Norman-Del City report
In case you missed it in print, here is my story from the Del City-Norman game:
NORMAN — Lightning kept Del City from playing for 35 minutes Thursday. Then Norman’s defense and turnovers kept the Eagles from playing well for a half.
But the delays didn’t keep Del City from 2-0, and that’s the point.
“We got off to a bad start,” said running back Greg Johnson following the Eagles’ 19-7 victory over the Tigers. “But we got the win.”
For the second straight week, Del City turned it on late to pull away. Against Midwest City, the Eagles scored 20 fourth-quarter points. Against Norman, the Eagles didn’t get on the scoreboard until midway through the third quarter, but scored 19 unanswered points.
The less-than-thrilled postgame mood was evident that things have changed at Del City.
“Expectations are higher,” said Del City coach Nick Warehime. “We won a football game 19-7. We’re certainly not going to apologize for that. A lot of teams would like to be 2-0.”
Del City is one of them. After all, the Eagles were 3-7 two years ago and 4-6 last season. But with the upset win over the rival Bombers in opening week, this team has designs on bigger and better things.
“We’re trying to make state,” said Johnson, who ran for 138 yards and a touchdown. “We knew we were going to be a good team this year.”
Actually, the past two seasons were indicators despite the win-loss records.
“We were ahead in six games two years ago,” said Warehime. “And we were ahead in seven last year. This group of seniors has been coming along for a while.”
So, what’s a few delays, right? After all, the Eagles felt confident even trailing 7-0 at halftime Thursday. That was because they had turned the ball over four times (two interceptions and two fumbles) and still were in the game.
With linebackers Greg Offenburger, Michael Barrett and Stephan McElroy making big plays and DBs Rashad Parker and Roger Kelley each snagging interceptions, Norman (0-2) came up with big turnovers when Del City was deep in the Tigers’ territory. Seth Zimmer took a Chad Anderson pass 38 yards for a score to give the Tigers upset hopes. But a different Del City showed up after the break.
Johnson ran for 93 yards in the second half. Receiver Donovan Dan caught five of his eight receptions and quarterback Chazten Gonzales completed 9 of 12 passes in the final two quarters. And the defense held Norman to just 20 offensive plays and 42 yards.
In the end, Del City had outgained Norman 381-180 in total offense and had piled up 22 first downs. Norman running back Donovan Roberts carried the ball on 27 of the Tigers 34 running plays, gaining 83 yards.
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