Old rivalry resumes Friday
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@opubco.com
Kingfisher and Fairview will play Friday night for the first time since 1969, but in the late 50s and 60s, the two teams played regularly.
Our records go back to 1950, so if they played before then, we wouldn’t have that information. But within our records, Fairview leads the overall series, 9-6.
1969: Kingfisher, 8-0
1968: Fairview, 8-6
1967: Fairview, 15-6
1966: Fairview 16-6
1965: Fairview, 30-6
1964: Kingfisher, 14-6
1963: Kingfisher, 32-0
1962: Fairview, 8-6
1961: Fairview, 30-6
1960: Fairview, 43-0
1959: Fairview, 38-6
1958: Kingfisher, 20-14
1957: Fairview, 61-7
1956: Kingfisher, 26-6
1953: Kingfisher, 26-7
Ways to stop Heritage Hall? Lock the gates
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@opubco.com
I posed this question to John Marshall coach Bruce Troxell: “What are some things you can do to slow down Heritage Hall’s offense?”
Troxell’s response?
“Lock the gates and don’t let them in,” he said.
That seems about right. Heritage Hall hasn’t been slowed down all year by anyone, so it’s doubtful that John Marshall will be able to find a way to stop the Chargers.
McGuinness looking like a contender again
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@opubco.com
McGuinness got off to a rough start to its 2008 season.
Consecutive losses to Guthrie and Tulsa Bishop Kelley made people think that McGuinness’ dominance might be over. But now, the Irish have won six games in a row and look like a contender for their third straight Class 4A championship.
“The first two weeks we played some really good teams,” senior tight end Gabe Ikard said. “Even though we got a couple losses, which for the last few years we haven’t been used to, ultimately it made us better. Those were two of the best teams in the state.”
The Irish opened up the last two seasons with Kingfisher, and when Kingfisher didn’t want to continue that series, McGuinness coach Kenny Young put Guthrie in its place.
Playing good competition always makes a team better, and Guthrie is certainly tough. And Tulsa Kelley is always a solid team and a rival to McGuinness.
John Marshall wants to elevate play
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@opubco.com
John Marshall (2-6 overall, 1-4 in District 2A-1) knows it is facing a daunting task on Thursday when it hosts Heritage Hall (8-0, 5-0), but coach Bruce Troxell said it is important for the development of his program.
“These are the people that we want to play against,” Troxell said. “We’ve got to raise the bar to that level.
“They’re an outstanding team in all facets of the game. We’ve got to wrap up, make plays when we get a chance and eliminate mistakes.”
John Marshall has been doing a good job of eliminating some mistakes — the Bears have had just one penalty in each of their last two games.
Bethany at Northeast — series history
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@opubco.com
Well, make that two first ever games.
Bethany and Northeast play on Thursday, and that game will mark the schools’ first ever football meeting.
Interesting…. we have at least two city area games this week that feature teams that are near each other and have never played.
Bishop McGuinness at Southeast — series history
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@opubco.com
Here is a look at the series history between Bishop McGuinness and Southeast:
1960: Southeast, 52-14
1961: McGuinness, 12-8
1967: McGuinness, 34-20
1972: Southeast, 25-20
1973: McGuinness, 20-3
1976: Southeast, 27-20 (playoffs)
2001: McGuinness, 20-7
Overall series: McGuinness leads, 4-3
Heritage Hall at John Marshall — series history
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@opubco.com
In what has become a weekly tradition, I will break down the series history of a couple city-area high school games.
This one is a first for me since I’ve been posting sedries historys. When Heritage Hall and John Marshall meet up Friday, it will be for the first time. John Marshall has traditionally been a bigger school, but was cut in half last year with the creation of Centennial.
Week 8 Player of the Week candidates
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@opubco.com
To nominate someone for The Oklahoman’s high school football player of the week, leave a comment on this post. Here are some early candidates:
Cole Swayze, QB, Purcell: The freshman carried 17 times for 254 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-17 win over Bethany.
Johnny Morton, RB, Chandler: Morton carried the ball 10 times for 151 yards and a touchdown in Chandler’s 52-6 win over Morris.
Dax Dilbeck, QB, Deer Creek: Dilbeck, who is a regular on this post, ran the ball 13 times for 192 yards and two touchdowns and also threw two scores in a 49-14 win over Chickasha.
Jonathan Burton, RB, Enid: The sophomore ran 11 times for 226 yards and five touchdowns — all in the first half — in a 42-0 win over U.S. Grant.
Larone Richardson, RB, McGuinness: Richardson had 13 carries for 95 yards and three touchdowns in a 49-12 win over Guymon.
Justin Fogle, RB, Guymon: Fogle had 24 carries for 109 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to McGuinness.
Chris Carr, RB, Checotah: Carr had 20 carries for 182 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-0 win over Roland, as Checotah continued its undefeated season.
Ethan Biddy, RB, Tuttle: Biddy had 14 carries for 150 yards and three scores in a 55-3 win over Cache.
Jack Warren, QB, Oklahoma Chr.: Warren completed 13 of 21 passes for 221 yards with a touchdown, and added two rushing scores in his team’s 28-14 win over Cashion.
Andrew Bell, QB, Claremore Christian: Bell completed 23 of 27 passes for 445 yards and five touchdowns in a 60-20 win over Sasakwa.
Drumright wins in overtime after failed 2-point conversion
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@opubco.com
I had to get some publicity for what might have been the most entertaining game of the night — Drumright at Barnsdall. Now, although I wasn’t there to witness it, it sounds like it was a doozy from what Barnsdall coach Billy Gates said.
Drumright won, 42-41, in overtime after Barnsdall quarterback Casey Cassity ran in a 7-yard touchdown and Gates called an unsuccessful two-point conversion. Barnsdall was looking for its first win of the year.
“The kids were out of gas,” Gates said. “It took all we had to score in the overtime period, so I didn’t think we could have gone with them again.”
Cassity ended with 113 yards rushing, 92 yards passing and four rushing touchdowns.
Shawnee-Guthrie could turn into a shootout
By Jason Kersey
jkersey@opubco.com
Shawnee and Guthrie both have great offenses, which means their game Friday could easily turn into a shootout.
Guthrie quarterback Keaton Callins has thrown for over 1,300 yards and 19 touchdowns this year. His primary target, Donte Foster, has 575 yards receiving and eight scores.
“The key is, we’ve got to put up a lot of points because obviously they’re going to have success,” Shawnee wide receiver and defensive back Brett Davis said. “They’re too good of a team to be held out of the end zone all night.”
Guthrie could well say the same thing about Shawnee. Sophomore quarterback Brayle Brown has had a great season so far, as has Davis.
