Live Chat Recap: High School Football Week 2
Week 1 Live Chat Recap
Rankings preview, week 2
Got the eight-man rankings added now. 6A, 4A and 2A could get shuffled a bit this afternoon depending on how the games come out.
Class 6A
1. Jenks (2)#2-0
2. Tulsa Union (1)#1-1
3. Broken Arrow (3)#1-1
4. Southmoore (6)#2-0
5. Owasso (4)#1-1
6. Del City (5)#2-0
7. Edmond North (7)#2-0
8. Mustang (8)#1-1
9. Norman North (10)#1-0
10. Midwest City (NR)#1-1
Obviously there could be some changes here by this afternoon depending on the outcome of Edmond North-Mustang but here’s an early look into Class 6A. Jenks and Union just switch spots. Close game, not any real thought to doing anything else. These clearly are the top teams in 6A. I jumped Southmoore ahead of 1-1 Owasso and 2-0 Del City. Gave a lot of thought to the order of those three. I think with Southmoore getting those players eligible this week, they vault into the not-quite-Jenks-or-Union group. Dropped Del City a spot not because of anything the Eagles did or didn’t do against Norman but more because of the Sabercats getting those guys this week. I moved Norman North up a spot since they were up 10-0 on Muskogee when that game was called. Yeah, who knows how it turned out but tonight’s results plus looking at Muskogee’s game last week against Owasso adds up to Midwest City in the rankings and Muskogee on the outside looking in. Lawton is simmering just outside the top 10 after an impressive win over Lawton Mac. PC North is there too. Could see Lawton moving into the top 10 if today’s game is a blowout either way.
Class 5A
1. Tulsa Washington (1)#2-0
2. Carl Albert (2)#1-1
3. El Reno (3)#2-0
4. Shawnee (8)#2-0
5. Tulsa East Central (7)#1-1
6. Lawton MacArthur (6)#1-1
7. Duncan (9)#2-0
8. Ada (10)#2-0
9. Bixby (5)#0-2
10. Tulsa Kelley (NR)#2-0
Very tough to figure out how to rank 5A this week after the top 3. Tulsa Washington beats Tulsa East Central handily after beating Carl Albert handily last week, Carl Albert takes care of Choctaw relatively easily, and El Reno hands Guthrie its first shutout in six years. Shawnee makes the big jump with its 46-19 win over Deer Creek. Tulsa East Central actually jumps up two spots with its loss because Lawton Mac lost to Lawton (I do think Lawton’s a near top 10 team in 6A but comparing East Central’s loss to BTW to Carl Albert’s left me thinking East Central is a top five team. Duncan and Ada move up a couple spots after moving to 2-0 with wins over Ardmore and Durant. Bixby is 0-2 but losing to Jenks and 4A No. 1 Glenpool isn’t anything to be down about. I contemplated leaving Guthrie in at No. 10 but the Bluejays lost to McGuinness last week, and then McGuinness got beat by Tulsa Kelley this week, so the Comets are in the top 10.
Class 4A
1. Glenpool (1)#2-0
2. Sallisaw (3)#2-0
3. Douglass (4)#1-1
4. Broken Bow (2)#1-1
5. Wagoner (7)#2-0
6. Weatherford (8)#2-0
7. McGuinness (5)#1-1
8. Grove (6)#1-1
9. Star Spencer (9)#1-1
10. Poteau (NR)#2-0
Broken Bow drops a couple of places after losing to Class 5A McAlester. Sallisaw and Douglass (for now) are the beneficiaries, though depending on the outcome of Douglass-Millwood later today, that could change. Wagoner and Weatherford move up two spots each after big wins. Grove and McGuinness drop down after losses, though to good teams. Poteau climbs into the rankings after Hilldale knocked off No. 10 Collinsville.
Post Soul Bowl thoughts: Douglass stays where they are. The Trojans defense, despite the bust late, is extremely fast. They gave Kevonte Richardson fits all day. And Antyoun Smith had an excellent game at QB as well. Douglass is going to be all right.
Class 3A
1. Cascia Hall (1)#1-0
2. Tuttle (2)#2-0
3. Sequoyah-Claremore (3)#2-0
4. Clinton (4)#1-1
5. Purcell (5)#2-0
6. Madill (6)#2-0
7. Checotah (7)#2-0
8. Bethany (8)#2-0
9. Metro Christian (9)#2-0
10. Blanchard (10)#2-0
Not a change here as everybody won but No. 1 Cascia Hall and the Commandos didn’t play. Checotah did do a number on rival Eufaula, though, with a 40-0 blowout. No serious threats either, so no change to worry about here.
Class 2A
1. Lincoln Christian (1)#1-1
2. Millwood (2)#1-0
3. Kingfisher (3)#1-1
4. Davis (4)#2-0
5. Sequoyah-Tahlequah (7)#1-0
6. Vian (7)#2-0
7. Heritage Hall (6)#0-2
8. Lexington (9)#2-0
9. Sulphur (10)#1-1
10. Bridge Creek (NR)#1-1
Could be some change at the top here later today depending on what Millwood does. Lincoln lost to a very good Arkansas team so dropping isn’t a given, but if Millwood wins big, I could (well, I will) flip. Sequoyah-Tahlequah also plays tomorrow. Heritage Hall drops another spot after dropping to 0-2 with loss to Weatherford. The Chargers are still going to be good, I believe, but 0-2 is 0-2. They did at least show some offense against a pretty good Weatherford team last night. Chandler drops out. Bridge Creek is the beneficiary, moving into the No. 10 spot with a 70-6 win over Bethel.
Class A
1. Okeene (1)#2-0
2. Tonkawa (2)#2-0
3. Ringling (4)#1-0
4. Hennessey (5)#2-0
5. OCS (6)#2-0
6. Stroud (8)#2-0
7. Commerce (10)#2-0
8. Woodland (7)#0-2
9. Talihina (NR)#2-0
10. Apache (NR)#2-0
Who knows when the last time Morrison wasn’t in the rankings. And I know going from No. 3 to out was pretty harsh but they lost to Barnsdall. Barnsdall was winless last year and I had them ranked No. 76 of 78 in the preaseason. So Morrison’s time in the rankings this time was short. Woodland dropped to 0-2 but stayed second because of the teams they’ve lost to. Apache and Talihina move into the rankings after impressive starts.
Class B
1. Garber (1)#2-0
2. Laverne (2)#2-0
3. Canton (3)#2-0
4. Weleetka (5)#2-0
5. Porter (6)#2-0
6. Depew (7)#1-1
7. Fox (8)#2-0
8. Alex (9)#1-1 LOST to Temple
9. Watts (NR)#2-0
10. Copan (NR)#2-0
There was some shakeup here as No. 4 Davenport and and No. 10 Geary both lost to fall out of the rankings. Davenport’s loss to Kiefer, a team I had No. 19 in the preseason rankings, caused it to drop all the way out. Geary lost to Cherokee, knocking them down a spot from the ranked. The biggest beneficiary was the other ranked team to lose — Alex. Alex was beaten 24-17 to Class C No. 4 Temple. I didn’t hold a loss to another ranked eight-man team against them the way I did Geary and Davenport’s to unranked teams. Watts and Copan join the rankings this week, and Ryan continues to look strong.
Class C
1. Shattuck (1)#2-0
2. Timberlake (2)#2-0
3. Seiling (3)#2-0
4. Temple (4)#1-1
5. Thackerville (7)#1-1 Beat Duke, lost to Fox
6. Covington-Douglas (6)#0-2 Lost to Seiling (12),lost to Garber
7. Deer Creek-Lamont (8)#2-0 Beat Braman, beat Waukomis
8. Corn Bible (9)#2-0 Beat Victory Life, Beat Merritt
9. Waynoka (10)#2-0 Beat Sharon-Mutual, Beat Braman
10. Forgan (NR)#1-1
The top four spots all remain the same as they all win, including Temple, who beat Class B ranked Alex after losing to Ryan last week. Thackerville jumps up a couple spots to five but more for what other teams didn’t do than for what they did. The blew out Duke, which is exactly what was expected of them. Covington-Douglas stays in the same spot despite dropping to 0-2. I still think they’re a No. 6 team, they’ve just had abrutal early schedule that includes Class B No. 1 Garber and Class C No. 3 Seiling. Deer Creek-Lamont, Corn Bible and Waynoka all move up a spot each. Forgan is new to the rankings this week after beating up on Balko. Again, this is more based on what other teams didn’t do. Specifically Buffalo. I didn’t penalize Buffalo last week for losing to Laverne but they took a hit this week with a 34-26 loss to Tyrone. Boise City was also given consideration but they lost to No. 1 Shattuck this week (Although losing to Shattuck 48-24 isn’t anything to be ashamed of).
Southmoore practices underway … I think
Southmoore was scheduled to practice from 7-8 a.m. this morning and again this evening at the new Southmoore school.
Maybe the rain played a part, maybe the construction delays at Southmoore High played a part or maybe I just missed them but I didn’t see the SaberCats at Southmoore (or Highland West, where they had been working out).
I did, at least, get a chance to walk around the new facilities at Southmoore. They are nowhere close to being completed but they’ll certainly be amazing when they are. The front part of the school is in pretty good order. The back part, where the fine arts and athletic facilities are, is still under heavy construction. I’ll go back out later today in search of the SaberCats and no doubt track them down as they go through their first day of fall practice.
We’ll also be reporting today from Edmond Santa Fe, Norman, Heritage Hall, Christian Heritage and others as fall practice gets underway.
Another state player appears headed to Arkansas
Broken Arrow offensive guard Alvin Bailey is committed to Arkansas, according to a report coming out of the Natural State.
Bailey said he would wait until later this week to make his commitment, though, as Tigers coaches are away at a retreat before practices begin next week. His official commitment could come Thursday or Friday.
The choice would seem to make sense for Bailey, a 6-4, 300-pound guard. His father, also Alvin, played basketball at Arkansas.
Tulsa East Central cornerback David Gordon recently committed to the Hogs as well. The Tulsa area has been a productive one for Arkansas over the years, most notably recently with Tulsa Washington product Felix Jones. UA’s Oklahoma connection was further strengthened this offseason when new Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino hired former OU and Tulsa Washington standout Garrick McGee as the Hogs quarterbacks coach.
Clarke closing in
At halftime, Clarke has 23 points, needing just 11 more to break Ty Harman’s career scoring record. Clarke punctuated the half with a running 3-pointer over three Adair defenders.
Clarke is 9 of 15 from the floor so far, 4-4 from the free-throw line and 1-3 from behind the 3-point line.
Starting late in the quarter, Verdigris’ student section is counting down Clarke’s march to the record. The Cardinals students chanted “11 … 11″ after Clarke’s three ended the half with Verdigris up 39-24.
Rotnei Clarke update
Through one quarter, Rotnei Clarke has 14 points. He missed his first two shots but has since gone 5 for 5 from the field and made 4 free throws.
Live from Skiatook, it’s the Rotnei Clarke show
I arrived at the gym just after 4 p.m. (for an 8 p.m. boys start, gates opened a few minutes ago at 5:30) and there were already about 75 or so Adair and Verdigris fans waiting for the night session to start. The outsiders were Eufaula fans, who were inside cheering their boys before the Lady Ironheads play Adair at 6:30 p.m.
Verdigris’ Clarke is 33 points behind Ty Harman’s career scoring record and figures to have no problem passing the mark tonight.
The anticipation is surely building here at Skiatook as the gym is probably about 1/3 full already. People are still streaming into the arena.
There certainly was no better choice of a site for this event than Skiatook, as the Bulldogs’ home gym is immaculate.
Check out the blog here for quarter-by-quarter updates tonight at least until Clarke breaks the record. Also, be sure to check out NewsOk tomorrow for video of Clarke’s performance.
A quick look at small-school state
So day 1 (and most of day two) is in the books at the small-school state basketball tournament. There weren’t any big surprises in Class A.
It’s also become apparent that the hardest class to pick the all-state team in is going to be Class A. There a lot of good, solid players in the class but there’s no one or two standouts like there are in Class B. Should be an interesting time tomorrow and in the next couple weeks talking to coaches and others and lookins at stats to see who it’s going to be.
I picked Thomas and Stringtown to win heading into the week and as of right now, I stand by those picks. Thomas doesn’t have any big standouts but has a lot of very good players; players like Justen Hunnicutt, Jeremiah John and Zeke Zoschke. They’ve also got one of the best if not the best coach in the class in Jim Petree. From what I saw of Garber yesterday, I can’t see them beating Thomas, though stranger things have happened.
In Class B, Chattanooga (or Chattanoga as the OSSAA program says) is certainly good. But they haven’t played the schedule that Stringtown has, they don’t have anyone taller than 6-3 to matchup with Stringtown’s 6-9 James Watson and Watson seems to have flipped the switch and turned into the dominant force that we all expected him to be this season. He has a chance tonight and tomorrow to play himself back onto the Super Five team. It will be interesting to see how Stringtown’s game tonight against Calumet goes. I’ve heard nothing but raves about the Chieftains’ Ethan Davis and enjoyed visiting with him earlier this week.
Check out the Oklahoman and NewsOk.com tomorrow morning for a tentative list on where the Class 6A-2A sub-sites will be next week.
Also, check back in on NewsOk tonight for breaking news on Verdigris’ Rotnei Clarke and his chase to the record. I’m here in Skiatook as Clarke stands only 33 points away from Ty Harman’s mark.
Tournament Tour wraps up in LeFlore County
The LeFlore County Tournament definitely didn’t disappoint, especially on the girls side, where two of the top small-schools girls teams in the state faced off with Howe beating Pocola by 18 to break the Lady Indians streak of three consecutive championships.
The game came down to game management by Lady Lions coach Chris Brown. In the first half, the game looked like it would devolve into a free-throw contest with fouls seemingly being called on every possession. Five minutes into the game, it was already bonus time. Just a few mintues later, both teams were in double bonus.
Brown anticipated it early and readily substituted in the first quarter.
“We wanted to spread those fouls out so we wouldn’t have anyone in real foul trouble,” Brown said. “I felt like that one through five, we’re about even with Pocola. Six, seven and eight, though, I thought we had the advantage.”
Howe also got called for significantly less fouls in the first half but even if there was a discrepancy in the way the game was called (and I didn’t see any outrageous foul calls or non-calls, especially after how tight the game was called in the first half), it certainly wouldn’t have made an 18-point difference.
Pocola coach Mark McKenzie thinks otherwise, though. McKenzie loudly objected, it didn’t seem like to individual calls but to the foul count. Eventually, he was T’d up. Later in the game, Pocola star Ashley Hobbs fouled out and made her way to the bench before deciding she had something to say. Hobbs walked in the direction of the referee, yelling along the way, before being given a technical of her own. Hobbs was one of two who fouled out for Pocola.
“The kids didn’t get to decide this game; the officials handcuffed us in the first couple of minutes of the game and it took us out of our game plan, and for these kids not to get to decide this game was a travesty and is just a sad injustice to the game of basketball,” McKenzie told the Times Record of Fort Smith, Ark., after the game. “It wasn’t right for not just our kids but the Howe kids and all the fans that came out to see this game. The kids deserved the chance to determine the outcome of the game on the floor but we were handcuffed from the beginning with fouls that dictated everything we could do.”
For better or worse, that’s part of basketball — adjusting to the officials, whether they be calling games loose or tight.
McKenzie went on:
“But I’m not taking anything away from Howe; it was the first for them and they are very deserving. … They’re a great representative of our county and deservedly so. Howe will be a good champion, and coach Brown does a good job with them.”
No matter how much you talk up a someone, after an outburst like that at the officiating, it’s hard not for it to take away from the outcome. Howe won — and it wasn’t particularly close, they won by 18 — and they deserved it. There’s no conspiracy there.
Sometimes in the heat of a moment people say things they wish they hadn’t. I’d imagine that will be the case here. McKenzie is a good coach who has done a remarkable job rebuilding a program from the ground up and we’ll likely see McKenzie, Hobbs and the rest of the Lady Indians in Oklahoma City in a little more than a month.
After Hobbs fouled out, Lindsay McCown pumped her first and celebrated as her shot went in and Hobbs went toward the bench.
“That wasn’t to show any disrespect toward her,” McCown said. “I was happy I got the basket and I knew that she was the heart and soul of their team and with her out, they weren’t going to come back.”
McCown and Hobbs are good friends who play basketball together during the summer. After the boys championship game was over, they posed for pictures together with their all-tournament team trophies.
