Sheldon Wilson headlines impressive Northeastern Oklahoma A&M class
Anadarko running back Sheldon Wilson is part of an impressive Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Class of 2012. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Anadarko running back Sheldon Wilson isn’t used to competing for playing time.
After signing Wednesday with Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, he’ll have to put in extra work as he fights for carries with other top backs the Norsemen signed.
“I’m gonna love that,” Wilson said. “I’ve never really had to compete for carries, so getting pushed and competing every day will make me better.”
Putnam City running back Casey Curtis, who rushed for 1,805 yards and 28 touchdowns as a senior, signed with NEO on Wednesday, as did Edmond North’s Jared Benway and Broken Bow’s Eric Dockins.
Wilson rushed for 3,335 yards and set state records with 57 rushing and 64 total touchdowns as a senior on Anadarko’s first state championship football team.
After the season, he was named The Oklahoman’s 2011 All-State Offensive Player of the Year.
Dale Patterson first recruiting class in his second stint as NEO’s coach was impressive beyond running backs.
NEO signed three top Oklahoma high school quarterbacks in McAlester’s Tony Kiefer, Owasso’s Kason Key and Mustang’s Brandon Taylor.
Four Edmond North seniors — Benway, tight end Troy Davis and offensive linemen Trevor Barron and Will Wiedenmann — also signed with NEO.
Other city-area prospects who signed with the Norsemen include Midwest City defensive back Ronnie Davis, Oklahoma Christian School kicker Keegan Carter and Kingfisher offensive lineman Hunter Endres.
The amount of talent NEO signed has Wilson thinking title.
“Looking at these guys, we might be able to win a little championship up there,” Wilson said.
Wilson will be joined at NEO by two of his Anadarko teammates, offensive lineman Randy Martinez and linebacker Wes Satoe.
“That’s really cool to go up there with teammates I know,” Wilson said. “I don’t have to go up there and feel like I don’t know anybody.”
Jason Kersey
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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
Final Rankings: Class 2A
Class 2A
1. Hennessey (6)#13-2
2. Jones (3)#14-1
3. Millwood (5)#11-3
4. Stroud (2)#12-1
5. Davis (1)#9-2
6. Vian (4)#12-1
7. Lincoln Christian (7)#11-2
8. Lindsay (8)#11-3
9. Frederick (9)#10-2
10. OCS (10)#9-3
Hennessey and Jones are pretty clear 1-2. Stroud and Millwood are virtually interchangeable but Millwood’s wins are a bit more impressive with the Falcons beating former No. 1 Davis and Lincoln Christian in the playoffs. Davis drops to No. 5 with its only losses coming to Heritage Hall and Millwood. Vian, which lost to eventual state champ Hennessey, 18-7, on the road, drops two spots to No. 4 while Lincoln Christian holds at No. 7. Lindsay, a semifinalist, checks in at No. 8. Lindsay was flat blown out by Jones, 63-6, on a neutral field and had a favorable draw to reach the spot with much of the class’ powers concentrated on the top part of the bracket. Frederick and OCS, two teams Lindsay did beat, remain No. 9 and 10.
Picks: Week 7
So somehow last week, Jason and I wound up picking 11 games since I apparently can’t count to 10. In the interest of padding the win total, we’ll let that stand and give Scott credit for the extra game (Wynnewood over Rush Springs, which Jason and I picked correctly). Scott needed the help after picking Putnam North and Putnam City to come out with wins. Everybody went with Tulsa Union and Lincoln Christian, leading to losses.
Last week
Ryan: 7-4, 1-0
Scott: 5-6, 1-0
Jason: 7-4, 1-0
Overall
Ryan: 44-17, 5-1
Jason: 44-17, 4-2
Scott: 42-19, 5-1
Ryan
Guthrie 21, Carl Albert 17
Kingfisher 14, Bethany 10
Owasso 41, Stillwater 35
Tulsa Washington 17, Tulsa Kelley 14
Metro Chr. 28, Seq. Tahlequah 21
Hennessey 22, Oklahoma Chr. 14
Lawton MacArthur 40, Duncan 20
Weatherford 13, Blanchard 8
Lawton Eisenhower 28, Edmond Memorial 22
McGuinness 28, Elgin 13
Lock of the week: Hennessey over OCS. Hennessey took some lumps in the non-district schedule but is still among the top teams in 2A. Tonight is their chance to prove that against a solid OCS team.
Jason
Guthrie 24, Carl Albert 16
Bethany 21, Kingfisher 17
Owasso 38, Stillwater 35
Tulsa Washington 24, Tulsa Kelley 17
Metro Christian 24, Seq. Tahlequah 10
Oklahoma Christian 24, Hennessey 23
Lawton Eisenhower 21, Edmond Memorial 13
Lawton MacArthur 31, Duncan 13
Bishop McGuinness 35, Elgin 14
Blanchard 16, Weatherford 9
Lock of the Week: Guthrie over Carl Albert. Both teams are fantastic, and both teams are legitimate Class 5A contenders. But at this point in the season, Guthrie’s defense is just too good for Carl Albert’s still-developing offense.
Scott
Guthrie 21, Carl Albert 20
Bethany 35, Kingfisher 31
Owasso 45, Stillwater 42
Tulsa Washington 21, Tulsa Kelley 14
Sequoyah-Tahlequah 35, Metro Christian 28
Hennessey 30, Oklahoma Christian 21
Lawton MacArthur 48, Duncan 31
Blanchard 14, Weatherford 12
Edmond Memorial 20, Lawton Eisenhower 17
McGuinness 28, Elgin 21
Lock of the Week: Lawton MacArthur over Duncan. Ever since watching the Highlanders in the preseason scrimmage at Mustang, I’ve had a strong feeling that these guys could win it all in 5A. I needed to see some results in the regular season first to support my gut feeling, and they’ve done that — even while battling some nagging injuries. There are a lot of factors left to be determined regarding the gold ball, but I definitely think Mac wins this week.
Scrimmage preview: Heritage Hall at Oklahoma Christian School
Junior quarterback Austin Brooks and OCS will host Heritage Hall in a scrimmage tonight. PHOTO BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN
A big scrimmage is tonight in Edmond, as Heritage Hall and all its star power travels to take on Class 2A’s Oklahoma Christian School, which was 4-7 last year but returns lots of younger, but experienced, talent.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: OCS
Coach Derek Turner’s Saints return 16 starters — including nine on defense — from last year’s squad.
Junior quarterback Austin Brooks (6-foot-4, 190 pounds) is a player to watch for the Saints. He started last year as a sophomore when senior quarterback Jack Warren went down injured and gained good experience.
The OCS receivers took it upon themselves to improve this summer after a dreadful 7-on-7 camp in early June, during which Turner said they “dropped every other pass.” But when the same group arrived for two-a-days, their hands were much improved after hard work all summer with Brooks.
Senior wideout Logan Magill (6-2, 185) had 416 yards and three touchdowns last season.
Turner has cited the offensive line as a key unit for his team in 2011. The line returns three starters: Seniors Taylor Myers (6-4, 220) and Nick Lovelace (6-0, 250), and junior Jason Goff (6-6, 285).
The Saints’ leading returning rusher is senior Zak Anderson (5-11, 160 pounds). He ran for 257 yards and two touchdowns in 2010.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: HERITAGE HALL
If you’re coming to the scrimmage and expect to see OU commit Sterling Shepard catching passes, think again.
Shepard will play quarterback again this week while starter Quinn Shanbour awaits eligibility.
Shanbour will man the second-team offense, like he did last week against Holland Hall.
Running back Barry J. Sanders is obviously a player to watch. The big-time recruit had a huge scrimmage last week — Shanbour said his “shortest” carry was for about 11 yards.
But also watch for senior TE/DT Quintaz Struble (6-3, 240). Struble is another D-1 recruit who had 104 tackles and 15 sacks last season. That OCS offensive line will be tested in a big way with Struble and senior Markus Wakefield (6-1, 280), another D-1 prospect who also had 15 sacks in 2010.
Day 3: Midwest City goes into bag of tricks
It’s your Day 3 report from the Edmond North team camp on a non-existent Day 4. Sorry, let’s just say life got in the way of trying to do what I normally do with a Day 3 report Friday.
Back to the topic, the different format for the final day of the camp kinda makes doing scrimmage-by-scrimmage reports pointless. There were so many. If you saw me, I was basically anchored on the 50 yard line and kept my head on a swivel between the two fields.
Midwest City
Bombers had highlight of the day for me. In a hotly contested battle with Stillwater, the Bombers used some of that Bomber Magic on the final play.
Quarterback Ronnie Davis gave it to Cornell Neal, who chucked it into the end zone to Zeke Lewis for the scrimmage-winning score. What made the play, really, was the fact Midwest City got the snap off with 1 second left in the 10-minute scrimmage. But the snap did count.
If you ask me, Stillwater was the darling of this camp. Stillwater opened people’s eyes all three days. However, Midwest City also showed it’s still among the best. And though early indications are that Stillwater is going to be a player this season, the Bombers showed they’re not going away anytime soon, either.
Second highlight of the day: Ricky Reeves of Midwest City one-on-one against Stillwater’s Jesse Vester. How’s that for an early June battle between two of the best athletes in the state?
Stillwater
Like I said, no team impressed me more. Got a chance to talk with Jesse Vester and Jerame Littell during those first two days. Had a good chat with coach Tucker Barnard on this final day. I won’t spoil it because I’m writing a big Stillwater story for Monday’s paper. How’s that for a tease?
Bishop McGuinness
Irish were learning on the job in this camp, said coach Justin Jones. Not only are coach and players still trying to adjust to everything, but the Irish had maybe the least amount of practices coming into the event. Jones said because of dead week during finals, the Irish only had six practices. Or as he put it, ‘three offensive practices and three defensive practices.’ I’m not sold on the McGuinness offense yet, but ya gotta love that defense, especially those linebackers.
Deer Creek
Getting off the mat to finish the job. In a scrimmage against, ooh, I wanna say Stillwater, QB Joel Blumenthal tweaked his ankle on the final play. In the ensuing scrimmage against Bixby, Blumenthal found Hunter Dinkines for a touchdown on the final play. Came away really impressed with Brennan Miyake. He’s already a big boy. Deer Creek was missing some key linemen and had to battle 6A teams for those three days so not going to be too harsh. Coach Grant Gower was extremely pleased and that’s good enough for me.
Norman North
Enjoyed seeing Bryan Payne do his thing. He’s a little dude, but he’s got some game in him. Between him, Emilio Gatewood and Raymond Demby, that was a nice set of backs last year. Payne looks like he’ll have to be the man, but if he can endure the punishment, that’s OK. Coach Wade Standley said it was just Day 12 of the team and him together so like most coaches at this point, happy to get some good reps in.
Edmond North
I really like Luke Hoskins. I’m not sure how the X-and-Os battle is going between Jesse Mathews and Hoskins, but Hoskins has looked good. Also glad to see Jared Benway take some big shots and bounce back up. Really hope Benway can stay healthy. Jarion Tudman was also back in action Friday after being banged up Wednesday. This is another team that I’ll see a lot more of in the future so I didn’t critique the Huskies too much.
OCS
A lot of the names I’ve grown to love with the Saints are gone, but coach Derek Turner is extremely excited about this group. He admits they’re a young squad, but he said the talent in the freshman/sophomore class is some top notch stuff. Hope to see more of the Saints this summer.
- Edmond Santa Fe wasn’t there on the final day. That’s alright, know there will be plenty of other times I’ll catch up with Lance Manning and company…Little Axe coach Ted Dorrell is excited to be a head coach again, that’s for sure. The Indians took a big hit via graduation, but Dorrell has some real fire…McLoud coach Eric Cardin said his team is young, but a camp like this always helps out. Realistically, Redskins are one year away, but Cardin is pumped for the future…Didn’t get to meet with Tecumseh coach Greg George too long. He said he loved the camp, best camp his team goes to. Savages did OK from the action I saw.
- Some of these same teams are out at Boone Pickens on Saturday for the Red Bull Game Breakers. I won’t be there, but I have ‘correspondents’ who will fill me in.
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Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com
Wilson Holloway memorial service set for Friday at OCS
Here is Wilson Holloway in 2006 posing for The Oklahoman's All-State football team. Holloway died Wednesday. He was 22.
A memorial candlelight service for Wilson Holloway will be at 6 p.m. Friday at Oklahoma Christian School.
Holloway died Wednesday afternoon after nearly a three-year battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was 22.
Holloway was a football standout at OCS and at Tulsa. People are being asked to bring as many candles, pictures and flowers as possible to honor Holloway’s memory.
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For more on Holloway, here is Ryan Aber’s story from Thursday’s paper. RIP Wilson, Just Keep Smiling!
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Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com
Will the rest help or will the rust hurt?
I’m assuming the majority of schools are going to back in session Friday. I might be wrong. There will obviously still be some places where it might be too difficult to get to school, but the OKC metro area doesn’t feel too bad.
And if that’s the case, then it’s back to the hardwood with a full slate of games. I’ll admit that on paper, this doesn’t look like the most intriguing night of ball ever, but it should be interesting.
Still waiting on word about Tuesday’s games. That was a loaded schedule on both the boys and girls sides. Like I said before, just gonna be real tough to find a way to schedule these so close to the stretch run.
Back to Friday, there are a couple of big games to keep tabs on, but overall I’ll be looking for that whole rust vs. rest concept.
A lot of coaches felt this delay couldn’t have happened at a better time as a lot of the kids were sick in the last week. Not many teams were at full strength. A week later everybody should be good to go.
But it’s also been a week of no playing at all. Numerous kids on Facebook were expressing that cabin fever. “I need a gym now.”
Here are some of the top girls games Friday:
Millwood at Star Spencer
Ah, always good to see the longtime rivals go at it. Millwood has been every bit as good as anticipated. Great balance in terms of guard play and post presence. Love watching Teanna Reid play. Star is more than Sharane Campbell, but the Oklahoma signee is another player worth the price of admission.
Shawnee at Carl Albert
Don’t know if anybody is paying attention to the Wolves, but all they do is win. In fact, one of those wins was against the Titans in a 25-19 struggle. Micaela Yu came up big in a road win at Harrah last week. CA, led by sophomore Gioya Carter, is on a bit of a slide. Perhaps that week off did the team some good.
Choctaw at Edmond Santa Fe
Can you prove you’re for real in a loss? I thought that’s what Choctaw did in losing a competitive battle against Edmond North last Friday. I’m thinking about checking this one out myself. Santa Fe is still undefeated but doesn’t always look like it’s clicking on all cylinders.
Mt. St. Mary’s at OCS
I’m interested in seeing what makes this MSM team so good. I don’t know if OCS is the right gauge, but I’ve seen the Saints enough and know that with Dani Childress and Jordan Gooch, they’re never an easy out. The Rockets only have two losses but also (according to OKRankings) don’t have a win against a top-20 team.
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Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com
Jacob Strassle, Zac Grismer do little things for Mustang
Bruce Gray Invitational
Boys
McGuinness JV 55, Star Spencer 54 – seventh place
OCS 74, Western Heights 72 – fifth place
Deer Creek 53, Enid 31 – third place
Mustang 72, Putnam North 64 – championship
Ahh, so that’s why Mustang is good. I said Sunday that neither myself nor Scott Wright had seen why the Mustang boys were getting so much respect.
Monday night I found out why. They do the little things. Especially Jacob Strassle and Zac Grismer – they do the dirty work necessary to earn the tough victories.
Any 50/50 ball last night went to the Broncos, no doubt about it. Putnam North made a nice run to make it interesting in the fourth quarter, but Mustang deserved this win.
I still don’t think Mustang has the greatest perimeter shooting team out there. But it doesn’t have to be if you execute in the other parts of the game, which is exactly what Alan Green’s boys do.
Another good game from PCN’s Armon Provo and Joe Summers. And with the Panthers going east, I could definitely see this team making the state tournament.
Mustang also made its free throws to get rid of any drama. David Glidden was 7 of 8 alone in the fourth quarter. Well played game.
Deer Creek 53, Enid 31
Nice statement by the Antlers here. A well-balanced effort sparked by the post players to earn this victory.
Josh Fields and Anthony Clark are both just juniors and the last two games they both looked good. This team has to be more than Garrett Hermanski, and it is so intrigued to see what happens against Piedmont and Carl Albert later this week.
After Alex Patterson went down, seemed like Enid was a little deflated.
OCS 74, Western Heights 72
Ah, the most fun game of the day. It was all Jack Warren of OCS and Alton Whittaker of Western Heights.
Then in the second half, it was all T.J. Holland of OCS and Western Heights’ Kenneth Mayfield. Warren and Holland – 51 points. Mayfield and Whittaker – 54 points.
Mayfield went nuts in the fourth quarter. He scored 23 points and shot the lights out. He made a three and Deer Creek’s Grant Gower was trying to announce it when the lights went out.
Almost a huge comeback by Western Heights who were down 65-51 midway through the fourth.
Warren had 27 with 19 in the first half. Holland had 24 with 18 in the second half.
OCS didn’t play McGuinness JV as I thought because no matter what, the Irish were going to play in losers’ games. They understood that and were fine with it. Even if McGuinness JV had beaten Mustang on Friday, Mustang would have advanced. For what it’s worth, the JV team went 2-1 and beat Star Spencer on Monday.
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Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com
Joh’Vonna Mitchell’s buzzer beater at Bruce Gray Invitational
Bruce Gray Invitational
Girls
OCS 52, PC West 45 – seventh place
Deer Creek 53, Western Heights 50 – fifth place
Enid 40, Star Spencer 30 – third place
Putnam North 44, McGuinness 42 – championship
There it is. Putnam North making me look stupid.
Going into the championship, I thought the Irish were going to handle the Panthers. But by the end of the first quarter, knew differently.
Was a little worried for Putnam North after Joh’Vonna Mitchell picked up two fouls in the first four minutes, but Kelsey Abraham kept the team rolling in the first half and rightfully earned the MVP honors of the tournament.
Likewise, that was the best game I’ve seen from McGuinness’ Caroline Cameron, who scored 13 of her 18 points in the first half to keep the Irish within striking distance.
Rae Rae Brannon came up huge in the second half for PCN, scoring all 12 of her points after halftime.
Tremendous atmosphere in a game that pitted two non-hosting teams in a tournament final. Great battle down the stretch. And while last year Putnam North didn’t make that final basket, this year, yep, Mitchell did it.
Enid 40, Star Spencer 30
Seriously, Enid fans are lucky to get to watch Courtney Chelf every single game. She is something special. She had 13 of the team’s 15 points at halftime.
In the second half, more Pacers got involved and Enid really took control. Kept waiting for that Star Spencer run, just wasn’t in the cards this time around.
Enid’s a solid team, but solid won’t get the job done in 6A girls competition. Gonna be a dog fight in the next month for those state berths.
Deer Creek 53, Western Heights 50
The Antlers are coming around. You look at that lineup and see a bunch of freshmen and sophomores, but it’s coming together.
Sophomore Alexa Adair looks so much more confident than she did back in December. This team is learning to win the close games, and I think they’re right back in the hunt for a state berth.
Bayli Blanchard is doing a good job in the post, and it was a good battle between Blanchard and Western Heights’ star Dilan Webster.
The Jets made a big comeback in the fourth and took a 50-49 lead, but Adair hit four free throws in the final minute to earn the win.
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Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com
