Bucket list: Carl Albert’s Tyler Still
In case you missed it, the five things Carl Albert senior left tackle Tyler Still wants to achieve before he dies:
1. Ski down Mount Everest
2. Lead at least one person to Christ
3. Become an actor
4. Travel the world
5. Perform in a bad at a concert
Mid-Del Players of the Week
Something a little different this week after the performances from the second round of the playoffs:
Offense
Carl Albert quarterback J.T. Realmuto flat took over Carl Albert’s game against Tulsa Kelley on Friday night.
With the Comets focusing on slowing down the versatile Tre Porter, things were more opened up for Realmuto on the ground.
And the Titans’ senior took full advantage, carrying the ball 40 times for 180 yards and four touchdowns — two in overtime — in Carl Albert’s 34-31 double overtime win. For his performance, Realmuto earns the Mid-Del Offensive Player of the Week honors.
One of the defining moments to Carl Albert’s season up until this point has been the fourth and 1 play from deep in the Titans’ territory against Shawnee. The Wolves stopped Carl Albert on that play, a Realmuto keeper to the outside. Shortly after, Shawnee scored what proved to be the game-winning score.
Since then, though, Carl Albert’s offense has woken up. Last week was the first time since that Oct. 2 game that the Titans were held to less than 40 points. Realmuto, and the emergence offensively of Porter, have certainly been two of the biggest parts of that.
Defense
Until early in the fourth quarter of the Carl Albert-Tulsa Kelley game, the Titans were dominant defensively against one of the best offensive lines in the state. The best of Carl Albert’s defenders was David Lambeth. Lambeth had 15 tackles, 2 for a loss, and forced a fumble to earn the Mid-Del Defense Player of the Week honors.
Other:
Greg Austin, Midwest City: The Bombers quarterback threw for nearly 300 yards and a touchdown in Broken Arrow’s 24-17 win over Midwest City. Austin improved throughout the season and gives Midwest City a bright future at quarterback for next season. For the year, Austin threw for around 1,900 yards.
Player of the week: Moore Zone
Moore zone Player of the Week:
Once again, with basketball yet to start and football season over at Westmoore and Moore, the only choices were from Southmoore. Nonetheless, swimming, wrestling and basketball will get things rolling soon and provide more options.
Player of the Week
Derek Serowski, Southmoore
The senior wideout scored a career-high three touchdowns to help lead the SaberCats into the Class 6A semifinals. Serowski’s TD grabs went for 64, 59 and one yards. All told, he had four receptions for 127 yards.
Others:
Ethan Baker, Southmoore
The senior had two interceptions and led a Southmoore defensive secondary that held one of Class 6A’s best receiving duos in check and limited the Bruins to just 14 points before reserves played the fourth quarter.
Andrew Long, Southmoore
The sophomore running back rambled for 194 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries in Southmoore’s 49-28 romp past Bartlesville in the Class 6A quarterfinals.
Austin Haywood, Southmoore
Returned to action after missing the playoff opener with a strained shoulder and ran for a touchdown, threw a touchdown pass and played stellar defense.
Kendal Thompson, Southmoore
Thompson ran for 98 yards while completing 8 of 10 passes for 189 yards.
Austin Brooks, Southmoore
Was a ringleader among several defensive standouts. Helped shut down the Bartlesville running game. He also had an interception.
Mason Myers, Southmoore
The offensive lineman led the front five, allowing Thompson all kinds of time to throw and opening holes for the team to gain 440 yards on the ground.
Kimes Gilbert and Ryland Widener, Southmoore
Gilbert made a terrific interception at the line of scrimmage to halt Bartlesville’s first drive, which had reached the Southmoore 30-yard line. Widener plugged holes as Southmoore held Bartlesville to 57 yards rushing on 19 carries.
BOTR: Player of the Week
The ranks of the BOTR got a little thinner this week with Tuttle, Blanchard and Shawnee’s defeat but there are a few teams still hanging on. Here’s a look at this week’s POW.
Bryan Dutton, QB, Guthrie: Dutton helped Guthrie to a berth in the semi-finals with one of his best performances of the year in a 25-24 upset of No. 4 ranked East Central last week. Dutton threw for 202 yards and two touchdown passes, including one that went for 55 yards and gave Guthrie the lead late in the fourth quarter.
Others in the mix: Kentrell Brothers, Guthrie 30 yd. TD catch, 25 yd. interception return; Colin Willis, RB, Cashion, 3 TD.
Cashion: Ready for battle of 12-0 clubs…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Cashion (12-0) vs. Stroud (12-0)
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Stroud HS
While some of the more prominent eight-man teams that moved up two years ago have kinda fallen back, Cashion remains strong.
I mean real strong. Lynn Shackelford’s club is 12-0 and is riding a sea of positive momentum heading into Friday’s quarterfinal at Stroud.
I’ve been a huge backer of A-2 all season. I’ve harped about how good Cashion, OCS and Watonga are this year.
Well, two of the three still remain, but it’s because of the way all three played against each other that made me realize how good this team could be.
What I love about a situation like this is how a town comes together through a team’s success. Shackelford has noticed it, too.
Quote:
It’s been an outstanding atmosphere. The town has really rallied around the kids. Sports in a lot of ways can be the heartbeat of a town and bring people together.” – Shackelford
Stopping a fake punt against Velma-Alma late in the first half proved to be crucial to the Wildcats’ success.
It was only 14-13 at that point. Cashion drove in and scored to make it 21-3 at half. And then Cashion took the first possession of the second half to make it 28-13, and that was all she wrote.
Quarterback Jeremy Seaton has been the key to the team’s offensive success. Later in the week I’ll take a look at what Cashion is going to need to do to move to 13-0.
El Reno: Bend but don’t break D
El Reno: Bend but don’t break
El Reno has made a living with defense this season and that was the case in its win over McAlester as the Indians used a goal line stand to hold off McAlester 21-14 Friday night. While it was a nice way to end the game, it’s not exactly surprising.
”They marched down the field on that drive and got into the red zone,” El Reno defensive back Cory Dauphin said. “That’s how we’ve played all year. Bend but don’t break. We buckle down in the red zone. We have a lot of confidence playing with our backs against the wall.”
Coming up huge was senior Matt Pruitt. He had 22 tackles (17 of them unassisted) and also had an interception and scored the game-winning touchdown.
El Reno (12-0) plays Carl Albert (10-2) in a Class 5A semifinal Friday night at Putnam City Stadium.
Bronco wrap-up: A tale of three teams in Mustang
If I had to pick one word to describe Mustang’s 2009 football season, it would be this:
Odd.
I’ve never seen a team have dramatic offensive success, completely change styles midway through the year, and have just as much success, which is exactly what happened with the Broncos this year.
But 2009 was a tale of three teams in Mustang.
First, there was the team that began the season. The team quarterbacked by Jacinto Biorato that focused on its play-making receivers David Glidden and Braden Wiseley. The run game was solid, but not outstanding, and the passing game was as efficient as any around.
Halfway through the season, two things happened. Biorato hurt his shoulder and RB Daniel Farrow became eligible. With sophomore Brandon Taylor at QB, and Farrow next to him, the second Mustang team emerged. Passing became option No. 3 — Farrow was options No. 1 and 2. And the offense kept chugging. Farrow put up nearly 600 yards in a two-week span as he showed himself as one of the top players in the state.
Then came the playoffs and the arrival of the Broncos’ third edition.
A look at our second-round playoff picks
It was a rough week for us in a lot of ways but here’s a look at the second-round picks from myself, Bob and Scott. The race is extremely tight heading into the third round:
Records:
Overall:
Ryan: 94-26
Scott: 92-28
Bob: 91-29
Second round:
Ryan: 29-11 (3-1 in 6A, 2-2 in 5A, 3-1 in 4A, 2-2 in 3A, 6-2 in 2A, 7-1 in A, 4-0 in B, 2-2 in C)
Scott: 28-12 (4-0 in 6A, 2-2 in 5A, 4-0 in 4A, 2-2 in 3A, 7-1 in 2A, 5-3 in A, 3-1 in B, 1-3 in C)
Bob: 28-12 (3-1 in 6A, 2-2 in 5A, 3-1 in 4A, 1-3 in 3A, 5-3 in 2A, 8-0 in A, 3-1 in B, 3-1 in C)
Private schools POW: Sterling Shepard, Heritage Hall…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Can one player really make that much of a difference? If it’s Heritage Hall and that player is sophomore Sterling Shepard, the answer is yes.
With Shepard back in the lineup, the Chargers were back to being at the absolute best this team can be.
The question, however, is this team’s best good enough to claim another championship? We have three weeks to find out that answer.
Until then, Shepard will have to be content in winning the Private Schools Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Though Barry Sanders got the ball rolling early, Shepard put the game away in the second quarter of a 48-8 win against Lindsay.
Shepard caught a touchdown pass from Cooper Cloud and also threw for two of his own as Heritage improved to 8-4.
Shepard has had two concussions this year, so the next one would definitely end his season. He plays so hard for such a ‘little’ guy. He leaves it all out there and provides such a lift to the team.
Heritage heads to Pawhuska this week in a 2A quarterfinal. I will be there. But for a different take on the Chargers (a long overdue one), check out Wednesday’s paper.
Other contenders
LaRone Richardson, RB, Bishop McGuinness: Wow, a man possessed Friday against Sallisaw. Richardson ran for 155 yards and a touchdown in the 20-14 loss. More than that, he showed the explosiveness he’s become known for and what will be possible for this team next year.
Barry Sanders, RB, Heritage: Definitely set the tone early. Added another three touchdowns on the ground but added another interception return for a touchdown. He’s got quite the nose for the ball.
Jay Lester, LB, Irish: Had an interception and blocked an extra point as Irish shut down Sallisaw in second half but couldn’t overcome slow start.
Edmond POW: Memorial’s Justin Merideth…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
If you’ve read the Edmond blogs this season, you know I bought into Memorial coach Justin Merideth from the word ‘go.’
From being out at the practices in August to seeing how he interacted with the kids, had a feeling the Bulldogs weren’t being given the proper respect.
In the picks, Memorial went 10-2 according to my predictions. Seriously, that’s just how much I believed in Merideth.
For the historic season the Bulldogs had, I’m giving the Edmond Player of the Week to coach Justin Merideth.
Is that allowed? Well, it’s my blog, so I’m going to say yes.
Memorial (8-4) gave everything it had in a 28-14 loss to Jenks. It wasn’t overwhelmed by the moment. And after being down 14-0, the Bulldogs fought back to 14-14 going into the fourth quarter.
Merideth, who has mentioned his staff every time I’ve talked to him, was able to get the most out of his kids and the coaching staff devised a great plan throughout this season.
I’ve harped on the move of putting Kameron Doolittle at QB and having senior leader Blake Umberham sit and how well everybody handled that situation, but that really was the spark that made this season take off.
Memorial won the city championship for the first time in 12 years and made the quarterfinals for the first time ever since the Edmond split.
Replacing the defense will be tough, but the offense should have a lot more explosion with several key components (topped by Doolittle and Cale Olbert) coming back.
Other Memorial contenders:
Josh Sierra, RB: Had a one-yard TD run to make it 14-7.
Adrian Shoecraft, LB: Had an interception and a fumble recovery.
Nelson Medeiros, DB: Had an interception.
Parker Langford and Kameron Doolittle: Duo combined for the touchdown to make it 14-14.
