS
Boneman: Tonkawa; Jason: Tonkawa; Ray: Tonkawa ; Ryan: Tonkawa
Garber vs. Canton
Boneman: Garber; Jason: Garber; Ray: Garber ; Ryan: Garber
Laverne vs. Ringwood
Boneman: Laverne; Jason: Laverne; Ray: Ringwood ; Ryan: Ringwood
Shattuck vs. Timberlake
Boneman: Shattuck; Jason: Shattuck; Ray: Shattuck ; Ryan: Shattuck
Thackerville vs. Temple
Boneman: TVille; Jason: TVille; Ray: TVille ; Ryan: TVille
Last week: Boneman (5-7, 1-0); Jason (7-5, 0-1); Ray (9-3, 1-0); Ryan (9-3)
Overall: Ryan (104-37); Ray (103-38, 10-2); Jason (94-47, 8-4); Boneman (90-51, 7-5)
CHA at Morrison — Does homefield advantage matter?
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@opubco.com
Christian Heritage and Morrison play Saturday afternoon, continuing the teams’ epic series that (still) hasn’t taken a year off.
For more information on that, check out Ryan Aber’s column from Monday’s paper.
The game is at Morrison, which is a big advantage for the Wildcats. The current players have never lost a game at home.
“We’re excited we get to play this game at home,” Morrison coach Cory Bales said. “It’s big that we’re playing at a place that this group of seniors has never lost. Psychologically, that comes into play.”
Christian Heritage coach John Merrell said: “I would rather have it at home, but once the game starts that stuff isn’t even on the radar. I just concentrate on the game. Maybe to the players, it matters a little, but it doesn’t to me.”
CHA at Morrison — Series history
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@opubco.com
The series history on the Christian Heritage/Morrison game. The two teams have played every year since CHA has been in existence. This was the first year that the game wasn’t scheduled in the regular season, but oddly enough, they are playing in the Class A quarterfinals.
1980: Morrison, 34-6
1981: Morrison, 46-40
1982: Morrison, 48-20
1983: Morrison, 56-20
1984: Morrison, 36-0
1985: Chr. Heritage, 27-14
1986: Morrison, 29-8
1987: Chr. Heritage, 30-22
1988: Morrison, 50-16
1989: Morrison, 42-13
1990: Morrison, 32-12
1991: Morrison, 43-14
1992: Morrison, 20-6
1993: Morrison, 35-0
1994: Morrison, 46-6
1995: Morrison, 20-0
1996: Chr. Heritage, 22-0
1997: Chr. Heritage, 35-14
1998: Chr. Heritage, 34-8
1999: Morrison, 40-13
2000: Morrison, 32-26 (OT)
2001: Morrison, 24-14
2002: Chr. Heritage, 28-14
2003: Morrison, 38-21
2004: Morrison, 26-22
2005: Chr. Heritage, 18-6
2006: Morrison, 50-6
2007: Morrison, 44-14
All-time series: Morrison leads, 21-7
See also: Ryan Aber’s column from Monday’s paper about the CHA-Morrison series.
Class 3A semifinals: There could be a finals rematch
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@opubco.com
The Tuttle-Cascia Hall game will be fun.
It’s a classic 1 vs. 2 match-up between two teams that have not even come close to being stopped yet this year. It’s a shame this thing is a semifinal game and not the state championship game.
What is interesting is that the Tuttle-Cascia game is between teams that are district champions of Districts 3A-1 and 3A-3, respectively. The other two semifinal teams, Clinton and Seq. Claremore, are the runner-ups in those districts.
Tuttle beat Clinton, 35-14, on Oct. 10, while Cascia Hall beat Seq. Claremore, 34-14, on Oct. 31.
I understand that the bracket is the bracket, and it can’t be changed. But it’s truly a shame that the two clear best teams are playing each other at any time other than state championship week. It would be better if Tuttle played Seq. Claremore and Cascia Hall played Clinton.
“I guess if you look at it on paper, it’s the one seeds playing each other and the two seeds playing each other,” said Tuttle coach Phil Koons. “But I still think that we’re all pretty equally matched. I think that probably if Claremore had a couple breaks, they could have won their game against Cascia, and we had a couple good breaks to beat Clinton.”
A state championship rematch is very possible. Or, two teams could play that haven’t yet this year.
I’m betting on a District 3A-1 rematch – Tuttle vs. Clinton in the state finals.
Semi-final thoughts
By Matt Patterson
Mustang’s semi-final game with Jenks is a tough assignment, but it’s better than Midwest City’s. The Bombers face the hottest team in Oklahoma and a week after they defense was shredded by Stillwater running back Chris Perry.
Perry is arguably one of the top five high school athletes in the state. He is Oklahoma’s top recruit in wrestling, and one of the most valued in the country and on the gridiron he’s been a thousand-yard rusher the last three years. But he’s not as good as Union’s Jeremy Smith who ran all over Norman North Friday night.
Back to Mustang. The Broncos get Jenks at Broken Arrow, which is more or less a home game for the Trojans. Still, Mustang coach Ty Prestidge didn’t seem to mind.
“We don’t think that’s a big deal at all,” he said. “It’s not in our control anyway.”
Should have been there Pt. II (MWC/Stillwater)…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
What was it about my presence that made the games I went to memorable? I mean that has to be it, right? Anyway, Midwest City scores 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to pull out a 35-28 win against Stillwater.
I don’t know what to say. It’s going to be tough next week to give me a better encore. Stillwater’s Chris Perry is a beast. No, he’s a BEAST.
We all know about his wrestling mastery, but he’s a load and a half for anybody trying to get him down. He ran up, down, through MWC defenders all night. And he had more than 40 carries with all four touchdowns.
When it was 28-14, you sensed it. It was time for Bomber Magic (it was even chanted by the crowd).
QB Jase Chilcoat (who played amazingly) finds Antonio Brown for a 38-yard touchdown. The PAT is blocked, uh oh.
Timothy Flanders, the heart and soul of the team, bottled up most of the night busts one for a 32-yard score.
Time for the 2-point. Whoops, false start back ‘em up five. Chilcoat looking for Cole Eddy, deflects off his hands right into Kevin Gaddis’ and we’re tied.
See, Bomber Magic.
Midwest City defense came to play in the second half. MWC allowed 102 yards in the second half and the lone TD drive was a mere 7 yards on a fumbled punt prior to that.
Bombers take over at their own 31 with 1:55 to go. Chilcoat finds Flanders for a 62-yard touchdown pass that has the whole stadium rockin’ with 1:03 left. Wait a minute. Ineligible lineman down field.
Chilcoat finds Gaddis for 16 and then Eddy for 12 more. And then with 28 seconds left, Gaddis beats the defense deep again and hauls down his second touchdown of the game.
Game, set match, bring on Tulsa Union for Midwest City.
Fun stuff.
Chilcoat threw for 304 yards and four TDs. Flanders rushed for 133 and a TD both rushing and receiving. Perry put up 222 yards on the ground and four scores. Gaddis had nine grabs for 155 yards and two TDs and a two-point conversion.
Stillwater played with so much heart but ran out of steam. That and combined with the Bombers waking up. Stillwater did enough to win, but MWC showed some heart that you never know a team has until tested.
Is this a bad omen against Union? I don’t know. Take a look at my record, I don’t know much. But Bombers stepped up when it counted most.
Sparse crowd on both sides. I guess the allure of OU-Texas Tech was enough to keep some at home.
Before I jet, how about District B-1? 8-0 and all four teams in the semis. That’s nuts. Hope you enjoyed this small look back at another memorable ending. Time to go watch the OU beatdown.
Should have been there (El Reno/Miami)…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Seriously, you should have been there. Oh wait, I WAS there. Not the best game by any means. But with enough momentum swings in the final two minutes to make me mentally delete a story four times in 10 minutes.
For those that don’t know, El Reno won 14-7 when Austin Feddersen recovered a fumble in the end zone with six seconds left to beat Miami.
So for fun, here is the final 1:38.
1:38-ish: El Reno’s Jakeil Everheart is running on a 3rd-and-long, hoping to have the Wardogs use a timeout. He fumbles, Miami recovers at midfield with 1:32 left.
Next play, Miami’s Trent Turner is picked off by El Reno’s Nathan Dewberry. Dewberry had two fumble recoveries and a pick in this one.
He’s running down the sideline and gets to about the 25 and Miami has a personal foul face mask call.
El Reno has the ball at the 12, little over a minute left. Everheart runs for five yards. Cory Dauphin runs for four (we’re at the 3 if you’re counting at home).
Clock is still ticking, under 30 seconds. Everheart goes for one last play for either a) TD or b) set up Eric Vinegas for the chip-shot FG.
Whoops, Everheart fumbles once again at about the 2-2 1/2 yard line. Now El Reno is devastated again. Miami has nine seconds to kill before OT.
Talking with Feddersen after the game, he said the coaches said nothing about a safety or forcing a turnover.
“Don’t do anything to get a penalty. We’ll just go to overtime.”
However, Miami botches the snap. Feddersen jumps on it, bedlam in El Reno. Magical season continues. Whatever snazzy headline you want to use, El Reno 14, Miami 7.
El Reno kicks, Miami can’t do anything special, game over.
Wow.
Again, wow.
El Reno is not flashy, but it gets the job done. Somehow, someway, the Indians are 10-2 and in the semis. They forced five turnovers.
Turner throws a TD pass on the very first Miami offensive play to James Pickens, and then it’s the ol’ adage of bend but don’t break.
Miami missed a FG, had another blocked, had an INT in the end zone. Not to say El Reno played the perfect game. The normally sure-handed Everheart fumbled three times, twice at the goalline. The first time, he was reaching for a TD and it resulted in a touchback.
Big ups to Miami who traveled remarkably well for the game.
Like I said, it wasn’t the best game ever, but man, what a finish. I’m at Midwest City and Stillwater on Saturday night (don’t tell me the OU-Tech score).
And before I go, who was that idiot that picked Checotah and Stroud to win championships? What a moron…(whistling). No, it couldn’t have been me. Hey, kudos to Clinton and Morrison for not only making me eat my words but laughing at me while I chow down on crow.
