North takes Clash for fourth straight time
Here is my report on the Norman North-Norman football game.
It’s often difficult to cover a game between two teams that you cover, but this one was pretty self-explanatory. I thought both teams showed reasons for optimism. For Norman North, to win by 21 while having a ridiculous amount of penalties is impressive and still gives the T-Wolves something to work on next week. But after the initial disappointment is gone, Norman players will realize how far they have come from last season. Hopefully, Michael Barrett isn’t lost for the season, but it looked like a pretty bad knee injury. At any rate, here’s the report:
By Justin Harper
Staff Writer
jharper@opubco.com
NORMAN - Maybe they were just cocky freshmen.
After all, after watching Norman High collect its ninth consecutive win over Norman North in the 2006 season opener, North freshmen Nick Canavan and Scott Whitaker both vowed to never let it happen under their watch.
As Thursday’s 30-9 Norman North victory proved, turns out they weren’t cocky. They were correct.
The earlier prediction was a pretty heady thing considering the Timberwolves were winless in the series at that point and on the losing end 34-6 that night almost exactly three years ago.
But thanks to terrific performances by Whitaker and Canavan among several, Norman North’s 2009 seniors shuffled off Owen Field Thursday having capped the T-Wolves’ fourth straight win over Norman.
“Watching that first game as a freshman, it made me want to never lose to Norman ever again,” Whitaker said. “It still makes me want to beat them every chance we get.”
These seniors have done just that. By season’s end in 2006, Canavan was playing special teams for the varsity and the T-Wolves pulled off the series stunner, knocking off the 10-win Tigers in the first round of the playoffs. Since then, North hasn’t just controlled the rivalry, it’s owned it. In fact, after Thursday’s triumph, the Timberwolves have won the last three Crosstown Clash meetings with the Tigers by a combined 130-32.
“We did expect this,” said Canavan, who made the field his personal playground with a blocked punt for a safety, a touchdown run, a sack and more tackles than can be counted on two hands. “And it’s been cool to be at our school watching this evolve. We went from always getting beat by Norman to always beating Norman. We get to leave with a full sweep.”
On offense, Whitaker caught five passes for 91 yards and a touchdown from new starting quarterback Brad Valentino. He added a pick on defense.
North running back Richard Peoples picked up 91 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Valentino debuted with a 9-of-11 passing performance for 109 yards, a TD run and the sweet 48-yard toss to Whitaker. Defensive end Daniel Davis swatted away three passes at the line and had a pair of sacks.
It would have been a beautiful thing had it not been so ugly. North had 12 penalties for a whopping 135 yards and lost a pair of fumbles.
Norman was held to 55 yards through the air on 7-of-25 passing and 46 yards on the ground on 24 totes. And the Tigers may have lost their top defender, linebacker Michael Barrett, to a knee injury. Still, QB Chad Anderson hooked up with tight end Seth Zimmer for a 16-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter to show that though they lost this fight, the Tigers had not lost their fight.
In the end, though, a promise kept by a crew of North seniors, led by a pair of one-time precocious freshmen, was the lasting image on this night.
“I wasn’t about to lose to Norman High,” Whitaker said. “It’s a new era now. And we built it.”
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