Blake Woodard, Newcastle senior quarterback

NEWCASTLE — I’ll be at tonight’s Tuttle-Newcastle game, and I can’t wait.

The Racers’ and Tigers’ annual battle is one of the top rivalries in the Oklahoma City area, and it’s also a game I’m familiar with.

Before I came to work for The Oklahoman, I covered high school football for a season at the Newcastle Pacer. I came to know the passion that the tri-city area has for its high school sports, and the passion that Newcastle and Tuttle residents have for this rivalry.

A couple years ago, I wrote a series of blogs about the rivalry. I talked to several former players, including Jason White, who starred at Tuttle before going on to win the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma.

“It’s a lot like, on a different scale, OU-Texas,” White said. “Both Tuttle and Newcastle are really good teams, so there’s a lot at stake. There’s also the bragging rights factor; if you lose to Newcastle, you have to listen to it for a whole year before you get a chance to redeem yourself.”

Tuttle hasn’t had to listen to Newcastle talk about football for quite some time. The Tigers have won the past seven meetings, but this year the Racers have confidence that the streak can be broken.

“Tuttle has had our number for quite some time, but I think this year is the year that we can beat them,” Blake Woodard, the Racers’ senior quarterback, said before the season.

For its part, Tuttle is quite confident, too.

“It’s just something you want to win so you can have the bragging rights for the rest of the year,” senior running back D.J. Boles said. “Every year of my high school career, we’ve won. I don’t know what it’s like to lose to them, and I don’t want to know.”

Boles rushed for three touchdowns in the Tigers’ 46-0, Week 1 win over Cache, and Woodard and the Racers snuck by Pauls Valley 14-13.

PREDICTION TIME
This was a tough game to pick for me, because I could see it going either way. But in the end, I think Tuttle makes it eight in a row. Tuttle 24, Newcastle 14

“It was an awesome feeling,” Boles said.

But Boles and the Tigers can’t relish the win for long. They travel to face archrival Newcastle on Friday. The Tigers have beaten the Racers seven straight years.

“It’s just something you want to win so you can have the bragging rights for the rest of the year,” Boles said. “Every year of my high school career we’ve won. I don’t know what it’s like to lose to them, and I don’t want to know.”

The game is at Newcastle, and I’ll be there to cover it on Friday.

Colby Whitlock, DL (Noble): Whitlock have five tackles and a pass break up in Texas Tech’s 31-10 upset of Nebraska on Saturday.

Ben Birmingham, RB (Luther): Birmingham had three rushes for 18 yards and a touchdown in UCO’s 41-23 win over Southwestern Saturday night.

Daniel Morrell, WR (Blanchard): Morrell had six catches for 54 yards and a touchdown in UCO’s win over Southwestern Saturday night.

Ryan Corbin, TE (Newcastle): The 6-foot-4, 230 pound Corbin had five catches for 51 yards in Southwestern’s loss to UCO. He also rushed six times for 22 yards to lead the Bulldogs in that category.

Tyler Simmons, LB, Navy (Washington): Simmons had a team-high seven tackles in Navy’s overtime win over SMU on Saturday, the fourth straight win for the Middies.

Well, the Tuttle-Newcastle game wound up not being as good as we had thought, but it did show us just how good Tuttle is.

The Tigers, who beat Newcastle 33-2 Thursday, knocked off another top-five team, and did so again without star running back Bryce “Paco” Moore.

Thursday night, senior QB/DB Sterling Koons was the star. He ran for 96 yards and two touchdowns in the win, and intercepted a pass on defense.

The season isn’t at all lost for Newcastle. Even though the district title seems unlikely now — Tuttle has now beaten both of its toughest district opponents — the Racers still have a lot to play for.

Namely, a home playoff game. If Newcastle can beat Clinton in Week 10, it will probably finish in second place and host a postseason contest.

And even if Clinton tops Newcastle, the Racers will still finish in third place, which is better than they have finished in the last two years.

Furthermore, the Racers always seem to play better in the playoffs. Two years ago, Newcastle had a few questionable calls go against it in a close loss at top-seeded Purcell. And last year, the Racers were very close to knocking off Justin Blackmon and Plainview, a team that was undefeated in the regular season, in the first round.

How stacked is Tuttle? Save for an early safety, the Tigers were in control of this game from start to finish and are clearly the best team in Class 3A at this point. They beat two top-five teams in a row by 21 and 31 points, respectively, without Moore, so what does that mean for opponents when he comes back?

For more information on last night’s game, check out Ray Martin’s game story.

I talked with great players from both Newcastle and Tuttle’s past to ask them the same question I asked the current players earlier this week — what does this rivalry mean to them?

Jason White, Tuttle class of 1999

“Growing up, even throughout Little League, it was a huge rivalry. Those are the guys you always wanted to beat. You learned the rivalry in Little League by watching the guys in high school play.

“The towns are so close together that you see them all the time.

“It’s a lot like, on a different scale, OU-Texas. Both Tuttle and Newcastle are really good teams, so there’s a lot at stake. There’s also the bragging rights factor; if you lose to Newcastle, you have to listen to it for a whole year before you get a chance to redeem yourself.

“There’s a lot on the line, especially this year. It’s more magnified because of the position both teams are in.”

Trey Sharp, Tuttle class of 1997

“The schools are 12 miles apart. I can remember them coming over on a Friday at lunch talking trash.

“Of all the games, that was probably the greatest game. For a little 3A school, it was packed with 10 deep on the fence.

“It’s a great rivalry. There’s a lot of bad blood, but at the same time a lot of respect.

“Anytime you can play a rivalry that’s that close, even though it’s high school, the schools get excited, the students get excited. And it always carries over into other sports.”

Steven Myers, Newcastle class of 2007

“Playing for Newcastle, what you always have in mind is to win the state championship. But the next best thing you can do in your season is beat Tuttle.

“It seems like players and team are more focused and practice is more intense the week of Tuttle game. Before the game, normally it might take a little bit to get your blood going, to get you in the mood for playing, but nothing has to be said to get you motivated to play Tuttle.”

Sean Iago, Newcastle class of 2006

“It’s a game that you look forward to every year because it’s been such a big rivalry throughout the years.

“When I played, it was a non-district game and it was just for pride and bragging rights.”

(On his brother, Adam, who is Newcastle’s quarterback now)

“I usually try to talk to him throughout the week and tell him different things just to get a few words of encouragement. Being a previous quarterback and free safety, it’s easier for me to tell him because I’ve been there before. I try to help with different schemes because I still have a little bit of knowledge left.”

Lyndel Gibson, Newcastle class of 1983

“When I played, and I would think it’s the same now, it was like we had two state championship titles. One was playing Tuttle, and the other one was actually playing in the finals.”

Today’s post on the District 3A-1 clash between Tuttle and Newcastle will be the opposite of yesterday’s. I will look at the match-ups within the match-up of Newcastle’s offense vs. Tuttle’s defense.

Newcastle’s rushing offense vs. Tuttle’s run defense

Newcastle’s offensive strength is in its running game, and running back Riley Gibson has been outstanding this year. He has rushed for 790 yards and 12 touchdowns on the season, averaging over five yards per carry.

Tuttle’s run defense is tough. It gives up just over 87 yards per game on the ground, and is anchored by preseason All-State linebacker Reno Marical, a senior who has 60 tackles so far this year. Senior Nathan Harp has 52 stops for the season.

Although Gibson has had a great year so far, he is the only running threat Newcastle has shown so far this year. Newcastle’s next highest rusher after Gibson is quarterback Adam Iago, who has 46 yards on 33 carries. 

Advantage: Tuttle

Newcastle’s passing offense vs. Tuttle’s pass defense

Iago has completed over 50 percent of his passes this year and has 627 yards. Not bad for a team that is run-first.

Tuttle gives up an average of just over 61 yards per game through the air. Bryce Ebert has four interceptions on the year.

Iago has thrown four touchdowns this year, but has also thrown five interceptions. But Tuttle’s numbers in interceptions and sacks don’t just jump off the page either. I don’t think this match-up will be much of a factor in this game.

Advantage: Wash

To see all of my blog posts this week about the Newcastle-Tuttle game, click here.

Tuttle senior running back Bryce “Paco” Moore is questionable for Thursday’s game against rival Newcastle, Tuttle coach Phil Koons said Tuesday.

Moore has rushed for over 850 yards and 13 touchdowns this season so far.

Moore suffered a stinger early in last Friday’s win over Clinton and still doesn’t have full range of motion in his arm, Koons said. He hasn’t participated in any contact drills this week at practice.

Koons said a decision on whether Moore will play or not will come Thursday morning.

“It’s not like this is the Super Bowl or the state championship game,” Koons said. “We don’t want to risk him hurting it worse.”

I couldn’t agree more. Of course, it will hurt to not have someone like Moore in your line-up. But, at the same time, it’s not like Tuttle’s run game will be completely stagnant without Moore. Just look at last week’s game against Clinton, when back-up Ethan Biddy came in and carried the ball 45 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns.

I’m sure Moore wants to play. It would make sense for a kid to want to play every single game he can, and this isn’t just any other game, it’s a rivalry game.

In today’s Tuttle-Newcastle post, I will examine the match-ups within the match-up of Tuttle’s powerful offense, which averages over 350 yards and 40 points per game, and Newcastle’s rigid defense, which is giving up just 186 yards and seven points per game.

Tuttle’s rushing offense vs. Newcastle’s run defense

Newcastle has been solid at run defense so far this year, giving up an average of just over 78 yards per game. The unit is led by defensive end Ryan Corbin, who has been one of the Racers’ better players over the past three years, and linebacker Chase Stalsworth, who has 47 tackles on the season. The Racer defense hasn’t given up more than 14 points all year.

Of course, it hasn’t faced a running back like Bryce “Paco” Moore yet, either. And when Moore isn’t in, Ethan Biddy is dangerous as well. Last week, when Moore was injured in the first quarter, Biddy carried Tuttle to a victory over Clinton. In that game, Tuttle carried the ball 65 times.

Advantage: Tuttle

Tuttle passing offense vs. Newcastle pass defense

Tuttle doesn’t pass much because it doesn’t need to. Like I mentioned before, Tuttle ran the ball 65 times in last week’s big win over Clinton, and just threw five passes. That’s not to say the Tigers can’t throw when they need to; quarterback Sterling Koons has thrown for six touchdowns this season.

Newcastle’s pass defense has been stellar so far this year.  Sophomore Jeremy McDade has intercepted five passes, and Adam Iago has picked four off. Plus, Tyler Iago, Kyle Crosley and Corbin have each intercepted two throws.

Advantage: Newcastle

I called players from Newcastle and Tuttle to ask a simple question: What does this rivalry mean to them? Here are some responses:

Newcastle senior RB Riley Gibson:
“It’s not like any other game. There’s tension between everyone out there. It’s like OU-Texas.”

Newcastle senior TE/DE Ryan Corbin:
“It’s a big rivalry. We’re five miles apart, and whoever wins is the talk of the town. It’s the first time we’ve ever both been 6-0, and whoever comes out on top is going to be the top dog.”

Newcastle senior LB Chase Stalsworth:
“I’ve lived in the town my whole life, so I’ve seen this game since I was a little kid. It’s one of the most important games to us. And also, they beat Clinton (Friday), so it’s 1 and 2 in the district playing. We see each other at the movies and everywhere, and there’s some smack talk between us all.”

Tuttle senior QB Sterling Koons:
“It’s always a big rivalry game to play those guys. I guess they’re doing pretty well this year, so it should be a good game.”

Tuttle senior LB Reno Marical:
“It’s always a big game. We see (Newcastle players) all the time and talk to them, so it’s a big bragging rights deal. They’re undefeated and we’re undefeated, so it has playoff implications.”

Tuttle senior OL/DT Ethan Reedy:

“It’s all about bragging rights. It’s been pretty long-standing; we’ve been big rivals since before I was playing. Even in junior high, it’s a big rivalry.” 

For this week, I will have a daily post about the District 3A-1 battle between undefeated Tuttle and undefeated Newcastle. This is an intriguing game not only because both teams are undefeated, but because the teams are archrivals.

For the first post, I will look at the series history.

Newcastle and Tuttle have played every year since 1972.

All time series: Tuttle leads, 24-13
(At Tuttle: Tuttle leads, 14-4)
(At Newcastle: Tuttle leads, 10-9)
Playoff games: 1 in 1996 (Tuttle won, 27-17)
Overtime games: 1 in 1980 (Newcastle won, 20-17 in three overtimes)
Current win streak: Tuttle, 4 games
Longest Tuttle win streak: 9 (1995-2002) (Includes a playoff game)
Longest Newcastle win streak: 6 (1989-1994)

Phillip Koons has been Tuttle’s head coach since 1993, and is 13-3 against Newcastle.
Keith Bolles has been Newcastle’s head coach since 2005 and is 0-3 against Tuttle.

(UPDATE: In the original post, I missed the 1996 playoff game between Newcastle and Tuttle. Sorry about that; the records have been corrected to reflect the correction.)