Moore honor: Noemi Hernandez, Westmoore…
By Justin Hite
Few performances would have outranked the return of Southmoore quarterback Kendal Thompson. But Westmoore cross country runner Noemi Hernandez did.
In 11:26, Noemi Hernandez not only set a new career-low in the last race of her career but also won the Class 6A girls’ state cross country championship. She is the first Jaguar to do so since Summer Suchy won in 1998.
Hernandez defeated Mustang’s Emily Helms for the first time all year and has now made the All-State team in back-to-back years.
Hernandez spent two years behind Katelin Cherry and Taylor Painter. Despite accomplishing something neither of them did, Hernandez still feels that they will always be superior.
“I think, in my mind, they are always going to be better than me,” she said. “It feels pretty awesome. I feel like I gave everything to my school and I represented really well.”
Others in consideration:
Kendal Thompson, Southmoore football: After missing six straight weeks, Thompson returned triumphantly. He threw a touchdown on his first play and scored twice in only three drives. Southmoore scored every drive he was in the game.
The Lions’ offense, Moore football: The Lions put up more points than they had in the previous four weeks combined despite falling 42-40 to Putnam North last Friday. After 8 losses, kudos goes to an offense that still pushed hard until the very end.
Private schools honor: Jake Peace, Mt. St. Mary’s…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
This was a good battle for the honor this week. In one corner, you had Sterling Shepard and Cooper Cloud leading a comeback win at Bethany.
In the other corner, you had Mt. St. Mary’s wide receiver Jake Peace, who caught the game-winning touchdown to give the Rockets their first victory of the season.
The winner? Peace…by that much. Coach Dal Nichols has raved about Peace all season. He said bluntly he feels if MSM was a better team, more colleges would be taking a look at Peace.
Peace caught the game-winning TD with 26 seconds left. Rockets added an INT return for a score and won 28-20 against Comanche.
Other contenders
Cooper Cloud and Sterling Shepard, Heritage Hall, Football: Down at half, the duo connected for both touchdowns in a huge 14-7 road victory at Bethany.
LaRone Richardson, McGuinness, Football: Richardson notched another three touchdowns and turned a sluggish 7-3 halftime lead into a comfortable 27-3 victory against Cache.
Cassius Calhoun, Casady, Football: Look out for the Cyclones in 2011. All those juniors are going to be something special. Calhoun scored both touchdowns in the 35-14 loss to Holland Hall.
Christian Heritage returns: Crusaders had a pair of them. Kenny Wooldridge took an INT back for a touchdown. Bryant Hodge returned a punt for a score.
Irish cross country teams: Solid all season, the girls placed third and the boys finished fourth at the state meet at Mitch Park.
Marie Mason, Rhodes College (Casady), Field Hockey: Rhodes is 15-1 and has clinched the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship. Mason was named the conference Defensive Player of the Week.
Edmond honor: Taler Buck, Deer Creek…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
So close. Deer Creek was dominant at the boys cross country regional. And at the state meet, the Antlers weren’t that far off but fell just short.
Deer Creek took second as Guthrie earned the team championship at the state meet. However, Taler Buck did earn the championship and was pretty impressive in doing so.
Buck beat out Guthrie’s Zack Cates by more than 12 seconds to claim the individual title. Deer Creek’s Jake Verdin and Kody Ewing also placed in the top 10.
The girls, paced by a sixth-place finish by Courtney Maichak, earned fourth.
Other contenders
Ry Huff, Memorial, Football: Looked a lot more comfortable with Kameron Doolittle back and accounted for two touchdowns in the Bulldogs win vs. Norman North.
Travis Townsend, North, Football: Forgettable first half erased by a great second half, throwing for 231 yards and a couple of scores in 17-10 win vs. Santa Fe.
Dale Jefferson, Santa Fe, Football: First time I’ve seen him in person, and he is dang good. A little small at WR but was the best one on the field.
Meredith Farley, North, Cross Country: Farley placed 10th individually in leading the girls to a fifth-place finish in the team race at the state meet.
Arya Bahreini and Alex Skinner, Santa Fe, Cross Country: Each placed in the top 10 to help pace the Wolves to finishing sixth.
Tara Lewis, Memorial, Cross Country: Lewis placed 11th while the Memorial girls were brilliant in earning second place.
Mid-Del honor: Midwest City defense…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Oh baby, what a performance. I picked Midwest City to win. I picked 37-32, but I was extremely unsure about the selection. I thought the long bus ride combined with a fired up Lawton Eisenhower team was going to prove to be an extremely difficult task for the Bombers.
They showed me and made their most impressive statement of the season. Sparked by that stellar defense, Midwest City blanked Lawton Ike 28-0 at Cameron Stadium.
Eisenhower was held to less than 200 yards of offense. Midwest City picked off two passes and recovered a fumble. The Bombers were up 21-0 at halftime and never let their guard down in clinching the district championship.
Other contenders
James Flanders, Midwest City, Football: Another big night for the junior as Flanders had three rushing touchdowns. It got better Saturday as older brother John picked off a pass in the end zone to cement Tulsa’s win over Notre Dame.
Greg Johnson and Adrian Fletcher, Del City, Football: Each had a pair of rushing touchdowns as the Eagles blanked US Grant.
Carl Albert rushing game and offensive line: Darvonta Knight, Kenton Whittington and Tank Richmond all scored rushing touchdowns as Titans rushed for more than 300 yards in big road win at Deer Creek.
Shameka Sanders, Del City, Cross Country: Only Eagle runner at the state meet last week and did pretty well, placing 18th.
Westmoore: Cross country familiar with Edmond course…
By Justin Hite
The Westmoore cross country team tries to run at Mitch Park in Edmond any time there is an event at that course. All those attempts are for this Saturday when the Class 6A cross country championship is held that the same course.
“A course that we ran already, a course that we try to run as many times as they have meets there so we are more familiar with it,” Westmoore coach Laura Clay. “The great thing is, it’s a course that we really like. It’s one thing to run a course over and over every time you are there. Mitch Park is a course that my kids really enjoy running.”
Clay said that her team likes many things about the course. They like that it’s downhill at the start and that it’s very open.
“That’s real good because I can get to where I can talk to them at five or six different points,” Clay said. “That’s beneficial for us. They can see the competition really well because there’s a lot of straight-aways so they can actually look and see quiet a distance in front of them. When they turn, they can come back and glance. That’s on of the reason we like it. And we run really well there, that might be another reason they like it.”
The Westmoore girls’ team finished second at the Norman regional, while the boys’ team finished sixth. Both qualified for Saturday’s race.
Moore honor: Trevor Thompson, Westmoore…
By Justin Hite
The Moore Player of the Week was going to a Westmoore Jaguar this week. Whether it would be a football player or a track star was the only question. After Friday night, the only question was which football player.
Five turnovers and a big loss is a lot to come back from for a young quarterback only a few games into his starting career. But that’s exactly what Westmoore junior Trevor Thompson did Friday against Putnam City in a 30-6 victory for the Jaguars.
Thompson went 11-for-18 for 108 yards and two touchdowns to lead Westmoore (5-3, 4-1) back into the win column after a horrendous game against Edmond North seven days ago.
For that, Thompson is this week’s Moore Player of Week. He’s also given the Jaguars a shot at the 6A-2 title.
Others in consideration:
Cody Feuerborn, Westmoore football: The powerful running back took a lot of pressure off Thompson on Friday but also put a lot of pressure on Thompson for the PoW award. Feuerborn ran for 258 yards on 33 carries and had two touchdowns, one of which was an 82-yard score — surprisingly long for the big back.
The Jaguars’ defense, Westmoore football: One week after giving up 38 points, the Jaguars held Putnam City to its lowest point total of the season. Senior linebacker Cody Cates was the leader with 10 tackles, but Addison Staggs picked off a pass and Brad McKay recovered a fumble. The team also forced a safety in the fourth quarter.
Noemi Hernandez, Westmoore cross country: Hernandez finished third in the Class 6A regional cross country meet Saturday in Norman. Edmond North edged the Jaguars by two points for the regional title. Hernandez ran in a time of 12:02.
Mid-Del honor: James Flanders, Midwest City…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Guess James Flanders was upset with me not giving him the honor last week, huh? For the second straight week, Flanders was phenomenal. Well, for the whole season he’s been dang good, but he just happened to have this latest performance with me in attendance.
Flanders rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns in the victory against Edmond Memorial. And those that saw his 80-yard touchdown in the first quarter won’t forget it anytime soon.
It sure looked like at least a couple of Bulldog defenders had the angle to take him down or force him out of bounds. But one Flanders put on the jets, whoop, he was gone.
I agree with one commenter said about this Bombers team. Don’t know if they’re the best, but man do they have a whole heckuva lot character and heart.
Other contenders
Taylor Hawkins, Carl Albert: Redemption is thy name. Hawkins was great on the ground and through the air in accounting for five touchdowns in a 55-12 whipping of Ada.
Chazten Gonzales, Del City: In a game the Eagles had to have, Gonzales rushed for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns and threw for more than 100 in a 14-10 win at Edmond Santa Fe.
Dwight Dobbins, Carl Albert: Had a long touchdown run and a kickoff return for a touchdown in the Titans rout.
Myles Hogg, Midwest City: I can’t quantify his stats, but if you saw him play defense in the second half against Memorial, then you know why he is here.
Andrew Thomsen, Carl Albert, Cross Country: At the 5A regional in Norman, Thomsen helped Titans to a fourth-place finish by placing seventh.
Edmond honor: Isaiah Byrd, Deer Creek…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
In a game against Noble that Deer Creek was supposed to win, it was senior linebacker Isaiah Byrd who set the tone early.
Byrd had a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown that led to the 43-0 victory and has the Antlers ready for this week’s mega-showdown with Carl Albert.
I remember when Byrd burst onto the scene as a sophomore. He’s been a solid, consistent player the last three years and has been healthy again after being banged up as a junior.
The Antlers haven’t just won four consecutive games since the Guthrie loss but have won in dominating fashion in all four contests.
Other contenders
DonQuay Hammons, North: Hammons had a long touchdown reception early, but the Huskies couldn’t keep it up in a loss to Lawton.
Cord Moore, Santa Fe: The Wolves are going running back-by-committee, and Moore was the one to punch it in the end zone against Del City.
Ry Huff, Memorial: Huff picked up his game in the second half through the air after scoring twice on the ground in the first half of the loss to the Bombers.
Joel Blumenthal, Deer Creek: The sophomore threw two touchdown passes as the Antlers have been able to find success through the air the last couple of weeks.
Taler Buck, Deer Creek, Cross Country: Wow, DC went 1-2-3-4-8 at the 5A regional in Norman. So yea, this goes to Buck, but it could go to that whole team.
Meredith Farley, North, Cross Country: In an absolute battle with Westmoore, Farley and her sixth-place finish helped the Huskies to a regional victory.
Tara Lewis, Memorial, Cross Country: A favorite this weekend? Lewis placed fourth as the Bulldogs placed fourth at regionals.
Arya Bahreini, Santa Fe, Cross Country: Wolves placed third at the 6A regional with Bahreini leading the charge in fifth.
Private schools honor: LaRone Richardson, McGuinness…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Gonna keep this short because you can read much in Tuesday’s paper. I thought I had lost my chance to name LaRone Richardson the best player of the week.
Seriously, how do you top his five-score outing in a loss to Millwood? Um, well, he did. Richardson found the end zone six times in a dominating win against Piedmont.
Always one of my favorite kids to talk to, look for his story in Tuesday’s paper.
Other contenders
Garrison Lee, Casady: Found out the day before the game he would be playing defensive line, and he was one of the best players on the field in the loss to Bellaire Episcopal.
Chris Easterly, OCS: Playing running back just because the Saints have no one left. How’d he do? Five touchdowns in the OCS win against Northeast.
Josh Bivens, OCA: I was really pumped about this team until the Parker Randell injury. Bivens notched four touchdowns in the win against Macomb, the Eagles’ first of the year.
Ray Frazier, Mt. St. Mary’s, Cross Country: Frazier was impressive at the state meet, placing fourth overall as the Rockets earned seventh.
Maddy Hill, McGuinness, Cross Country: The Irish girls were dominant at the 5A regional, placing second, third, fourth and sixth in winning the event.
Note: No Heritage contenders because SeeWorth Academy forfeited the game last week.
Westmoore: Time for Noemi Hernandez to shine…
By Justin Hite
Westmoore senior Noemi Hernandez has waited patiently. She’s seen the success of her predecessors. She watched Katelin Cherry and Taylor Painter go before her and lead the Jaguars to conference, regional and state championships.
Now, it’s her turn.
“For this to be her standout year, it’s been really exciting for her and for us,” Westmoore coach Laura Clay said.
Hernandez is fresh off a Mid-State Conference individual title and is ranked as the fifth-best Class 6A runner by OHStrack.com. She’s never finished worse than sixth in a race this year, Despite this being her first win of the season, Hernandez has finished second three different times. What makes this year that much more impressive for the 2009 all-stater is that she’s getting better.
Hernandez has dropped time in each of the last six races including a career-low 11:37 in her conference championship run.
“Ever since we ran at Mustang, she broke 12 and hasn’t looked back,” Clay said. “It’s been real exciting for her. She’s a very coachable kid. She’s gaining confidence in herself and believing in herself.”
