Kooper Ruminer is the Super Bowl picks winner
Deer Creek's Kooper Ruminer correctly picked the final score of Super Bowl XLVI. PHOTO PROVIDED
Out of 28 high school football players who participated in my Super Bowl XLVI picks challenge, Deer Creek linebacker Kooper Ruminer is the only one who correctly picked the New York Giants’ winning score of 21-17.
The Giants were the underdog in these picks; 16 of the 28 guys who participated picked the New England Patriots to win. Besides Ruminer, those who picked the Giants to win were:
Joel Blumenthal (Deer Creek); Landry Chappell (Guthrie); Casey Curtis (Putnam City); James Flanders (Midwest City); Justice Hansen (Edmond Santa Fe); Ry Huff (Edmond Memorial); Blake Jarwin (Tuttle); Jared McElhany (Blanchard); Tyler Melton (Anadarko); Jesse Vester (Stillwater); Josh Way (Wayne).
A big thanks to everyone who participated. That was fun, and I plan to do it again next year. Although next year, I won’t wait until the night before to contact players! Hopefully in the future we have a lot more pickers.
Ruminer was No. 19 on The Oklahoman‘s first Super 30 for the Class of 2013, which ranks the top 30 college football prospects in the state. He led Deer Creek with 125 tackles and 10 sacks as a junior.
Deer Creek’s Hunter Dinkines discovered Southwestern while on another visit
Deer Creek's Hunter Dinkines will sign with Southwestern Oklahoma State on Wednesday. PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN
Deer Creek receiver Hunter Dinkines, who will sign with Southwestern Oklahoma State on Wednesday, discovered his interest in SWOSU in an unusual way.
Dinkines was on an unofficial visit to Henderson State in Arkansas on Sept. 17, when the Reddies were hosting Southwestern.
The Deer Creek receiver watched the Bulldogs pull the upset and came away impressed with Southwestern’s intensity.
“I just saw how bad they wanted to win the game,” Dinkines said. “It just kinda kicked in; I thought maybe I should look into Southwestern.”
So Dinkines came back home and e-mailed Bulldogs coach Dan Cocannouer, who quickly replied and invited him to visit Weatherford the next weekend, when SWOSU beat Central Oklahoma.
He went back to see Southwestern play a third time — a 23-20 home win over Arkansas Tech on Nov. 5.
Two weeks ago, Dinkines went on an official visit, came home and decided to commit.
“I think the future is gonna be bright with SWOSU,” Dinkines said. “I just knew it was the place for me.”
Dinkines’ relationship with Cocannouer goes back further than his recruitment this season, though.
Dinkines went to Cheyenne Middle School in Edmond, and went through Edmond Santa Fe’s offseason program during the summer leading to his freshman season while Cocannouer was still the Wolves’ coach. Dinkines and his family moved to the Deer Creek school district just before his freshman season started.
“I wasn’t able to be coached by him, but I knew who he was,” Dinkines said. “I got a good feel for how he was as a coach.”
Dinkines is impressed with Cocannouer’s success at Southwestern so far. The Bulldogs went 5-6 this season, and the former Edmond Santa Fe coach seems to have his alma mater moving in the right direction.
Cocannouer was 70-26 in eight seasons as the Wolves’ coach.
“You can really tell where he wants the football program to be,” Dinkines said. “I have a good feeling about it.”
As a senior, Dinkines had 711 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns for the Antlers, who finished the season 7-4 with a playoff berth.
Dinkines father, Bill, was a standout player for Putnam City West when it finished 14-0 and won the Class 4A state championship in 1981.
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Jenkins Award winners named
The Warren Spahn Award Gala organizers announced this year’s winners of the Ferguson Jenkins Awards on Thursday.
The awards honor the state’s best baseball and softball players and coaches.
Baseball winners are Broken Arrow’s Jacob Evans, Carl Albert’s Taylor Hawkins, Stillwater’s Corey Hassel, Deer Creek’s Isaac Hellbusch and Edmond Santa Fe’s Ty Hensley.
Softball winners are Tulsa Union’s Nicole Brady, McAlester’s Taylor Dewberry, Edmond Santa Fe’s Madison Martin, Blanchard’s Leslie Miller and Tuttle’s Caitlin Sill.
Guthrie baseball coach Jon Chappell and Tulsa Union softball coach Jerry Pease won coaching honors.
The awards will be presented at the gala Jan. 26 at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and Jim Thorpe Museum, the same ceremony where Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw will be awarded the Warren Spahn Award.
2011 All-Edmond football team
Edmond Santa Fe sophomore quarterback Justice Hansen is the 2011 All-Edmond Offensive Player of the Year. PHOTO BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN
EDMOND — I have planned on putting together an All-Edmond football team for some time, but, for a variety of reasons, am just now getting to publishing it on the blog.
This was an extremely difficult team to put together because so many teams in Edmond had such terrific seasons. Edmond Santa Fe is obviously the team that stole most of the headlines because of its amazing turnaround from 1-9 to 10-2 and District 6A-2 champion, but Edmond North made a quarterfinal run and almost knocked off eventual state champion Tulsa Union at its place.
Deer Creek put up impressive offensive numbers and had some defensive standouts as well. Oklahoma Christian School is also well represented on this team.
And even though Edmond Memorial had a down year and missed the playoffs, the Bulldogs still had players like linebacker Matt Hickman and lineman John Scheihing that deserved recognition.
I apologize for this coming out so much later than the rest of our football postseason stuff. But here it is:
All-Edmond team
Offense
QB — Justice Hansen, Edmond Santa Fe
RB — Brennan Miyake, Deer Creek
RB — Jarion Tudman, Edmond North
WR — Hunter Dinkines, Deer Creek
WR — Tre Kelley, Edmond Santa Fe
TE — Troy Davis, Edmond North
OL — Nick Lovelace, Oklahoma Christian School
OL — Heath Newland, Edmond North
OL — Cole Parsons, Edmond North
OL — Chad Reitz, Edmond Santa Fe
OL — John Scheihing, Edmond Memorial
Defense
DL — Nolan Boyd, Deer Creek
DL — Josh Crouch, Edmond Santa Fe
DL — Michael Onuoha, Edmond Santa Fe
LB — Matt Hickman, Edmond Memorial
LB — Clyde Jasper, Oklahoma Christian School
LB — Brynden Pitzer, Edmond North
LB — Kooper Ruminer, Deer Creek
DB — Conner Bays, Edmond Santa Fe
DB — Christian Contreras, Edmond North
DB — Khari Harding, Edmond Santa Fe
DB — Logan Magill, Oklahoma Christian School
Special teams
K — Keegan Carter, Oklahoma Christian School
P — Camden Bohnert, Edmond North
KR — Trevan Smith, Edmond Santa Fe
Offensive Player of the Year: Justice Hansen, Edmond Santa Fe
Defensive Player of the Year: Brynden Pitzer, Edmond North
Coach of the Year: Lance Manning, Edmond Santa Fe
Second team
Offense
QB — Joel Blumenthal, Deer Creek
RB — Zak Anderson, Oklahoma Christian School
RB — Jared Benway, Edmond North
RB — Phillip Sumpter, Edmond Santa Fe
WR — Dale Jefferson, Edmond Santa Fe
WR — Garrett Molinsky, Edmond North
OL — Allston Hadley, Edmond Santa Fe
OL — Taylor Myers, Oklahoma Christian School
OL — Brandon Roberts, Edmond Santa Fe
OL — Will Wiedenmann, Edmond North
OL — Mac Wilsey, Edmond Memorial
Defense
DL — Chris Carter, Edmond Santa Fe
DL — Clint Edgeman, Deer Creek
DL — Russell Sivard, Edmond North
DL — Ian Smith, Deer Creek
LB — Ragan Land, Edmond North
LB — Austin Loomis, Deer Creek
LB — Jerremy Moore, Edmond Santa Fe
DB — Zach Birts, Edmond Santa Fe
DB — Luke Frankfort, Oklahoma Christian School
DB — Christian Peterson, Edmond North
DB — Caden Sander, Deer Creek
Special teams
K — Ken Bingham, Edmond North
P — Matt Freeman, Edmond Santa Fe
KR — Ottugo Ananaba, Deer Creek
5A-1 All-District
District 5A-1 All-District
Player of the Year: Luke Davis, Guthrie
Offensive Player of the Year: Dillan Dansby, Carl Albert
Defensive Player of the Year: Landry Chappell, Guthrie
Lineman of the Year: Blake Belcher, Guthrie
First-team
Offense
Quarterback: Raymond Little, El Reno
Running back: Nathan Blakely, Ada
Running back: Darvonte Winston, Carl Albert
Tight End: Kyle Kanady, Deer Creek
Wide receiver: Rashad Copeland, El Reno
Wide receiver: Alex Polston, Carl Albert
Offensive lineman: RayShawn Cato, Carl Albert
Offensive lineman: Cooper Davis, Guthrie
Offensive lineman: Steve Dunham, Carl Albert
Offensive lineman: Matt Eppler, Ada
Offensive lineman: Hayden Seifert, Guthrie
Kicker: Easton Ramsey, Carl Albert
Punter: Sam McCann, Ada
Defense
Defensive lineman: Nolan Boyd, Deer Creek
Defensive lineman: Zack Brown, Guthrie
Defensive lineman: Willis Lusk, Carl Albert
Defensive lineman: Micah Tiger, Ada
Linebacker: John Clark, Guthrie
Linebacker: Kevin Jones, Carl Albert
Linebacker: Jermiah Reed, Carl Albert
Linebacker: John Whitlock, Noble
Defensive back: Tyliq Brazille, Southeast
Defensive back: Taylor Hawkins, Carl Albert
Defensive back: Darion Winston, Carl Albert
Second-team
Offense
Running back: Chase Bowker, Ada
Running back: Tyre LeBlanc, Carl Albert
Tight end: Clint Simek, Guthrie
Wide receiver: Hunter Dinkines, Deer Creek
Wide receiver: Hunter Long, Noble
Offensive lineman: Tristan Clark, Western Heights
Offensive lineman: Malachai Galbrath, Guthrie
Offensive lineman: Grant Oliver, Carl Albert
Offensive lineman: Jacob Stein, El Reno
Offensive lineman: Craig Waters, Western Heights
Kicker: Esau Perez, Guthrie
Punter: Antonio Cueto, Southeast
Defense
Defensive lineman: Darren Colquitt, Carl Albert
Defensive lineman: Clint Edgeman, Deer Creek
Defensive lineman: Michael Holder, Southeast
Defensive lineman: Josh Raper, Western Heights
Linebacker: Austin Ferguson, El Reno
Linebacker: Devonte Henderson, Western Heights
Linebacker: Gumaro Murphy, Southeast
Linebacker: Ian Smith, Deer Creek
Defensive back: Trez Jackson, Carl Albert
Defensive back: Harley Dodd, Deer Creek
Defensive back: Donte Rocco, Western Heights
Fall signing day coming Wednesday
This might be the opening week of high school football playoffs, but it also includes signing day Wednesday for sports other than football. Know of an athlete signing? E-mail me at raber@opubco.com or leave it as a comment here. Please include as much information as possible.
Picks: Week 10
With a chance to all but put the regular-season title away, Ryan flubbed it last week, going 6-4. Picking Edmond North and Wynnewood turned out to be the difference as both Scott and Jason came out on the right ride of those picks and pulled two games closer.
Last week:
Ryan: 6-4, 1-0
Jason: 8-2, 1-0
Scott: 8-2, 1-0
Overall:
Ryan: 65-26, 8-1
Jason: 63-28, 7-2
Scott: 60-31
Ryan
Heritage Hall 40, Kingfisher 14
Jenks 35, Norman 28
Tulsa Union 35, Stillwater 28
Lawton 26, Westmoore 21
Pryor 17, Tulsa Central 13
Deer Creek 34, Ada 7
Anadarko 42, Weatherford 7
Midwest City 42, Norman North 7
McAlester 35, Tulsa Washington 20
Blanchard 22, Bridge Creek 14
Lock of the week: McAlester over Tulsa Washington. The Buffaloes offense has been just too good this season and the Hornets have struggled at times offensively themselves. McAlester wins the district title and remains undefeated.
Jason
Heritage Hall 31, Kingfisher 17
Stillwater 42, Tulsa Union 38
Jenks 27, Norman 14
Westmoore 14, Lawton 10
Pryor 17, Tulsa Central 13
Ada 31, Deer Creek 28
Anadarko 45, Weatherford 14
Midwest City 42, Norman North 24
McAlester 24, Tulsa Washington 17
Blanchard 14, Bridge Creek 9
Lock of the week: Westmoore over Lawton. Westmoore’s defense has been
impressive all season - save for last week’s shootout with Mustang -
and I think the Jaguars can hold the Wolverines out of the endzone just
enough to come away with a win. A Westmoore win would likely throw the
2nd, 3rd and 4th playoff spots into a three-way tie between these teams
and Edmond North. All three teams are close in district points, so such
a scenario favors North, which ends its season with U.S. Grant.
Scott
Heritage Hall 31, Kingfisher 17
Tulsa Union 42, Stillwater 38
Jenks 28, Norman 24
Lawton 23, Westmoore 20
Pryor 28, Tulsa Central 22
Deer Creek 21, Ada 17
Anadarko 42, Weatherford 35
Midwest City 48, Norman North 21
McAlester 34, Tulsa Washington 28
Blanchard 12, Bridge Creek 8
Lock of the Week: Tulsa Union over Stillwater. Often, the loss of a key player at a key time — in this case, the suspension of RB Kendall Holmes, who was having a huge year – seems like it will be devastating for a team. And many times, it is. But many other cases, it becomes a unifying moment. This could have been the last poke the Redskins needed to wake up for a run to the state title.
Picks: Week 9
Ryan picked up another game on Jason and Scott last week on the strenght of his pick of Lawton over Edmond North and Sallisaw over Hilldale. Only Scott missed his lock last week, missing on Wagoner-Catoosa.
Last week:
Ryan: 7-3, 1-0
Jason: 6-4, 1-0
Scott: 6-4, 0-1
Overall:
Ryan: 59-22, 7-1
Jason: 55-26, 6-2
Scott: 52-29, 6-2
Ryan:
Jenks 28, Broken Arrow 24
Edmond North 17, Edmond Santa Fe 14
Lawton 28, Putnam City 9
Norman 28, Muskogee 15
Tulsa Central 26, Coweta 17
Carl Albert 35, Deer Creek 26
Douglass 27, Glenpool 24
Anadarko 33, Tuttle 14
Heritage Hall 38, Bethany 14
Wynnewood 20, Wayne 14
Lock of the Week: Carl Albert over Deer Creek. The Titans offense has steadily improved throughout the season and they have both the secondary speed to hold the Antlers’ receivers down and the front seven to get pressure on Deer Creek’s quarterback.
Jason:
Broken Arrow 27, Jenks 24
Edmond North 21, Edmond Santa Fe 17
Lawton 31, Putnam City 7
Norman 26, Muskogee 17
Tulsa Central 24, Coweta 14
Carl Albert 41, Deer Creek 14
Douglass 17, Glenpool 14
Anadarko 31, Tuttle 14
Heritage Hall 35, Bethany 14
Wayne 13, Wynnewood 10
Lock of the Week: Anadarko over Tuttle. The Tigers are always a tough, well-coached team under Phil Koons. I expect that Sheldon Wilson won’t be able to run wild like he has all year against Tuttle. But the Warriors, at home, will be too tough,
Scott:
Jenks 30, Broken Arrow 28
Edmond Santa Fe 21, Edmond North 20
Lawton 28, Putnam City 21
Norman 34, Muskogee 28
Tulsa Central 28, Coweta 24
Carl Albert 42, Deer Creek 24
Douglass 28, Glenpool 21
Anadarko 34, Tuttle 28
Heritage Hall 38, Bethany 28
Wayne 27, Wynnewood 22
Lock of the Week: Norman over Muskogee. Norman is beyond motivated to finish this season strong after finding themselves facing potentially being left out of the playoffs. I’d look for a big day from Donovan Roberts, as well as the passing attack to give the Tigers momentum heading into the Week 10 battle with Jenks.
6A-4A softball state tournament brackets
At ASA Hall of Fame Stadium
Class 6A
Thursday
Field 3
Moore vs. Tulsa Union, 11 a.m.
Mustang vs. Broken Arrow, 1 p.m.
Owasso vs. Edmond North, 3 p.m.
Jenks vs. Edmond Santa Fe, 5 p.m.
Friday
Field 4
Mustang/Broken Arrow winner vs. Moore/Tulsa Union winner, noon
Owasso/Edmond North winner vs. Jenks/Edmond Santa Fe winner, 4 p.m.
Saturday
Field 1
Championship, 4 p.m.
Class 5A
Field 1
Thursday
Carl Albert vs. Coweta, 11 a.m.
McAlester vs. Deer Creek, 1 p.m.
Tahlequah vs. Shawnee, 3 p.m.
Lawton MacArthur vs. Grove, 5 p.m.
Friday
Carl Albert/Coweta winner vs. Lawton MacArthur/Grove winner, 2 p.m.
McAlester/Deer Creek winner vs. Tahlequah/Shawnee winner, 4 p.m.
Saturday
Championship, 1:30 p.m.
Class 4A
Thursday
Field 4
Blanchard vs. Bethany, 11 a.m.
Oologah vs. Purcell, 1 p.m.
Fort Gibson vs. Tuttle, 3 p.m.
Berryhill vs. Harrah, 5 p.m.
Field 1
Friday
Blanchard/Bethany winner vs. Oologah/Purcell winner, noon
Berryhill/Harrah winner vs. Fort Gibson/Tuttle winner, 2 p.m.
Saturday
Championship, 11 a.m.
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.
