Picks: Week 6
Ryan lost a game to Jason and Scott last week with his pick of Commerce over Colcord. Everybody missed Broken Bow and Hilldale, but Ryan locked Broken Bow to lose his first lock of the week.
Last week
Jason: 8-2, 1-0
Scott: 8-2, 1-0
Ryan: 7-3, 0-1
Overall
Ryan: 37-13, 4-1
Scott: 37-13, 4-1
Jason: 37-13, 3-2
Ryan
Cascia Hall 14, Berryhill 7
Millwood 28, Jones 26
Norman North 28, Putnam North 24
Edmond North 35, Putnam City 34
Tulsa Union 38, Owasso 16
Tulsa East Central 27, Tulsa Central 20
Lincoln Chr. 28, Vian 26
Comanche 26, Washington 20
Elk City 20, McGuinness 17
McAlester 38, Tulsa Kelley 20
Wynnewood 28, Rush Springs 14
Lock of the week: Wynnewood over Rush Springs. As things keep progressing in this district, I’m more and more convinced that the Wynnewood-Wayne matchup will determine the district champion.
Scott
Cascia Hall 21, Berryhill 14
Millwood 38, Jones 34
Putnam City North 24, Norman North 21
Putnam City 52, Edmond North 48
Tulsa Union 31, Owasso 21
Tulsa East Central 27, Tulsa Central 24
Lincoln Christian 35, Vian 31
Comanche 27, Washington 24
Elk City 28, McGuinness 27
McAlester 24, Tulsa Kelley 14
Lock of the Week: Cascia Hall over Berryhill. Cascia looks like a team on a mission, still stinging from last year’s loss to Bethany in the playoffs. I think they move to 6-0 this week.
Jason
Cascia Hall 21, Berryhill 10
Millwood 31, Jones 24
Norman North 23, Putnam North 17
Edmond North 42, Putnam City 35
Tulsa Union 42, Owasso 24
Tulsa East Central 35, Tulsa Central 21
Lincoln Chr. 31, Vian 28
Washington 20, Comanche 17
Bishop McGuinness 23, Elk City 20
McAlester 35, Tulsa Kelley 17
Wynnewood 24, Rush Springs 21
Lock of the week: Norman North over Putnam City North. Both of these proud programs are struggling this season, but I like the Timberwolves because of their running game. Norman North running back Bryan Payne has been good this season, and the Panthers’ run defense has been an Achilles’ heel.
Rankings preview: Oct. 1
Class 6A
1. Tulsa Union (1)#5-0
2. Jenks (2)#4-1
3. Midwest City (3)#5-0
4. Broken Arrow (4)#4-1
5. Norman (5)#5-0
6. Edmond North (7)#5-0
7. Putnam City (9)#5-0
8. Edmond Santa Fe (NR)#4-1
9. Owasso (8)#3-2
10. Lawton (6)#3-2
A couple of times a year I throw out my rankings and start fresh, take an overall look at the season and don’t constrain myself with past rankings. This is one of those weeks and while their figures to be other classes that are more drastically affected, there is a bit of that here. The biggest questions in my mind were where to place Edmond Santa Fe (and Lawton) and what to do with Putnam City. I considered dropping Broken Arrow a spot but the Tigers still stand as the only team to really challenge Union this season and I’ll give them their small bump Friday. Edmond Santa Fe goes from just outside to No. 8 after their win at Lawton. The Wolverines drop to No. 10. Owasso stays in at No. 9 but has a tough test this week against Union.
Rankings preview: Sept. 24
Class 6A
1. Tulsa Union (1)#4-0
2. Jenks (2)#3-1
3. Midwest City (3)#4-0
4. Broken Arrow (4)#3-1
5. Norman (5)#4-0
6. Lawton (6)#3-1
7. Edmond North (7)#4-0
8. Owasso (9)#2-2
9. Putnam City (10)#4-0
10. Stillwater (NR)#3-1
With Westmoore falling out from No. 8 after its loss to Edmond Santa Fe, there were two logical candidates to take the spot: Edmond Santa Fe, who was ranked before its loss to Midwest City the week before, and Stillwater. I chose the Pioneers based on their recent performances but just barely. Santa Fe gets a tough test next week at Lawton. A good performance there, win or lose, gives the Wolves a chance to move back in.
Bishop McGuinness ready for archrival Tulsa Bishop Kelley
Bishop McGuinness will travel to face its rival, Tulsa Bishop Kelley, on Friday. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Bishop McGuinness, No. 5 in Class 4A, opened the season against Shawnee’s junior varsity squad after Douglass backed out of their scheduled Week 1 game to play DeSoto (Texas) at Cowboys Stadium.
The Irish beat Shawnee’s JV team 42-0, and the McGuinness players said it was a great way to start the season.
“It was a great morale booster for the beginning of the season,” senior lineman Charlie Evenson said. “Going out and shutting out a team is great, regardless of who they are.”
Senior linebacker Brandon Nguyen agreed, adding that it was good to have a season opener to get ready for this week’s game at Class 5A No. 10 Tulsa Bishop Kelley.
“We really just needed to figure out who we are, with a new coach (Justin Jones) and a new team,” Nguyen said. “We don’t have a ton of returning starters. We needed to show everyone in the state what kind of team we are.
“It’s a good thing that we had a game, so we didn’t have to go to Kelley and have no experience.”
McGuinness and Kelley are archrivals, and the schools play every year for a shillelagh, a wooden Irish fighting stick that serves as a traveling trophy in the rivalry.
“We have that right now hanging in coach Jones’ office,” Nguyen said. “It’s really important for us. You don’t ever want to go out and lose to Kelley your senior year.”
Jason Kerseyjkersey@opubco.com
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Edmond North boys tennis team dominant at Tournament of Champs
Tennis
Tournament of Champions
At Heritage Hall
Boys
Team Scoring
1. Edmond North 32; 2. Metro Christian 23; 3. (tie) Heritage Hall, Putnam North 20. 5. Tulsa Union 18; 6. Tulsa Kelley 14; 7. Edmond Memorial 12; 8. Ada 9.
Championships
No. 1 singles: Haworth, PCN, def. Nate Roper, EN, 6-2, 6-0
No. 2 singles: Rodwell, PCN, def. Stein, EN, 7-5, 7-5
No. 1 doubles: Hager-Olsen, EN, def. Hays-Proctor, MC, 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 doubles: Lilley-Spring, EN, def. Cohlmia-Shear, HH, 6-2, 6-1
The battle lines have been drawn. Putnam City North has arguably the two best singles players in the state in Chris Haworth and Wil Rodwell. Edmond North has easily the deepest team of anybody in the state.
So when state comes around, might we get something eerily similar to what transpired this weekend? The Huskies playing for all four championships shows just how strong from top-to-bottom that group is.
Haworth bounced back beautifully after the loss in the USTA event Wednesday. If anything, I think that loss should have given him even more confidence. If he can contend on the world stage, he’s going to be able to certainly dictate play at the high school level.
The biggest statement, for me, would be from Metro Christian. The Patriots have had their fair share of solid players and tied for the championship last year. Would not shock me to see Patriots win it outright this time around.
All ‘n all, everything you would expect from this great tournament. A lot of quality play, and you can kinda gauge where the teams are at midway through the season.
SMQ: Late heroics for Irish – McGuinness 14, Kelley 7…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Is it possible that an incredible 20 seconds can make you forget about the other 47:40 of a football game? If you were at the Battle of the Bishops between McGuinness and Kelley, then yes.
I don’t want to say it wasn’t hard-fought and physical. Because it was and both teams played hard. But it was just sloppy, and even Irish coach Kenny Young admitted that.
However, when Camden Tharp found Nick Callaway for a 15-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left, none of that mattered.
Irish 14, Kelley 7
Don’t think if I’ve ever seen such a contrast between an offense and defense like there is right now with Bishop Kelley. The Comets have an incredible defense. But flip sides, and their offense has a ways to go, especially in the passing game.
The wind played a big role in this one, especially on punts. The Irish had several chances early in this game to take control but kept stubbing their toe.
Kelley took a 7-0 lead into halftime, but you could feel McGuinness was going to break through. And LaRone Richardson did in the second half with a couple of big runs, including a 29-yard touchdown.
When you beat a rival, nobody cares about the score. And if you were down on the field after, seriously, nobody cared that it was 14-7. Only cared that it was a win.
Boneman’s Breakdown
- Irish had trouble holding onto the ball. Richardson almost tried too hard for extra yards, and it led to him coughing it up a couple of times. Still dynamic and one of the most explosive players around but has to settle down every now and then.
- Wind never allowed Tharp to get into a rhythm. Really wanted to see what Tharp and Jamaal Whitney could do, but it never materialize as the two connected just once.
- Let’s not forget the Irish defense. It wasn’t just Kelley struggling, McGuinness made it that way. The Comets ended up with four first downs…for the game.
- Never underestimate the loss of a QB. Kelley is just not the same team as the magical one from last year.
Up next: The Irish (2-0) are at Millwood (2-0) on Friday (Scott Wright will be there). I have named this The Oklahoman‘s Game of the Week. Bishop Kelley (0-2) is at Coweta.
Bishop McGuinness vs. Bishop Kelley Capsule…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Bishop Kelley (0-1) at Bishop McGuinness (1-0)
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Pribil Stadium (I’ll be there)
Kelley
Why the Comets can win: Because they’re looking to bounce back from a disappointing outing against Enid. And what’s the best way to do that? You can throw everything out when it comes to rivals getting together, and this is an underrated battle.
McGuinness (W – Douglass 9-7)
Why the Irish can win: Because this team showed how mentally tough it was last week. After losing QB Quinn Shanbour a day before the Douglass game, expected some confusion and miscues. Camden Tharp did his job and Brandon Nguyen became a player that I will definitely pay attention to.
Key matchup: Irish running game vs. Kelley front seven. McGuinness was able to win that battle against Douglass despite Tharp and LaRone Richardson really not producing any big numbers. This is a great tandem of runners so look for that to improve Friday.
The pick: Irish 16, Comets 9. If McGuinness can contain its emotion against its rival, then this might be a little worse than that. Expecting Tharp to have a much better game now that there is no quarterback competition. And this should be a good night for Richardson.
Heritage Hall, Jenks make moves in volleyball rankings
Only a couple of notable moves in the new volleyball polls released Tuesday morning on OKRankings.com, with Heritage Hall moving ahead of Cascia Hall for the No. 1 spot in Class 4A being the only change in any of the No. 1 slots.
The Chargers defeated Cascia at the Broken Arrow Tournament, which was loaded with good competition from all classes.
In 6A, Edmond Memorial held onto the top spot and Jenks jumped from No. 4 to No. 2 after starting the season 9-0. The Trojans have lost two of their last three, including a loss Monday night to Edmond Santa Fe — the team they moved ahead of for the second spot.
The other team to beat Jenks was 5A’s No. 1, Tulsa Kelley, which is facing off with Edmond Memorial and Edmond Santa Fe tonight at Memorial. Should be a couple of thrillers.
Other items worth noting in Tuesday’s polls: Following its big win over Heritage Hall last week, Christian Heritage moved up one spot to fifth in 4A… Unbeaten Putnam City (9-0) moved up to No. 7 in 6A, Norman North (10-1) jumped to No. 8 and 8-3 Mustang slipped into the poll at No. 15… In 5A, unbeaten Coweta (9-0) moved into the top 5 at No. 5 and Southeast is No. 10.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Tennis: Metro/Cascia, Bishop Kelley earn honors…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Those were two of the longest work days in my life, but you know what, it was pretty dang cool. Despite nearly 10 hours of delays in the two days, we’re all but done for the boys state tennis tournament at the OKC Tennis Center. Last match ended at 12:30 on Friday night and just past 11 p.m. Saturday night.
It didn’t look like we would crown any champions Saturday, but we ended up naming three as Cascia Hall and Metro Christian tied for the Class 4A title while Bishop Kelley easily earned the Class 5A championship.
One class left as 6A resumes Monday at 11 a.m. Very interesting as it will be another Edlam showdown between Memorial and North as each squad has three entrants into the championship round.
If the finals are anything like the semis, going to be one fun Monday afternoon.
5A
Thought this would be the year for Booker T.’s Evan McElwain, but the Comets brought their best at the right time as senior Cameron Schoenhofer earned the win at No. 1 singles.
No drama at all in No. 2 singles as Daniel Collins rolled to the title as did the No. 2 doubles team of Taylor Howard and Briggs Westby.
The only blemish was at No. 1 doubles where the Irish duo of John Byrne and Jonathan Kraft overcame a rough start to win 13 of the last 16 games to win the championship.
For much more on the Irish, here ya go.
And also the story of the weekend was that of Harrah’s Sam Raglin and how the tennis community rallied around him.
Raglin lost his home in the tornado Monday but still played at the state tournament. Teams from all over the state donated whatever they could to Raglin and more money was raised this weekend.
The Raglin family has a long way to go before there is some normalcy in their world, but it was great to see the generosity from the Oklahoma tennis family.
For more on Raglin, here ya go.
4A
Great battles here as Metro Christian earned the titles at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles while Cascia Hall did the same at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles.
But the match with the best atmosphere was the No. 1 doubles battle between Heritage Hall’s Bear Federman and Luke Howard and Cascia’s Connor Sokolosky and Corey Allen.
In what became a theme in the second half of Saturday, it was a brilliant three-set battle that saw the Chargers come out on top.
From 5 p.m. on, you wouldn’t believe how many great matches were on court one after another in the 6A semifinals and the 4A, 5A finals. You could barely stop to catch your breath.
Chase Tomlins and Neal Johnson-Nick Wood won the titles for the Commandos while Mitchel Knight and Erik Richison-John Brothers did the same for the Patriots.
6A
If you were there, you’ll remember the three-set battle between Edmond North’s Casey Distaso and Union’s Logon Collins.
Collins looked like he was well on his way to victory, up a set and 3-0 (two breaks) in the second. But Distaso showed some kind of mental toughness.
With each point, he got himself more into the match. He was hitting for winners when his game picked up and he had Collins perhaps tightening up.
Distaso came back to win the second set 7-5 and had all the momentum. These two were so evenly matched all year despite Distaso being 3-0 against Collins this season.
The North senior ran away with the third set, 6-1.
Wow. Distaso told me it was the best moment of his career. Not necessarily in terms of the quality, but in terms of the atmosphere and in terms of what that win meant in the team race.
Ironically, all four 6A championships feature the No. 1 seed vs. the No. 2 seed. Look for a 6A championships preview blog later Sunday.
Class 5A state baseball pairings
Wednesday
Bracket A
at Jenks
Game 1: Deer Creek vs. Tulsa Washington, 1:30 p.m.
Game 2: Chickasha vs. Claremore, 4 p.m.
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 4 p.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 6:30 p.m.
Friday
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 4 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 6:30 p.m. (if necessary)
Bracket B
at Tulsa Union
Game 1: Tulsa Kelley vs. Carl Albert, 1:30 p.m.
Game 2: Collinsville vs. Duncan, 4 p.m.
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 4 p.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 6:30 p.m.
Friday
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 4 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 6:30 p.m. (if necessary)
Championship
Saturday
at OneOkField, Tulsa
Bracket A winner vs. Bracket B winner, noon
