The Oklahoma City Area Baseball Coaches Association will play its annual all-star game at 6 p.m. Thursday at Palmer Field at Dolese Park.

An all-star team made up from these two rosters will play a Tulsa-area all-star team in a doubleheader at noon Saturday at Bishop McGuinness. OCS’ Ken McQueen and Tecumseh’s Chad Trahan will coach the Oklahoma City team.

NORTH
Starters
Pitchers: Brock Stuber, Piedmont; Parker Rigler, Edmond Memorial; Kyle Stephens, Edmond North
Catchers: Mike Hale, Putnam City North; Jon Denney, Yukon
First baseman: Cody Daylor, Edmond North
Second baseman: Daniel Costello, Edmond Santa Fe
Third baseman: Bryan Dutton, Guthrie
Shortstop: Dalen Edgar, Piedmont
Outfielders: Landon Eason, Yukon; Jack Hale, Edmond Memorial; Cole Lindley, Deer Creek
Utility: Austin Brooks, OCS
Desgnated hitter: Jacob Jerome, Edmond Santa Fe

Reserves: Chiante’ McKee, Star Spencer; Bradley Fitch, Bishop McGuinness; Reed Brooks, Putnam City; Jonathan Sergent, Classen

Coaches: Ken McQueen, OCS; Kory Williams, Piedmont

SOUTH
Starters
Pitchers: Alexander Svetgoff, Westmoore; Gage Trahan, Tecumseh; Nick Ward, Southmoore
Catchers: Lane Paul, Tuttle; Cameron Knight, Westmoore
First baseman: Dylan Mauk, Blanchard
Second baseman: Daniel Herron, Norman North
Third baseman: DJ Gasso, Norman North
Shortstop: Tre Edwards, Southmoore
Outfielders: Chevin Noone, Carl Albert; Hunter Heath, Bethel; Quade Nelson, Blanchard
Utility: Damion Orr, Midwest City
Designated hitter: Joel Davis, Midwest City

Reserves: Cooper Owens, Putnam City West; Colin Webb, Moore; Matt Foster, Norman; Casey Bowlan, Shawnee; Jovanny Hernandez, U.S. Grant; Zack Howry, Capitol Hill; Landon Vodka, Mustang.

Coaches: Chad Trahan, Tecumseh; Travis Owen, Tuttle

According to sources, Edmond North’s Jeremy Dombek is expected to be named the new football caoch at Mustang, pending board approval Monday night. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman

Edmond North’s Jeremy Dombek will leave to become the new head football coach at Mustang High School, pending the approval of the Mustang school board at its meeting Monday night, sources have told The Oklahoman.

The Mustang school board is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Monday.

Dombek will replace Ty Prestidge, who resigned on May 3 to take an offensive coordinator position with longtime friend Todd Dilbeck at Choctaw.

Dombek was expected to address his team at Edmond North Monday morning, according to sources. Pending board approval, Dombek would be able to begin working with his new team at Mustang Tuesday.

Mustang missed the playoffs in 2012, despite a 6-4 record. It was the second straight year the Broncos fell short of the postseason.

Edmond North has reached the second round of the Class 6A playoffs each of the last three seasons under Dombek, and missed the playoffs only once since he took over in 2007.

The move leaves the Huskies scrambling now. Dombek is likely to take some of his assistant coaches to Mustang, so Edmond North could have multiple coaching spots to fill as spring practice begins. Monday is the first day that Class 6A football teams can hold football practices.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

On Friday, Dilbeck took one more step down that path, hiring Mustang head coach Ty Prestidge — previously Dilbeck’s assistant with the Broncos — as his offensive coordinator at Choctaw, pending school board approval.

“It’s still board-pending, but when I came back to Oklahoma, I knew there was one piece I wanted to get back with us,” Dilbeck said. “Ty and I have worked at three places together before. He hired me at Plainview and Westmoore, and now I’ve hired him at Mustang and Choctaw.”

Dilbeck spent the last seven years out of state, with one year as an assistant at Rice University and six as the head coach at Alma (Ark.) High School.

Prestidge, who had served as Choctaw’s head coach for one season before joining Dilbeck at Mustang, informed his team Friday afternoon that he would not return. He will coordinate the Choctaw offense, just like he did under Dilbeck at Mustang when the team reached the 2005 state championship game.

“I feel like he’s the best quarterback coach and coordinator in the state of Oklahoma,” Dilbeck said. “He understands how to teach quarterbacks and he relates to kids really well.”

Mustang likely won’t be able to get a new head coach in place in time for spring practice, which can begin May 13. But as the largest school on the west side of the state in a district that is putting lots of money into schools and athletic facilities, Mustang athletic director Chuck Bailey is likely to have a long list of applicants.

“Ty informed me (Friday morning) that he was resigning his position,” Bailey said. “We appreciate what Ty did, and we look forward to the process of replacing him here at Mustang.”

McCann coached the team the last two seasons, winning 28 total games during that span after coming over from Putnam City North.

This is the third time in as many years that Mustang finds itself in a similar situation. McCann was hired to replace Robert Foreman two years ago when he moved into an administration job with the school district. And Terry Long was brought in as the boys basketball coach last year after Alan Green was promoted into a role as the school’s athletic compliance director.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

Dilbeck has coached at multiple programs in the state, including Tahlequah and Mustang. He was one of the first high school coaches in the state to implement and succeed with a multiple-receiver, spread offense that gained popularity in the mid-2000s.

He coached Mustang to the Class 6A state championship game in 2005, losing 33-7 to Tulsa Union. He left after that season to join Todd Graham’s coaching staff at Rice University for one year, then went to Alma (Ark.) High School for six years.

With funding from a bond issue a few years ago, and the pending split of Class 6A football teams, it seems like an ideal time to take over a program like Choctaw, which will be in Division II of the new 6A starting in 2014.

“They’ve redone some schools and facilities at Choctaw, and you can tell it’s a community that’s excited about what’s going on,” Dilbeck said. “It reminds me a lot of Mustang when we got there, except Choctaw’s facilities are better than what we had at Mustang back then.

“Timing can be great sometimes, and I just think this is an awesome opportunity.”

After the death of his father last November, Dilbeck decided he wanted to return to Oklahoma to be closer to family.

“All of our children are back in Oklahoma, and after the playoffs ended here, I decided it was time to look at getting back to Oklahoma, so that’s what I pursued,” he said. “I think this is a great opportunity at a school with administrators, faculty and a community that’s really supportive.”

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

Amanda Marcum Enfield, a Mustang native, is the wife of Florida Gulf Coast basketball coach Andy Enfield. Here, they’re photographed with their three children.

You can bet there will be some people in Mustang closely watching the NCAA Tournament action in Philadelphia on Friday.

And we’re not talking about OU fans.

No. 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast will have a pocket of fans in Mustang — where the wife of the team’s head coach, Andy Enfield, was born and raised — pulling hard for an upset of second-seeded Georgetown in the 5:50 p.m. game.

Amanda Enfield — then known as Amanda Marcum — grew up in Mustang, but left at 18 years old to move to New York City to pursue a modeling career. Since then, she has been in such magazines as Maxin, Vogue and Elle. She has modeled for Armani, Victoria’s Secret, Tommy Hilfiger and many others, with her work taking her all over the United States, Europe and Asia.

A big Oklahoma State basketball fan, she met her husband when she was in Boston to watch the Cowboys at a 2003 NCAA Tournament second-round game. Their first date was to watch St. John’s play in the NIT.

Here’s Amanda Marcum Enfield in 1999 during a runway show for designer Donald Deal.

Andy Enfield was out of coaching when they met. He had been an assistant for the Boston Celtics for three seasons, among other jobs, but went into private business for a few years. He got back into coaching as an assistant at Florida State in 2006, and landed the FGC job in 2011.

The couple has three kids, Aila, Lily and Marcum.

Here’s a story we wrote about Amanda when she was just starting her modeling work in Mahattan.

And here’s a story from The Naples News about her and her husband, right after he was named the head coach at FGC.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

Class 6A
BOYS
EAST
At Tulsa Rogers
Friday
Winner’s Bracket
Owasso vs. Broken Arrow, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Stillwater vs. Bixby, 8 p.m.

At Catoosa
Winner’s Bracket
Tulsa Union vs. Jenks, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Tulsa Washington vs. Bartlesville, 8 p.m.

Saturday
At Catoosa
Stillwater/Bixby winner vs. Owasso/Broken Arrow loser, 8 p.m.
Tulsa Washington/Bartlesville winner vs. Tulsa Union/Jenks loser, 6:30 p.m.

WEST
At Choctaw
Friday
Winner’s Bracket
Midwest City vs. Edmond Santa Fe, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Edmond North vs. Putnam City

At Norman North
Winner’s Bracket
Edmond Memorial vs. Putnam City West, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Putnam City North vs. Lawton Eisenhower, 8 p.m.

Saturday
At Norman North
Putnam City North/Lawton Eisenhower winner vs. Edmond Memorial/Putnam City West loser, 6:30 p.m.
Edmond North/Putnam City winner vs. Midwest City/Edmond Santa Fe loser, 8 p.m.

GIRLS
EAST
Thursday
At Catoosa
Winner’s Bracket
Muskogee vs. Tulsa Washington, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Jenks vs. Tulsa Union

At Tulsa Rogers
Loser’s Bracket
Broken Arrow vs. Mustang, 6:30 p.m.
Winner’s Bracket
Bartlesville vs. Bixby, 8 p.m.

Saturday
At Catoosa
Broken Arrow/Mustang winner vs. Bartlesville/Bixby loser, 1:30 p.m.
Jenks/Tulsa Union winner vs. Muskogee/Tulsa Washington loser, 3 p.m.

WEST
Thursday
At Choctaw
Winner’s Bracket
Edmond Santa Fe vs. Putnam City, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Norman vs. Southmoore, 8 p.m.

At Harrah
Loser’s Bracket
Lawton Eisenhower vs. Choctaw, 6:30 p.m.
Winner’s Bracket
Norman North vs. Edmond Memorial, 8 p.m.

Saturday
At Harrah
Lawton Eisenhower/Choctaw winner vs. Norman North/Edmond Memorial loser, 1:30 p.m.
Norman/Southmoore winner vs. Edmond Santa Fe/Putnam City loser, 3 p.m.

CLASS 5A
BOYS
EAST
Friday
At Bixby
Winner’s Bracket
Tulsa Memorial vs. Tulsa Kelley, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Chickasha vs. Guthrie, 8 p.m.

At Sapulpa
Winner’s Bracket
Coweta vs. Tulsa Edison, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Skiatook vs. Noble, 8 p.m.

At Bixby
Saturday
Skiatook/Noble winner vs. Coweta/Tulsa Edison loser, 6:30 p.m.
Chickasha/Guthrie winner vs. Tulsa Memorial/Tulsa Kelley loser, 8 p.m.

WEST
Friday
At Edmond North
Winner’s Bracket
Bishop McGuinness vs. Lawton MacArthur, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Del City vs. Capitol Hill, 8 p.m.

At Edmond Memorial
Winner’s Bracket
Carl Albert vs. Southeast, 6:30 p.m.
Western Heights vs. Piedmont, 8 p.m.

Saturday
At Edmond Memorial
Western Heights/Piedmont winner vs. Carl Albert/Southeast loser, 6:30 p.m.
Del City/Capitol Hill winner vs. Bishop McGuinness/Lawton MacArthur loser, 8 p.m.

GIRLS
EAST
Thursday
At Bixby
Loser’s Bracket
Chickasha at Tulsa Edison, 6:30 p.m.
Winner’s Bracket
Tulsa East Central at Collinsville, 8 p.m.

At Sapulpa
Winner’s Bracket
Tahlequah vs. Tulsa Memorial, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s Bracket
Grove vs. Tulsa Kelley, 8 p.m.

Saturday
At Sapulpa
Grove/Tulsa Kelley winner vs. Tahlequah/Tulsa Memorial loser, 1:30 p.m.
Chickasha/Tulsa Edison winner vs. Tulsa East Central/Collinsville loser, 3 p.m.

WEST
Thursday
At Edmond North
Loser’s Bracket
Del City vs. Ardmore, 6:30 p.m.
Winner’s Bracket
Shawnee vs. Piedmont, 8 p.m.

At Edmond Memorial
Loser’s Bracket
El Reno vs. Lawton MacArthur, 6:30 p.m.
Carl Albert vs. Deer Creek, 8 p.m.

Saturday
At Edmond North
El Reno/Lawton MacArthur winner vs. Carl Albert/Deer Creek loser, 1:30 p.m.
Del City/Ardmore winner vs. Shawnee/Piedmont loser, 3 p.m.

Friday night in Tulsa, Norman North made school history by earning its first-ever state championship game berth.

The Timberwolves also carry a burden greater than their own in the game. They carry the flag for all West-side teams. No West-side team has won the state title since Midwest City did it in 1995. That was also the last time a team other than Jenks or Union won the title.

Norman North is the first West-side team to make the 6A championship game since 2005 (Enid made it in 2006 but the Plainsmen are considered, at least by the OSSAA, to be East). Here’s a look at the other West-side teams that have made the title game during the streak and how the title games turned out:

2005: Tulsa Union 33, Mustang 7 at Owen Field, Norman
2003: Jenks 17, Edmond Santa Fe 10 at Owen Field, Norman
2001: Jenks 38, Putnam North 28 at Lewis Field, Stillwater
1997: Jenks 56, Yukon 8 at Lewis Field, Stillwater
1996: Jenks 28, Midwest City 17 at Lewis Field, Stillwater

Record (Overall, lock)
Scott: 7-3 (29-11, 4-0)
Jacob: 6-4 (28-12, 3-1)
Ryan: 6-4 (27-13, 2-1)
Jason: 5-5 (25-14, 3-1)

Rhodes was selected as an offensive lineman and Chance a defensive lineman. The players were selected for the game from a combine in Arlington, Texas, earlier this year.

The game will be played at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

Can Norman running back Imond Robinson keep the Tiger offense moving again this week?

It’s hard to talk about the importance of a particular district game when neither team has played one yet, and there’s a ton of time to make up for early miscues. But I think six weeks from now, Mustang and Norman will look back at tonight’s game and see just how important it was in their postseason pursuits.

I haven’t seen Norman since the Week 1 opener against Norman North, and it appears they’ve continued to improve since that tough loss. Mustang has obviously been sharp in winning its first three games to move into the top 10.

Three Points

1. Road ‘D’. Mustang’s worst defensive performance of the year came in its only road game, giving up 28 points at Yukon. In two home games since, the Broncos essentially gave up no points when it mattered. Stillwater got on the board in the second half last week, but the game was well in hand by then. Can the Mustang defense keep it up outside Bronco Stadium?

2. Ground pounding. Running the ball will be important for both teams tonight, but for different reasons. Norman is most successful when it runs the ball well. Mustang needs to run the ball to keep the passing game open for Frankie Edwards — and he’ll do a lot of the running himself, too. Norman RB Imond Robinson was big against Yukon last week, and the Tigers will need a consistent run game to win tonight.

3. Frankie containment. I’m not ready to say Edwards is the best QB Mustang has had in the last 10 years since they’ve gone to the spread and started scoring like crazy. But as far as dual-threat guys go, only Kyle Webster has matched the skills we’ve seen from Edwards so far. If he has a big night tonight like he did against Stillwater last week, mark down ‘W’ No. 4 for the Broncos.

The Pick

Mustang 35, Norman 31: If you thought I’d pick against Mustang again this week, you haven’t been paying attention. They’ve burned me twice in a row, so I’m on board now. The score isn’t an indictment on Mustang’s defense, but I think Norman is the best offense they’ve seen so far. And I think this game will get into a bit of a shootout, because both teams have big-play threats.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

That’s the question everyone wants to know, right after they ask how Stillwater got so good. Let’s discuss.

Three Points

1. Keeping it up. Is Stillwater for real, or is this just a super-hot start before they come back to earth? Considering the expectations for the Pioneers before the season, their blowout win over McAlester and upset of Midwest City have been a couple of the season’s biggest shockers so far, especially considering the amount of firepower this team lost from last year’s squad. But Tucker Barnard has proven that he’s a good coach. Remember, Stillwater went 8-3 under Barnard last year with all the same kids who went 1-9 without him the year before. So it seems fair to assume Stillwater is better than most of us expected, but just how good are they? That’s still unanswered.

2. Deeeee-Fense. Stillwater’s playing pretty darn well on that side of the ball, holding McAlester and Midwest City to 18 points apiece. And Mustang is coming off a shutout of Putnam City North, so the Broncos ain’t too shabby over there either. But both teams have shown they’re capable of posting big offensive numbers, too. So it’s likely to come down to big defensive plays. Whoever makes the most should win.

3.  Weather or not. Trying to predict Friday night’s weather is like… well, it’s like trying to be a weatherman in Oklahoma any other day (except July, when you only have to guess how many degrees over 100 the temperature will be). Friday night should be cold, it might be wet, and there’ll probably be a little wind. Just how much of each of the three we get will impact the game, and take some of the finesse out of both offenses. Adjusting to the conditions will be an instant advantage.

The Pick

Stillwater 38, Mustang 35: Maybe I’m getting sucked into going with the trendy pick here, but I have a feeling Stillwater is for real. I’m not saying the Pioneers are ready to knock off Union and take the district title, but they could get the No. 2 spot in that district and host a playoff game. Mustang is a playoff team, too, but their district is a little deeper at the top.

Linebacker Cory Irwins, No. 28 on The Oklahoman’s Super 30 recruit rankings, has yet to play this season after aggravating a previous shoulder injury in the preseason.

Irwins, 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, said he’s hopeful to be cleared by doctors to return to action Monday, and be in the lineup Friday. The Broncos (2-0) host a surprisingly unbeaten Stillwater team coming off a big win over McAlester and an upset of Midwest City in the first two weeks.

Stillwater moved into the top 10 at No. 9 in this week’s Class 6A rankings.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

I’ll get to the three areas I think could be turning points in this one, as both teams look for a 2-0 start.

But first, a reminder that this game will be webcast live at www.NewsOK.com/Varsity in conjunction with ZPreps. If you can’t attend, or follow the webcast, I’ll be providing updates live from the press box on Twitter @ScottWrightOK.

Three Points

1. QB Showdown. PC North’s John Robert Simon got more starting experience last year, but Mustang’s Frankie Edwards got plenty of work, too. Both of them can run and throw. The one who does the best job of keeping his offense balanced will go a long way toward picking up the W.

2. Blocking the Broncos. When I picked Putnam City over PC North last week, one of the big reasons was that I thought the Panther O-line would have trouble, because there are so many new starters. But in racking up 42 points, PC North’s offense clearly showed me that it is in good shape all the way around. However, Mustang has a defensive front seven that is probably better than PC at this point. Lots of experience and talent in that group for the Broncos, so a lot will be asked of the PC North blockers once again.

3. Meet Mr. Mitchell. I wasn’t there to see the leaping catch Travis Mitchell made at Yukon last week, but it seems to be reaching legend status — almost like a fish story. Every time someone tells me about it, his vertical gets a little better. It might be up to about 14 feet by the time kickoff arrives tonight. But that’s not the point here. The point is that Dakota Warrington was injured last week and, according to his father’s Facebook post, could be out for an extended period of time. Warrington was the team’s most consistent receiver last year, so Mitchell, the team’s most athletically gifted wideout, will be asked to fill a bigger role. It could signal the start of a breakout year for him.

The Pick

PC North 35, Mustang 31: A little bit of this pick could be impacted by the fact that I got burned going against the Panthers last week. I really see this one as a toss-up, but this wouldn’t be much of a blog if it was called “Three Points and Evasively Abstaining From Making a Pick.” So I’ll go with the Panthers in a close one, while not being surprised by the outcome either way. I’m counting on an exciting ballgame here, if nothing else.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

“Three Points and a Pick” will be my version of game preview blogs here on Varsity — three points of emphasis in the game, and a prediction. I’ll try to hit a couple big games from the West Metro and OKC schools each week. We’ll start with Canadian County Bedlam. This will be the first Yukon-Mustang game in Yukon’s new stadium, so I think we’ll find out just how many fans the new place will hold.

Unfortunately, I’ll miss out on Canadian County Bedlam for the first time in a few years, since I’ll be in Tulsa tonight for Douglass-Tulsa Washington. So, those of you on Twitter, help keep me updated, either with the #okpreps hashtag or directly at @ScottWrightOK. Now, let’s get to it:

Three Points

1. Yukon’s offensive line vs. Mustang’s defensive line. Honestly, I could probably stop after one point on this blog, because I think this will be the deciding factor in the game. Yukon is breaking in a lot of new guys up front, and Mustang has both experience and power on its defensive line. Guys like Jared Chance and Tucker Calmus will be tough to contain. If Yukon can block those guys, the Millers have a much greater chance of winning.

2. Run QB, Run. For two teams that have been heavily focused on spreading out and tossing the ball all over the yard the last few years, times are changing. Sure, both will still be running four and five receivers in the formation, but there will be a lot more QB run game — designed or not. Both offenses will look quite a bit different with that. Mustang’s Frankie Edwards has a few starts under his belt, while Hayden Somerville hasn’t been broken in quite as much. But this is the first CCB for both, and that’s a different atmosphere all together, so experience might not make a difference.

3. Yukon running backs. Again, this will partially come back to point No. 1, but the Miller RBs will be needed to take some pressure off the new QB. Chance Leggett is the returning starter, and A.J. West has been an August surprise for the Yukon coaches. He’s been in the school system, but decided to try football again as a senior.

The Pick

Mustang 31, Yukon 27: I’ve picked the Millers the last two years in this one and nailed it. But Mustang has too many returning starters. By the end of the year, I think these teams will be pretty evenly matched. But in Week 1, I see Mustang being a little farther along.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

In the span of seven hours Tuesday, I visited three high school practices, where I witnessed pure excitement for a new season at Mustang, pure devastation all across the town of Luther, and pure domination that will be possible from what I rank as the most daunting high school defensive lines assembled in Oklahoma in recent memory.

For those who missed it, here’s what I wrote from Douglass.

And here’s my story and video from Luther.

Mustang, your story is still a day away. Sorry. However, I’m not exaggerating the excitement level at Bronco Stadium Tuesday morning. Offensively, the team is looking forward to a full season under QB Frankie Edwards, who got a few starts a year ago. For Mustang faithful, the offense will go back to looking similar to the Matt Edmonds/Kyle Webster teams in some ways, and different from anything you’ve seen in other ways, essentially in formations, diversity and creativity to get the ball to the best players.

Defensively, the excitement forms around new defensive coordinator Mark Ryan, who has been a head coach in the metro area, most recently at Centennial, where he battled a serious illness that kept him away from the game much of last year. He looks healthy, and he’s taking over a defensive unit with a lot of experience. Many of the current seniors were forced into action as sophomores.

At Douglass, I found myself intently watching non-contact, half-speed lineman drills against air. Typically, something like that would rank somewhere near the excitement level of fencing (either the Olympic sport or actually building a fence).

But I watched and tried to imagine exactly what this DE duo will be capable of. They combined for somewhere between 35 and 400 (exaggeration, not a typo) sacks last year separately. It will be a race to the QB on every third-and-long this season.

As for Luther, I won’t belittle what has happened — and is happening — there by trying to force it into a blog full of football analysis and weakly developed punch lines. To quote Luther coach Shawn Meek, “high school football takes a back seat to real life.” Click the link above to see the story and video, and that tells the story of what I saw in that courageous yet devastated town on Tuesday.

I’ll make the rounds again on Wednesday, including a few hours at the OSSAA for a board meeting, but I’ll be sure to hit a couple practices and share my thoughts once again.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

Former Mustang golfer Karson Bizzell has signed with Tulsa.

Her two-year stint at Redlands Community College paid off just the way Karson Bizzell hoped it would — or maybe even better.

Bizzell went to Redlands hoping it would propel her to an NCAA Division I program, and she got to be part of a national championship as well.

Bizzell helped the Cougars to the NJCAA team national championship with a 49-stroke win in May, and now, she’ll get that Division I opportunity.

Bizzell signed with the Tulsa University golf team this week. She finished tied for 18th individually at the national tournament to conclude her two-year stint at Redlands. Her former Mustang teammate, June Tigert, will be following in her footsteps at Redlands in the fall as well.

Bizzell was a three-sport star in high school, in one of the more unique three-sport combinations you’ll see. Here’s a feature I wrote about her in the spring of 2010.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

The Mustang Board of Education approved the move at its regular meeting late Monday night.

Long will fill the void created when Alan Green moved into a full-time role as the school’s compliance officer, which was announced last month.

Long was also considered a candidate for the head job at Edmond Santa Fe, which went to former Mount St. Mary coach Lenny Hatchett last month.

Mustang, which is the largest school on the west side of the state, was riddled by injuries last season and struggled to a .500 record. But in the 2010-11 season, the Broncos were a top-five team, despite falling one win short of the state tournament.

Over the last three seasons at Douglass, Long’s teams lost seven games — six of those to out-of-state competition. The Trojans were led by point guard Stephen Clark, a nationally recruited prospect who will be a senior next season.

Douglass will be a highly sought-after coaching position, along with current vacancies at Guthrie and Mount St. Mary.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

Second team
106: Cody Logan, Yukon
113: Jordan Armstrong, Edmond North
120: Josh Breece, Edmond North
126: Parker Bohannan, Yukon
132: Frank Smith, Choctaw
138: Kaylob Klingler, Choctaw
145: Mason Stowers, Edmond Santa Fe
152: Taylor Gore, Putnam City
160: Hunter Smith, Edmond North
170: Cason Montgomery, Yukon
182: Walter Smith, Edmond Santa Fe
195: Andrew Brumage, Choctaw
220: Ragan Land, Edmond North
285: Lantz Parks, Yukon

Girls All-Metro Athletic Conference
Most Valuable Player: Courtney Walker, Edmond Santa Fe
Offensive Player of the Year: Layton Hurley, Choctaw
Defensive Player of the Year: Daisha Gonzaque, Edmond Santa Fe
Newcomer of the Year: Da’Jah Coffey, Putnam North
Coach of the Year: Karlie Free, Edmond North

First Team
Whitney Dunn, Mustang
Daisha Gonzaque, Edmond Santa Fe
Layton Hurley, Choctaw
Kaitlyn Peterson, Edmond North
Courtney Walker, Edmond Santa Fe

Second Team
Haley Brown, Yukon
Da’Jah Coffey, Putnam North
Cameerah Graves, Edmond Santa Fe
Tamara Lee, Edmond Santa Fe
Jayden Oliver, Putnam City

All-Metro Athletic Conference
Coach of the Year: A.D. Burtschi, Putnam City
Player of the Year: Joe Summers, Putnam North
Offensive Player of the Year: David Bush, Putnam City
Defensive Player of the Year: Omega Harris, Putnam West
Newcomer of the Year: Justin Jones, Edmond Santa Fe

First team
David Bush, Putnam City
Aaron Anderson, Edmond Santa Fe
Tavionne Pennon, Putnam West
Shaquille Morris, Edmond Santa Fe
Ronnie Boyce, Putnam City

Second team
Omega Harris, Putnam West
J.R. Simon, Putnam North
T.J. Jones, Putnam North
Zach Laurie, Mustang
Tyler Lester, Choctaw

Third team
Justin Jones, Edmond Santa Fe
Kevin House, Putnam West
Ed Baker, Edmond North
Rodney Teal, Putnam North
Orlando Goldsmith, Putnam City

Honorable mention
Choctaw: Carson Clay, Reggie Wright
Edmond North: David Montgomery, Blake Ruben
Mustang: Levi Lum, Robert Shaw
Putnam City: Dexter Dean, Richmarr Smith
Putnam West: Deonte Ogles

Sydney Hill, right, and Edmond Memorial qualified for the state tournament by upsetting No. 2 Midwest City. OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVE PHOTO

After Saturday’s final area games, the field is set for next week’s Class 6A girls’ basketball state tournament in Tulsa.

Here are the qualifiers:

No. 1 Edmond Santa Fe (23-0): Defending state champions are led by Texas A&M signee Courtney Walker and are the clear favorite.

No. 2 Midwest City (26-1): Bombers lost to Edmond Memorial in area final, but got back on track with win over Putnam City North for state berth.

No. 3 Jenks (21-6): Trojans earn first state tournament berth since 2007.

No. 4 Edmond Memorial (20-5): Bulldogs upset No. 2 Midwest City in area final for state berth. Five losses are twice to Santa Fe, twice to Midwest City and once to 5A No. 1 Shawnee.

No. 5 Sapulpa (19-7): Chieftains are in the state tournament for the first time since 2008.

No. 8 Muskogee (20-6): Roughers bring 11-game win streak into the state tournament.

No. 10 Tulsa Union (16-11): Redskins’ only playoff loss was 2-point setback to No. 5 Sapulpa in regional final. Union topped Bartlesville for state berth.

No. 11 Mustang (17-10): Nikki McCann’s first season as the Broncos’ coach will end in the state tournament. Mustang topped Choctaw on Saturday to earn berth.

106: Markus Simmons (Broken Arrow) defeated Blake Dauphin (Tuttle)
113: Gunnar Woodburn (Claremore) defeated Ladigo Williams (Rio Rancho, New Mexico)
120: Jake Goodwin (Bishop Lynch, Texas) defeated Gunner Laffoon (Tuttle)
126: Kyle Garcia (Choctaw) defeated Colby Powers (Lawton Mac)
132: Brian Crutchmer (Tulsa Union) defeated Clay Archer (Broken Arrow)
138: Chase Ferman (Broken Arrow) defeated Dakota Head (Tuttle)
145: Tanner Bailey (Broken Arrow) defeated Daniel Carrillo (Rio Rancho, NM)
152: Keilan Torres (Altus) defeated Kyle Ash (Tulsa Union)
160: Ricky McCarty (Lawton Mac) defeated Donaven Roberts (Randall, Texas)
170: Zachary Beard (Tuttle) defeated Drake Martel (Altus)
182: Kyle Crutchmer (Tulsa Union) defeated Joel Dixon (Edmond North)
195: Andrew Dixon (Edmond North) defeated Seth Calvert (Broken Arrow)
220: John Finn (Westmoore) defeated Josh McNaughton (Del City)
285: Kyle Factor (Westmoore) defeated Jose Chavez Del Real (Mustang)

District 6A-2 All-District
Awards
Coach of the Year: Lance Manning, Edmond Santa Fe
Player of the Year: Casey Curtis, Putnam City
Co-Offensive Player of the Year: Trevor Thompson, Westmoore
Co-Offensive Player of the Year: Jarion Tudman, Edmond North
Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Josh Crouch, Edmond Santa Fe
Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Kyle Factor, Westmoore
Linebacker of the Year: Brendon Pitzer, Edmond North
Co-Defensive Back of the Year: Conner Bays, Edmond Santa Fe
Co-Defensive Back of the Year: Archie Ocloolee, Westmoore
Defensive Lineman of the Year: Patrick Diaz, Lawton
Offensive Back of the Year: Jesse Mathews, Edmond North
Co-Offensive Lineman of the Year: Brandon Dewitt, Lawton
Co-Offensive Lineman of the Year: Cole Parsons, Edmond North
Co-Wide Receiver of the Year: Austin Bowling, Westmoore
Co-Wide Receiver of the Year: Tre Kelly, Edmond Santa Fe
Special Teams Player of the Year: Michael Ryan, Mustang

All-District team
Del City: Stephon Herd, WR; Josh McNaughton, DL; Jerel Jeten, DB; Larry Long, DB.

Edmond North: Jarion Tudman, RB; Jared Benway, RB; Cole Parsons, OL; Troy Davis, TE; Jesse Mathews, QB; Russell Sivard, DL; James Duncan, DL; Christian Contreass, DB; Regan Land, LB; Bryndan Pitzer, LB; Christian Peterson, DB.

Edmond Santa Fe: Tre Kelly, WR; Taylor Ashcraft, LB; Chris Carter, DL; Conner Bays, DB; Josh Crouch, DL; Zach Birts, DB; Michael Onuoha, DL; Brandon Roberts, OL; Chad Reitz, OL; Ryan Frazier, LB; Matt Freeman, K; Allston Hadley, OL.

Lawton: Brandon Bartlett, DeMarious Littles, Freddie Taito, Vincent Thomas, Corey Pilgrum, Adam Castro, Jacquan Beck, Dometreas Pyfer, Jordan Gouge.

Mustang: Arron Smith, OL; Derek Garvin, WR; A.J. Ashman, RB; Michael Ryan, K.

Putnam City: Casey Curtis, RB; Rontez Smith, TE; Anthony Hogg, DB; Damion Brown, DL; Elie Rushing, LB; Derrick Rovers, DL; Conner Nichols, TE; Jeff Tanner, DL.

U.S. Grant: Christian Nicholson, DE; Jacob Tavares, OL; Cory Hooks, RB; Derrick Young, DB.

Westmoore: Kyle Factor, DL; Trevor Thompson, QB; Austin Bowling, WR; Archie Ocloolee,. DB; Dalton Craig, WR; Preston Higgins, DL; Blake Martin, DB; Corey Lassiter, OL.

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.

2. Class A No. 8 Elmore City (4-0) at No. 3 Wynnewood (4-0)
Two of the three undefeated teams in District A-5 go head-to-head.

3. Class C No. 3 Timberlake (3-0) at No. 5 Covington-Douglas (4-0)
A week after squeaking out a win over Tipton on the road, Covington-Douglass gets another big challenge.

4. Class 5A No. 1 Tulsa East Central (4-0) at No. 10 Coweta (2-2)
The Cardinals get another solid test in a rough schedule as the defending runners-up try to solidify their place in 5A-4. Coweta hasn’t won a game by more than six points or lost by more than four.

5. Class 3A No. 9 Seminole (4-0) at Stigler (4-0)
Seminole has scored 41 or more points in all four games thus far while Stigler has topped 42 in three out of four.

6. Class 4A No. 10 Hilldale (3-1) at No. 6 Broken Bow (3-1)
Big win over Poteau last week lifted Hilldale into the rankings while Broken Bow has shut out two opponents last season.

7. Edmond Santa Fe (3-1) at Class 6A No. 6 Lawton (3-1)
Both teams started district play with statement wins and this game will feature two of the best defensive ends in the state in Lawton’s D.J. Ward and Santa Fe’s Michael Onuoha.

8. Class B No. 6 Fox (3-1) at Paoli (4-0)
Fox has shutouts in each of its three wins while Paoli has topped 53 points three times and scored 42 in its other win.

9. Commerce (3-1) at Class 2A No. 8 Colcord (4-0)
Commerce has two shutouts and its only loss came to a Kansas school. Colcord has won games primarily with its offense (41-14 at Salina last week) and with its defense (8-0 vs. Haskell on Sept. 16).

10. Class 4A No. 4 Clinton (3-1) at Piedmont (2-2)
Clinton blew out McGuinness last week at home while Piedmont got a statement win over Elgin.

Other good bets:
Heritage Hall at Tulsa NOAH
Millwood at Luther
Mustang at Edmond North
Woodward at McGuinness
Yukon at Norman North

By Ryan Aber

Mustang cross country runner Emily Helms.

Mustang’s Emily Helms won the 5A and 6A varsity girls race at last week’s OK Runner Classic in Norman and is The Oklahoman’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week.

Helms, last year’s Class 6A runner-up as a sophomore, finished almost 30 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Edmond Memorial’s Tara Lewis.

The opening of Yukon's new Miller Stadium was one of many events during a busy weekend of football.

I can already tell this is going to be a long week. Since Sept. 1, I haven’t gone more than two days without covering a high school football game. Friday can’t get here soon enough.

And after the three games I covered this weekend, it’s going to be hard for the next 13 weeks of football to live up to the standard.

On Thursday night, I watched Putnam City North knock off Mustang in double-overtime when sophomore kicker Richard Gallegos booted through a 17-yard field goal to clinch it. Friday brought the debut of Yukon’s new stadium, and a late rally by Edmond Santa Fe to spoil the opener at the Millers’ new home. Then we had the usual amount of drama on Saturday afternoon at the Soul Bowl.

Here’s a look back at what we learned about the teams in those three contests, starting with the double-OT thriller at PC Stadium.

What we learned about Mustang: The Mustang offensive line is getting better, but defenses are still finding ways to attack that young group of players. Fortunately, they can battle through their growing pains in the non-district, and hopefully be ready by Week 4 when district games begin.

Brandon Taylor is doing well throwing on the run and moving the pocket when he needs to, but the experienced PC North secondary was able to give him trouble, coming up with four picks on Thursday. At running back, I’ve been impressed with A.J. Ashman early this season. Obviously, the Broncos toss the ball around a lot, so he doesn’t get a ton of carries, but he takes advantage of his opportunities and is viable in the passing game, too.

Putnam City North senior Dre Holman rushed for 201 yards Thursday against Mustang.

What we learned about Putnam City North: The run game is vital to the Panthers’ offensive focus, but their ability to stay balanced is what kept them alive on Thursday. Dre Holman’s 201 yards were huge, but the fact that John Robert Simon was 8-of-10 passing in the second half and overtime — with two touchdowns — was the turning point of the game.

Defensively, it’s clear that the Panthers’ strength is in the secondary, so I’ll be curious to see if teams try to focus on running the ball against them more, especially in the early part of the season until the new players in the front seven develop.

After the ugly fourth quarter in the opening loss to Putnam City, finishing strong against Mustang was valuable to this team. Getting back to the playoffs is a definite possibility for this team, based on the district schedule, but giving away very many fourth-quarter leads won’t get you past Week 10.

What we learned about Edmond Santa Fe: This team has battled through several close losses in the last two years, but I don’t think anyone — on the outside, at least — saw this strong start coming. With so much talent on both sides of the ball, along with a good mix of experience and youth, the Wolves are clearly a team that’s going to make some noise in 6A this year, and Friday’s 38-28 win at Yukon was a breakout moment.

People are quickly becoming familiar with guys like Justice Hansen, Trevan Smith and Phillip Sumpter. But here’s another name to keep an eye on: Khari Harding. He’s a big, athletic defensive back who could very well land at a Division I program. He’s only a junior now, so the Wolves get to enjoy him terrorizing opponents for a couple seasons.

I had heard a lot about Michael Onuoha coming into the game, and he’s an athletic specimen with a lot of talent. But the Wolves’ defensive line overall was very impressive. They were getting a good push most of the game, and getting into the backfield to disrupt the Yukon offense. With the amount of talent at the skill spots, the Wolves can really be a dangerous team if the lines start playing in a dominant fashion.

On a sidenote, you couldn’t help but feel for Tre Kelley on Friday. He’s an impressive player who twice seemed to have given his team the big play just when they needed it. First, he took a screen pass and zipped through the Miller defense for a 76-yard TD. But it was called back. A couple plays later, he got behind the defense and went the distance for a 74-yard score. Also called back. Moments later, he was the target again, but Yukon’s Derek Deeds stepped in front for the pick in what seemed to be a huge turning point in the game. But the Wolves recovered to rally for the win.

What we learned about Yukon: Tackling in space was the one big issue that haunted the Millers on Friday night. From the opening kickoff, which Smith returned 94 yards for a score, the Millers’ ability to keep Santa Fe ball carriers coralled was a problem. The Wolves accounted for more than half of their total offense on four big plays, including a 73-yard scramble by Hansen.

Other than the tackling, Yukon really played pretty solid. They were slow out of the gate, which might have had something to do with all the hype around the opening of the new stadium. Anyone who saw the Millers against Mustang in the opener could tell they were a little out of sync early, maybe pressing a little, hoping to put on a good show.

The running back by committee idea looks to be Todd Wilson’s focus. Not counting QB Corben Jones, eight different players got at least one rushing attempt Friday. And of the three players who carried the ball in the first half, none of them touched it in the second half.

Douglass' Chris High is one of three talented running backs in the Trojan arsenal.

What we learned about Douglass: As closely as I’ve followed this team the last couple of weeks, it’s hard to say I learned very much new information about them at Saturday’s 21-14 Soul Bowl win. They had a couple of players held out because of injuries suffered Monday against DeSoto, but otherwise, Saturday was a strong bounce-back game.

Chris Compton was able to show that he can be a threat throwing the ball. The way things went against DeSoto, it was hard to tell just what kind of passer he was going to be, but his 8-of-11 performance — including a couple of big throws at crucial times — showed that he’ll be ready to handle it when the team needs to throw. Coach Willis Alexander always says that he wants his offense to be able to throw when they want to, and Saturday, that seemed to be the case.

The run game will still be the Trojans’ bread and butter. With Dion’Tay Washington, Chavez Wyatt and Chris High, they’ve got a group of backs who can do a little bit of everything.

I’m excited to see what the future holds for Deondre Clark. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound sophomore came through with some big plays on Saturday, including the go-ahead touchdown on a 15-yard reception. He had to go down low to pull it in, then regained his balance to finish off the run.

What we learned about Millwood: When they start lining up against 2A competition every week, the Falcons are going to be dishing out some pain. Running backs Marc Robinson and Larry Lambeth give Millwood a power run game that not many teams can match up against. Unfortunately, Douglass was one of those teams, with Cayman Bundage and Diamonte McClellan in the middle. But the run will be much stronger for Millwood against different competition.

QB Dametric Sanders threw the ball better than I expected him to. He hit some big passes in the first half, and had a couple of good throws dropped. He’s a very athletic QB, and he’s not going to put up the kind of numbers Kevonte Richardson did last year. But he can be effective both throwing and running the ball for Millwood this year. And backup QB London Potts can toss it around, too, if needed.

Defensively, Millwood has some good size up front, and the duo of Robinson and Lambeth are the perfect pair at inside linebacker. Stopping the run will be their strength. Even with all the talent Douglass has in the run game, Millwood made them work for their yards, finishing with 186 on 43 carries for an average of 4.3 yards per attempt. I’d be surprised if anybody holds Douglass to those kinds of numbers in the run game the rest of the season.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

Norman's Tanner Satterthwaite, the defending Class 6A champion, is one of several top runners competing in Friday's OK Runner Classic in Norman. PHOTO BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN

Over 100 cross country teams will descend upon Norman Friday for the sixth annual OK Runner Classic, which is hosted by Norman High School.

Several of the top runners in the state will compete in the event, including defending Class 6A boys champion Tanner Satterthwaite of Norman and last year’s 6A girls runner-up Emily Helms of Mustang.

High school races begin at 10:30 a.m. with the 2A-4A girls. The last varsity race, the 5A-6A boys, begins at 2:30 p.m.

Here is the full list of race times:
10:30: 2A/3A/4A girls
11:30: 2A/3A/4A boys
1:30: 5A/6A girls
2:30: 5A/6A boys
4:30: Junior high girls
5:00: Junior high boys

At least over the last few years, Canadian County Bedlam has rarely left the fans feeling shorted in intensity and excitement. Friday was no different, with Yukon going into Mustang and coming away with a 44-31 win.

Now, the Millers move to next week when they will open their new stadium, and you can bet everyone will be juiced for that as Edmond Santa Fe visits.

Mustang heads to Putnam City North, where a pair of teams coming off rivalry losses will try to avoid an 0-2 start.

Here are a few random observations that didn’t make it into my game story from Yukon’s win:

-I probably didn’t talk up the Yukon defense enough in the game story. Considering that they were starting eight new guys, and had some schematic changes — three-man front — that really impacted the game, defensive coordinator Steve Chard and his boys probably deserved a little more credit. I don’t say that to take anything away from the receivers. They made big play after big play, often in situations when the Millers had to have them.

-The Yukon run game didn’t necessarily show a lot, but it didn’t have to, either. The passing attack was so smooth, it didn’t matter what the committee of running backs produced. Still, you see some talent there, though I still don’t think there’s going to be one guy who gets the bulk of the work over the season. Interestingly, sophomore Austin Roberts scored a 6-yard touchdown on his first carry. Doesn’t mean anything regarding the RB battle, but it’s a pretty cool memory.

-Brandon Taylor’s shoulder looked fine, and his feet were working, too. He did a great job of moving around to avoid pressure, rolling out and scrambling when needed to keep plays alive. He’s always seemed more comfortable standing in and unloading the ball just before the hit comes, but on Friday, he moved well around the pocket and outside of it.

-Travis Mitchell could be the Broncos’ big breakout star this year. He’s a very athletic receiver with good hands and good ball skills from what I’ve seen. He had an impressive 76-yard catch that set up a late TD when the Broncos tried to rally.

-Defensively, the Broncos were missing a couple of guys, but two guys seemed to keep showing up a lot — Tucker Calmus and Cory Irwins. Calmus is ideal for the middle linebacker spot, and Irwins was flying around making plays from the outside linebacker position. Jared Chance at defensive tackle was solid again as well.

I’ll see both of these teams again next week, so I’m curious to see how they each progress. Yukon has to find a way to keep the momentum going and not fall off, while Mustang must keep moving forward. They seemed to get more and more comfortable as the game went on, and they need to build on that.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

Quarterback Corben Jones will lead Yukon into hostile territory against rival Mustang Friday night.

A year ago at this time, when Yukon hosted Mustang in one of the final games at the old Miller Pride Stadium, an overflow crowd surrounded the field and brought a playoff atmosphere to a Week 1 ballgame.

I expect a similar feeling tonight at Bronco Stadium — the first game against Yukon since the new bleachers were built last year. A Mustang administrator said they expect around 13,000 fans for Canadian County Bedlam tonight, and I don’t doubt it. It’s a huge game between two schools that continue to grow in size and football prowess.

What to watch for: Mustang

Keep an eye on the offensive line. That group will be the biggest key to Mustang’s success, not only against Yukon, but all season. If they can protect QB Brandon Taylor, the Mustang offense will move up and down the field the way it has been accustomed to the last few years. But if Taylor spends too much time on the seat of his pants, it could be a long night for Bronco followers.

Defensively, Mustang has some experience, and the secondary must avoid mistakes. Keeping the Millers’ unproven run game in check will be a big help.

What to watch for: Yukon

This is purely speculation on my part, but I wonder if QB Corben Jones will go back to running more, like he did as a sophomore? Last year, he was able to get rid of the ball quickly to one of his deep, talented receiving corps. He has a lot of new guys at receiver this year, and a new running back as well. So I’m curious to see just how often he tucks it and takes off.

One area to keep an eye on will be Yukon’s cornerbacks. Both are new starters, and there’s no tougher first test than Mustang. Even though the Broncos are sending out a new crop of receivers, the offense and the routes are tough to keep up with, and Taylor can pick a secondary apart if given the time.

The Pick: Yukon 30, Mustang 20. This will be my third straight year covering Canadian County Bedlam, and I haven’t seen a bad one yet. Don’t expect to see one tonight, either. I think either of these teams could be ready to make a run at their respective district titles, and winning this game would be an early boost of confidence to help get that done.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

Taylor suffered the injury to his left (throwing) shoulder in Thursday night’s scrimmage vs. El Reno at the Mustang Pigskin Preview. It was feared that he might have broken his collarbone, but X-rays Friday morning came back with good news.

Taylor, one of the top quarterback prospects in the state, threw for more than 3,300 yards and 36 touchdowns last year. The Broncos host Yukon Sept. 2.

Offensive line play is something of a concern for the Broncos with some young players getting their first varsity action up front. They had a better showing Thursday night agianst Lawton MacArthurs in the first game, but had to turn around and play a fresh El Reno team right after.

El Reno’s small, quick defensive line caused trouble for Mustang in the second scirmmage. They sacked Taylor on consecutive plays, injuring his shoulder on the second one.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

Mustang quarterback Brandon Taylor will have X-rays Friday morning on his injured throwing shoulder.

At some point Friday morning, Mustang quarterback Brandon Taylor will find out just how bad he hurt his left shoulder on Thursday night. It could be as minor as a bruise, or as major as a broken collarbone, but it will be important news either way for the Broncos.

There are a lot of new receivers and some young offensive linemen, so they need Taylor’s leadership and experience to hold the offense together. That’s not to say sophomore Frankie Edwards won’t be a good fill-in. He’s a talented young kid, but he doesn’t have the experience of Taylor.

I’ll have the news on Taylor’s shoulder as soon as I hear something.

As for Thursday’s scrimmages, Mustang had some tackling issues on defense, and the offensive line is still growing up. At receiver, Travis Mitchell showed some impressive skills, and could be valuable at receiver.

Here are some other thoughts from the Pigskin Preview:

-El Reno showed some promise, and looked a lot better on offense than when I saw them at team camp in Yukon back in June. Rashaad Copeland and Ray Little are two very dangerous athletes who each made some big plays. Copeland has been drawing some college attention from OSU, Kansas and North Texas.

-Norman North is still looking for some offensive continuity at quarterback. Bryan Payne is a talented running back, but the two QBs — senior Chad Ehrhart and junior Peyton Gavras — had some ups and downs Thursday. Defensively, the Timberwolves were strong against Altus, and they’ll need to hang their hat on that side of the ball while the offense comes along.

-Justin Jones’ first preseason at McGuinness has been a rough one. He had five starters sidelined Thursday, including most of his linebackers. No major injuries, but still, those guys are missing valuable time under a new coach. QB Camden Tharp has a good skillset, and I’d look for him to have a good year. The Irish got a good performance from the offensive line, and that will be important as they try to develop the run game.

-Lawton MacArthur looks good. Really good. I know Tulsa East Central has a lot of star power. I haven’t seen them or any of the other top teams in 5A, but Mac has a lot of athletes all over the place, not to mention the best kicker in the state, which is always a nice feature. RB Darius Graham is a big, strong runner, and Michael Thomas is a beast at cornerback. When he gets in press coverage, his WR isn’t getting off the line of scrimmage most of the time. Most of Mac’s linemen are playing both ways, so that’s always an issue with stamina, but they’re going to be a dangerous team.

-Lawton Eisenhower looks vastly different with Adrian McDonald on the field. The athletically gifted quarterback sat out Thursday night’s scrimmage after suffering a rib injury last week. Coach Boone Copeland said he didn’t know when McDonald would be back, but he’s hoping to have him next week for the opener.

-Altus is obviously battling through a transition, like a lot of teams, but the Bulldogs have a more positive attitude than just about any team I’ve been around this year. Diquon Woodhouse — who is in my top five favorite names in HS football this year — made some solid plays, including a pick-six for Altus’ only TD. He doesn’t seem to have any lingering effects from the sprained MCL in spring ball, even though he still wore a brace for protection.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK

Midwest City's Ronnie Davis throws a pass during Thursday's scrimmage against Muskogee.

Unless you were a Tulsa Union fan, you probably didn’t come away feeling completely satisfied after the four-team scrimmage at Midwest City Thursday night.

The Redskins, owners of the last three Class 6A gold balls, looked solid across the board Thursday night, including junior starting quarterback Hunter Atyia (pronounced uh-TIE-uh). More on him later.

As for Mustang and Midwest City — two of the teams who will be battling this year for the title of Great West Hope — both had their bright moments, but both faced some struggles, especially on defense.

Union scored four touchdowns on the Broncos during the 30-minute scrimmage. Mustang started several sophomores last season, so they’re still young on that side of the ball. But they have a good amount of experience.

“No excuses right now, because a bunch of them played last year,” coach Ty Prestidge said. “I’m happy with them. I think Union will make a lot of people look like that, especially this time of year.”

Offensively, you knew Midwest City would be a little shaky at times, considering two quarterbacks — Ronnie Davis and Joel Davis (no relation) — are battling for the starting job. The two alternated series, and both had some good moments. Ronnie Davis had the big play of the night, though most of the work was done by receiver Zac Brannon.

Brannon caught a pass on a slip screen coming in from the right side of the field, cutting across the traffic and outrunning everyone to the end zone for a 70-yard TD. 

Here are some more news and notes from Thursday night:

Huff looking for more from defense

After a so-so showing from his defense — which is expected to be among the best in the state — Midwest City coach Steve Huff hopes his players will clean up their tackling.

“With as many returners as we have on defense, I think maybe we’ve been reading our clippings too much,” Huff said. “Right now, the main thing for that group is to tackle better. They did not tackle well, and they know it. They’ll watch film and they won’t like what they see, but they’ll go back to work.”

Mustang’s Taylor leading the charge

The Mustang quarterback is working with several new receivers and a few new offensive linemen, so he’s trying to get everyone on the same page in the Broncos’ fast-paced offense.

He was intercepted twice — once on a tipped pass — but overall, coach Ty Prestidge was pleased with his quarterback’s play against Tulsa Union.

“When he has time to throw, he’s good. And he’s like anybody else when he has people hanging on him,” Prestidge said. “We’re gonna get better on the offensive line, and I think our receivers are gonna come around.

“We were happy with Brandon’s performance. He’s gonna have a good year.”

Mustang looking for receivers

Mustang graduated its top five receivers from last year’s team, including All-State first-teamer David Glidden, so the pass-happy Broncos are looking for depth, playmakers and reliable hands.

Aside from a couple of drops, Mustangs receivers were solid, coming through with a few big plays. Derek Garvin and Dakota Warrington are among the leaders of the group, and sophomore Colton Hadlock is working his way into a bigger role.

“He’s a big target and he caught everything that was thrown at him tonight,” coach Ty Prestidge said. “I think he’s gonna come on and be a good one. He showed some promise tonight.”

Tulsa Union’s Atyia steps into starter’s role

Hunter Atyia got plenty of experience as a sophomore last season filling in when starting quarterback Kale Pearson got hurt, and Atyia looked solid moving the offense against Mustang Thursday night at Midwest City.

But the expectations will be a little heftier for Atyia this season.

“He’s really made for that position,” Union coach Kirk Fridrich said. “The experience is there, but as a sophomore, there weren’t a lot of expectations on him. This year, it’s a different game. It’s a lot easier to go in and play as a backup than it is to be the guy. But he’s getting there, and we’re excited about what he did tonight.”

Muskogee’s Williams in different role

Williams is in a new offensive role under first-year coach Josh Blankenship, shifting from quarterback to receiver. He’s being recruited primarily as a defensive back, but his offensive skills will be valuable for the Roughers this year.

“A lot of our offense is gonna have to be finding as many creative ways as possible to get the ball in his hands,” Blankenship said. “That’s why we put him in the receiver position. We want to get the ball to him out in space.”

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Mustang senior June Tigert shot 61 at an OJGT tournament at Trosper Park on Sunday.

Mustang senior June Tigert shot a 9-under-par 61 Sunday in a runaway victory of the Oklahoma Junior Golf Tour Trosper Challenge at Trosper Park.

Tigert, The Oklahoman’s All-City Girls Golfer of the Year last spring, carded eight birdies, one eagle and one bogey in the final round to win the tournament by 11 strokes.

“I just felt good. I was hitting good shots, making putts — just giving myself a chance,” Tigert said. “It was tons of fun, and it was even better, because I was playing with all my friends and they were all supporting me.”

Her 61 came one day after she recorded her career best score of 66 in the first round of the Trosper Challenge. For the 36-hole tournament, Tigert had 12 birdies, one eagle and one bogey to finish at 13-under-par 127.

Tigert shot 28 on the front nine Sunday, including three birdies and an eagle on holes 6-9.

“I try not to think about my score during the round and just wait until the end,” Tigert said. “I had no idea I could do that until I actually did it.”

Edmond North’s Allison Sell, the first-day leader after shooting 65, finished second at 2-under 138.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

You can hear all the games of QB Brandon Taylor and the Mustang Broncos on KKNG 97.3 FM this season.

Radio station KKNG, 97.3 FM, will carry live game broadcasts of Mustang football this season, school athletic director Chuck Bailey said.

The station will carry all Mustang football games, along with pregame and postgame shows. Jim Miller and Mike Hall will provide play-by-play and commentary.

Miller, a teacher and tennis coach at Harrah High School, is also the public address announcer for Oklahoma City Thunder home games.

Mustang’s season opens at home Sept. 2 vs. Yukon.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Mustang's Brandon Taylor comes in at No. 28 on the Super 30.

Gonna split up the reviews of the Super 30 kids into two posts per week instead of one. In this trio, we begin to see how deep the quarterback spot is in the state. Spoiler alert: you’re going to see even more quarterbacks in the very near future.

However, here’s a recap of Nos. 28-26:

28. Brandon Taylor, QB, Mustang
It irked quite a few Varsity followers that Taylor wasn’t on the original list in February. Taylor worked his way onto the list. Taylor obviously received a lot of looks because of stud WR David Glidden last season, but he’s proving he’s more than capable and deserving of his own attention. And seriously, any excuse to show this photo shot by Chris Landsberger is good enough for me.

For Scott Wright’s story on Taylor, go here.

27. Keon Hatcher, WR, Owasso
Starting to separate himself from the field just a bit. There was a logjam in my eyes at wide receiver a couple of months ago, but Hatcher is pulling away down the stretch. Great camp performances combined with getting an offer from Arkansas has me believing No. 27 might end up being too low when we get right down to it.

For Anthony Slater’s story on Hatcher, go here.

26. Darrack Harger, QB, Sand Springs
Been a name on the radar for a while. I say that because I remember the lack of panic for the Sandites when Johnny Deaton got injured a couple of years ago. Here you have an Oklahoma State commit (at the time) going down, and Sand Springs was still feeling good about things. That said to me all I needed to know about the future of Harger, who was just a sophomore at the time.

For Tariq Lee’s story on Harger, go here.

Who is No. 25? Find out Thursday in The Oklahoman and NewsOK.com/Varsity. And catch up on all your Super 30 goodies as our daily countdown continues until we reach No. 1 on July 24.

***

Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com

Selby is leaving Southwestern Oklahoma State in Weatherford to become the new baseball coach at Mustang High School.

“Scott Selby is a home run hire for Mustang High School and our baseball program. He has built top notch programs and experienced success at a very high level,” said athletic director Chuck Bailey. “We feel very fortunate to land a coach of this caliber for our program.”

Selby was an assistant coach at Yukon from 1988-1997 when he was hired as the head coach Southern Nazarene University. He left after the 2007 season and spent four years at Southwestern, concluding with a 33-win season and top 25 ranking this spring.

Selby was an All-State second baseman at Duncan High School in 1982. He replaces former Mustang coach Tony Evans, who resigned on May 9.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

After giving up football last year, former Guthrie phenom Kye Staley is back with OSU.

It was a different scene for yours truly Saturday. Initially had plans to cover the finals of the Bill Tipton VII baseball tournament at Carl Albert, I was asked instead to help cover the Oklahoma State spring football game.

And I gotta say, it was great to see former Guthrie star Kye Staley back out there. He looked great in his 11 carries for 55 yards. The Tulsa World’s Bill Haisten had a great line about Staley: ‘he should be wearing green pants.’

Quarterback Brandon Weeden was wearing a green jersey to identify that he wasn’t to be hit. Well, with all the problems Staley has had with his knee, the green pants sounded appropriate.

Staley didn’t wear green pants, however. He took some big shots to the knee. But he bounced right back up. Staley is a big boy now. He’s more fullback than running back at this point. He’s about 215 pounds, and you can see that his desire and love of the game is back.

It was tremendous to see and you can also tell how happy his teammates are for him and for the team that Staley is back.

After giving up the sport before last season, Staley’s confidence is back. And that is a good thing for the Cowboys. For my story on Staley, here ya go.

Other spring game thoughts

- They’re all wearing the orange and black of OSU, but to me, they’ll all be known as ‘former (high school) star’ when it comes to the in-state products.

- Former Carl Albert star Daytawion Lowe made a couple of nice plays. He was also beat on a touchdown by Tracy Moore, but Lowe had an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown and had a couple of nice hits.

- Speaking of Moore, the former Tulsa Union star has become a much better college player than I thought he’d be. He is definitely among the top four receivers for the Cowboys. Moore got open a couple of times and had four grabs for 128 yards and two touchdowns.

- Like Moore, former Redskins star Jeremy Smith continues to impress me. I loved watching him play in high school and that hasn’t gone away in college. He had a great touchdown run on a spin move and also caught a touchdown pass. He said his biggest improvement this spring was in the passing game.

- Lo and behold, was that Joe Aska Jr.? Yep, the former Edmond North star running back had a couple of attempts and scored a touchdown. With that loaded backfield, cannot imagine Aska seeing too much time, but it was great to see him land on his feet.

- OK, I do admit Brandon Weeden (Santa Fe), Justin Blackmon (Plainview) and Josh Cooper (Mustang) are known more as Cowboys at this point. They’ve earned it.

- But by far, the biggest change was not having to keep my own stats. I was lost. I still did, but then I was handed a packet of everything you could ask for. And it was nice to be working with fellow chum Brandon Chatmon (@BChatmon on Twitter) again. All ‘n all, a fun way to spend a Saturday.

***

Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com

Coach of the Year: Alan Green – Mustang

Most Valuable Player: Josh Richardson – Santa Fe

Offensive Player of the Year: Dominique Raney – Putnam City

Defensive Player of the Year: Ben Berry – Mustang

Newcomer of the Year: Tavionne Pennon – Putnam City West

1^st Team
Dominique Raney – Putnam City
David Glidden – Mustang
Armon Provo – Putnam City North
Kyndall Dudley – Putnam City West
Ben Berry – Mustang
Aaron Anderson – Santa Fe

2^nd Team
RonQuis Lewis – Putnam City
Joe Summers – Putnam City North
Dante Lewis – Putnam City West
Michael Onuoha – Santa Fe
Matt Burton – Yukon

3^rd Team
D’Anthony Perkins – Yukon
Deonta Samilton – Choctaw
Terrell Savala – Santa Fe
Jacob Strassle – Mustang
Kevin House – Putnam City West

Honorable Mention
Trey Thomas – Putnam City, Zac Grismer – Mustang, Keipher Hotella – Choctaw, Ed Baker – Edmond North, Ricco Smith – Putnam City North, JR Simon – Putnam City North, Zac Brown – Choctaw

MVP- Elizabeth Donohoe- Edmond North­­­­­

Offensive- Courtney Walker- Edmond Santa Fe

Defensive- LaShawn Jones- Putnam City

Newcomer- Mallory Brothers- Mustang

Coach of the Year- Paul Bass- Edmond Santa Fe

1^st Team All Conference:
1.  Elizabeth Donohoe- Edmond North­­­­­
2.  Courtney Walker- Edmond Santa Fe
3.  LaShawn Jones- Putnam City
4.  Joh’vonna Mitchell- Putnam City North
5.  Layton Hurley- Choctaw

2^nd Team All Conference:
1.  TaNita Dewberry- Edmond North
2.  Mallory Brothers- Mustang
3.  Jade Hardy- Yukon
4.  Whitney Dunn- Mustang
5.  Anna Kimsey- Edmond North

Honorable Mention:
1.  Alexis Watson- Putnam City North
2.  Daisha Gonzaque- Edmond Santa Fe
3.  Sydney Wyatt- Choctaw
4.  Cameerah Graves- Edmond Santa Fe
5.  MacKenzie York- Yukon
6.  Sarah Magness- Putnam City West
7.  Allison Altman- Putnam City West
8.  Kelsey Abraham- Putnam City North
9.  Jamie Moore- Putnam City
10.  Jasmine Sievert- Choctaw
11.  Kiersten Deckard- Yukon
12.  Jamiece Nelson- Putnam City
13.  Amanda Biorato- Mustang

***

Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com

103 First Team: Cooper Finch (Yukon)
103 Honorable Mention: Nick Cosgrove (PC West) 

112 First Team: Lloyd Crownover (Yukon)
112 Honorable Mention: Jordan Armstrong (Ed North) 

119 First Team: Derek White (Ed North)
119 Honorable Mention: Brett Dunning (Santa Fe) 

125 First Team: Kyle Garcia (Choctaw)
125 Honorable Mention: Hunter Bright (Ed. North) 

130 First Team: Tanner Hamilton (Mustang)
130 Honorable Mention: Brandon Coleman (Putnam City) 

135 First Team: Connor Adams (PC North)
135 Honorable Mention: Jacob Armstrong (Ed North) 

140 First Team: Weston Slater (Mustang)
140 Honorable Mention: Bryce Hendricks (Ed North) 

145 First Team: Blake Lawson (Choctaw)
145 Honorable Mention: Chris Nelson (Ed North) 

152 First Team: Marshall Dickson (Choctaw)
152 Honorable Mention: Ted Baker (Putnam City) 

160 First Team: Lance Dixon (Ed North)
160 Honorable Mention: Logan Thomas (Yukon) 

171 First Team: Marcese Dickson (Choctaw)
171 Honorable Mention: Mitch Wilson (Putnam City)

189 First Team: Austin Schafer (Ed North)
189 Honorable Mention: Carson Mathews (Yukon) 

215 First Team: Andrew Dixon (Ed North)
215 Honorable Mention: Elie Rushing (Putnam City)

285 First Team: Hunter Davis (Choctaw)
285 Honorable Mention: Lantz Parks (Yukon)

***

Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com

But as Lewis drove into the lane, the ball was knocked away, and somehow found its way to Raney, who picked it up and swished the game-winning 3-pointer in a 52-50 victory at Mustang. Not only is Raney one of the state’s top recruits in the 2011 class, he’s been one of the most clutch players the last couple seasons.

Raney had three 3-pointers on the night and finished with 21 points. Lewis had a silent first half, but came alive for all seven of his points and some key rebounds and blocks in the second half. David Bush had 10 points off the bench.

Ben Berry led Mustang with 19 points, playing strong around the rim and knocking down a couple jumpers, too. Zac Grismer had 11 for the Broncos, who fell to 15-3, but should still earn a host berth as a top-four seed for the playoffs. Those seedings will be announced later this week.

Last-second drama aside, this was a huge win for the Pirates, who had fallen to No. 16 in last week’s rankings. The improved to 8-10 with the win in what has been a rocky season with several freshmen and sophomores not only getting major minutes, but starting.

They just needed something positive to happen to maybe spark a turnaround after a five-game losing streak. This team went through a rough patch — not this rough, by any means — last season, and got hot right about now to run to the 6A title. I’m not saying this team is heading for the gold ball, but if they put things together, they’re as talented as anyone out there.

Mustang simply needs to let this one go, and be ready for the rivalry game against Yukon on Tuesday. The Millers have the talent to beat them if they have any type of emotional hangover from this one.

In the girls game, Putnam City’s LaShawn Jones scored 30 points through the first three quarters, but Mustang won the game in the fourth by shutting out the OSU signee and outscoring the Pirates 15-7.

Four Mustang girls reached double-figures in the 69-61 victory, and the Broncos needed the win, having lost eight of the last 10 coming into Monday night.

Mustang has good size and good guard play, which will make them a tough matchup in the postseason, so this was an important win. A loss could have very possibly hurt their playoff seeding.

In some completely unrelated football recruiting news, I got the chance to talk with a couple of players about life on the recruiting trail.

Mustang safety Jon Luckey has not signed anywhere yet, but the 6-foot-2, 205-pound senior is still in contact with New Mexico and Tulsa, and could land an offer from either place in the coming days. Luckey is a hard-nosed player with good size and speed. He added about 30 pounds since the beginning of his junior year, and it really made a difference for him.

Putnam City junior running back Casey Curtis has continued to gain momentum on the recruiting circuit and enjoyed his recent visit to Oklahoma State on Junior Day a couple weeks ago. His weight is down to about 170, which he isn’t too happy about after playing at about 177 last season. He hopes to get up closer to 190 for his senior year and doesn’t expect adding weight to hinder his speed. He’s been clocked in the 4.38-4.42 range in the 40 multiple times.  We’ll have plenty more on Curtis and many other junior recruits as we start diving into the Class of 2012 in the days, weeks and months to come.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

11. Davion Pierson, Millwood (TCU) — The other local boy (not on Del City) going to Gary Patterson and the Horned Frogs. Pierson’s dedication to his conditioning was key this year.

12. Daniel Davis, Norman North (Pennsylvana) — Went his separate ways with Stanford and has found a home in the Ivy League. Comfortable with decision.

13. Archie Bradley, Broken Arrow (Oklahoma) — Such a great baseball prospect that I would be shocked to see Bradley on OU’s campus in the fall though he said he really wants to be there.

14. Tyler Lockett, Tulsa Washington (Kansas State) — Played the role of recruiter himself in getting teammate Dante Barnett to join him in Manhattan.

15. Kameron Doolittle, Edmond Memorial (Northeastern Oklahoma) — Coaching changes proved crucial at Colorado and Tulsa. Still has a very upbeat attitude about his future.

16. Cody Miller, Lawton (East Central University) — A steal for the Ada-based program. Miller is about as solid as they come. ACL injury hurt his prospects.

17. Hunter Davis, Choctaw (Kansas State) — A late change from Tulsa to KSU, said he felt really comfortable in Manhattan.

18. Trevon Lewis, Midwest City (Texas State) — Midwest City assistant Jason Sexton said Lewis should be signing with Texas State, he’s another late sleeper if you ask me.

19. David Glidden, Mustang (Oklahoma State) — Proving again size doesn’t matter, Glidden could become a household name in a couple of years for the Cowboys.

20. Jake Love, Tonkawa (Kansas) — A solid senior season removed any doubts about Jayhawks taking a chance on Tonkawa product.

Wednesday: Nos. 10-1.

***

Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com

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.

***

Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com

Bruce Gray Invitational
Monday (I’ll be there)
At Deer Creek
Seventh place: McGuinness JV vs. Star Spencer, 11:30 a.m.
Fifth place: Western Heights vs. OCS, 2:30
Third place: Deer Creek vs. Enid, 5:30
Championship: Mustang vs. Putnam North, 8:30

I felt Deer Creek would have to play a near perfect game to beat Putnam North. The Antlers didn’t, and the Panthers cruised in the fourth quarter to a 69-53 victory.

I have never seen Garrett Hermanski bottled up like that. PCN’s Armon Provo, an explosive scorer in his own right, put the clamps on one of the best juniors in the state. Provo frustrated Hermanski, was extremely physical with him and never let Hermanski get into that groove.

Hermanski had five points at halftime and nine points total. Great job by Provo.

If it was Provo on defense, then it was the Joe Summers show on offense. He hit three 3s in the first half that really set the tone for his game. Antlers had to come out and guard him, and he’s too strong off the dribble.

It was interesting because Deer Creek’s Jalen Burnett is a really talented player. However, the size of Summers was something he simply could not deal with it. Burnett still managed to have a really good game, but it was a clear difference of 5A and 6A in terms of the size there.

In contrast, the Panthers learned why the Deer Creek community goes ga-ga over sophomore Joel Blumenthal. He was trying to put the team on his back in the third quarter. He scored 11 points, including connecting on three 3s to pull the game within 41-38. However, all runs must come to an end, and Deer Creek couldn’t muster a response after JR Simon hit a three-point play and Provo drained a 3 at the end of the third to make it 50-42.

Mustang 46, Enid 38

Interesting Mustang team. First time I’ve gotten to see them. Do a lot of the gritty things, not afraid to go in there and mix it up. Not sure if the Broncos have the perimeter shooting for a long run.

Impressed with Ben Berry and David Glidden. Speaking of Glidden, he took a nasty shot to his shoulder in the third quarter but missed minimal time. After getting checked out, he was right back out there.

I see why Mustang is so highly regarded by opposing coaches, but neither myself nor Scott Wright has seen Mustang on its best day. Perhaps that will be Monday?

Looking ahead to Monday…

Rematch of last year’s final when Provo absolutely went off for 33 points and a PCN title. I don’t see this one being a blowout at all, but I stated earlier I thought Rick Harris’ boys would win it so I’ll stand by that.

Deer Creek coach Matt Bailey faces his former squad, Enid, in the third-place game. It’s not as simple as Hermanski vs. Alex Patterson and whoever has the better game, his team wins, but it’s close. They trigger so much on their respective teams when they’re playing well.

And OCS, who I almost left for dead after Thursday, has a chance to claim fifth place against a surprising McGuinness JV team. After losses to Heritage Hall and Deer Creek, big response by the Saints against Star Spencer.

Bruce Gray Invitational
Monday (I’ll be there)
At Deer Creek
Girls
Seventh place: OCS vs. Putnam West, 10 a.m.
Fifth place: Deer Creek vs. Western Heights, 1 p.m.
Third place: Enid vs. Star Spencer, 4 p.m.
Championship: McGuinness vs. Putnam North, 7 p.m.

Somebody asked me Thursday to predict the winners in the Bruce Gray Invitational, and I said the McGuinness girls and the Putnam North boys. I was three minutes away from being wrong Saturday.

The Irish girls trailed Star Spencer 35-29 before going on a 13-2 run to win 42-37 and advance to Monday’s championship game.

I’ve never seen McGuinness look so lost as it did yesterday. Coach Jennifer Burch gave Star Spencer a lot of the credit as the 1-2-2 zone befuddled the normally efficient Irish.

Burch said when the offense is down, the defense can’t let up. It didn’t. Eventually it was the defense that spurred the run. The press was able to create turnovers and Elyse Hight came up big down the stretch as she has for basically the whole season.

Another great game by Sharane Campbell of Star Spencer. She’s a fighter, no doubt. Felt like Star had set up McGuinness for that knockout blow but simply never delivered it.

Putnam North 45, Enid 37

Another two years with Courtney Chelf, Enid fans are lucky. She’s a good one and her three-pointer at the end of the third made it 30-29 Enid going into the fourth.

However, this was a good statement made by the Panthers. I always look to Joh’Vonna Mitchell and Alexis Watson, but Kelsey Abraham was the star in this one. And give a lot of credit to Blaire Hall’s eight points off the bench.

Watson took a nasty fall midway through the third with PCN leading 27-23. She missed the rest of the third and start of the fourth before coming back in. She seemed OK, hope she is for Monday night.

Looking ahead to Monday…

I think Rae Rae Brannon is going to have to come up big for the Panthers. She’s tiny, but she has more quickness than what the Irish are used to dealing with. Mitchell cannot get in foul trouble against Hight and Alexa Lienhard (and vice versa on that one).

Third-place game should be a  good battle between Chelf and Campbell. I like Enid in a close one. Fifth-place game is intriguing in the grand scheme of things as Western Heights and Deer Creek might be still standing when it comes to the 5A state tournament. I like Dilan Webster to help the Jets prevail in that one.

Bruce Gray Invitational
At Deer Creek
Thursday
Boys
Mustang vs. McGuinness JV, 11:30 a.m.
Putnam City North vs. Star Spencer, 2:30
OCS vs. Deer Creek, 5:30
Enid vs. Western Heights, 8:30
Girls
McGuinness vs. Putnam West, 10 a.m.
Putnam North vs. OCS, 1 p.m.
Western Heights vs. Star Spencer, 4 p.m.
Deer Creek vs. Enid, 7 p.m.

So I wanted to take a minute to hit some of the highlights, school-by-school, and look ahead to some potential big moments in the near future as we get ready for what could be a wild second half of the season.

Yukon

Let’s start with the Millers, who have had a roller-coaster 2011. Coming into the year with the momentum of a tournament championship in Ardmore, the Millers lost at home to rival Mustang, then lost three at the McGuinness Classic. But things turned up on Tuesday when Micole Nicholson scored 21 points in an upset of No. 5 Putnam City. Their tournament schedule is complete, but they’ve got big games against Choctaw and Edmond Santa Fe coming soon.

The Millerettes also face Choctaw and ESF before opening tournament play in Moore as Kelly Clarke’s girls try to get back in the top 20. Outside of an ugly loss to Mustang, Yukon has been playing well, and they showed their ability to defend inside by holding LaShawn Jones to nine points in an 11-point win over Putnam City on Tuesday.

Mustang

Sitting at No. 6 in the polls this week, the Broncos are showing that they’re legit. Avenging the loss to PC North from the Duncan tournament final with a 14-point win on Tuesday was a big statement behind 18 points from Robert Shaw and 14 from Ben Berry. Following Edmond North and Choctaw on the schedule is the Deer Creek tournament, which signaled the turnaround for this team last year, when they surprisingly went from No. 7 seed to tourney runner-up.

The Bronco girls looked like they had turned a corner wit the 20-point win at Yukon on Jan. 4, and that might still be the case, even though they’ve lost four straight. There’s not a bad team in the bunch among those four losses, though it certainly hurts confidence, especially the fourth-quarter performance at PC North, getting outscored 9-1 in an eight-point loss. But Robert Foreman will get his team to bounce back, though the schedule doesn’t get much easier, with Edmond North, Choctaw and the ultra-loaded Carl Albert Tournament coming up.

PC North

A tough couple of weeks for the Panthers as they wait to get coach Rick Harris back from his medical issues. Having traded text messages with Harris, I can tell how frustrating it is for him that his recovery hasn’t gone as fast as he’d like and that he isn’t back on the court with his players yet. And there’s no time to rest, with a showdown at PC West coming Friday.

On the girls side, it’s been hard to figure out the Panthers, but Tuesday’s win over Mustang was solid. They’ve got an interesting mix of big wins (or strong performances in defeat) and ugly losses. But with three straight wins and potentially four heading into a big game with Edmond North, we might have seen this team get everyone on the same page. Both PCN squads will be at Deer Creek for tourney play next week.

Putnam City

A.D. Burtschi’s Pirates are one 18-foot jumper away from a three-game losing streak, and they’re still trying to build some consistency. They played well at the PCI, despite losing to Midwest City in the finals, but the loss to Yukon Tuesday was painful. Making things worse, they don’t have what you would consider an “easy” game until February, starting with a top-five showdown against No. 3 Edmond Santa Fe on Friday.

The girls’ schedule is just as dangerous, if not moreso, because they’ve got the Carl Albert tourney in the middle, and as I’ve said, that field is packed with talent. The Chickasha tourney title was big after such a rough start that was in large part a product of a super-tough schedule.

PC West

The Patriots are no fluke. They’ve got four guys who have shown they can go for 15 any night, and Kyndall Dudley continues to put up big games. They’ve got back-to-back PC rivalry games, first PCN then PC, prior to the Bartlesville Tournament next week, so there are a few more chances to make some noise on a large scale.

Offense seems to be coming around for the PCW girls, having scored 48 or more in two of the last four games, and with a couple of rivalry games on tap, this could be the chance to build some momentum. They’ve also got the Deer Creek tournament ahead, where they will see some good competition as well.

Varsity writer Robert Przybylo says Guthrie's Kentrell Brothers was the best player in the state

You’ve been on pins and needles, admit it. You’ve been wondering what my top 10 players in the state ballot would look like.

Well, wonder no more. We’ve named Aliston Cobb, Brandon Swindall, Donovan Roberts and Kentrell Brothers as Players of the Year in one form of another. David Glidden captured the NewsOK.com honor. Now here’s the even more ‘prestigious’ Boneman Award.

10. Alex Ross, RB, Jenks

Ooh, this was tough. Between Ross and QB Sawyer Kollmorgen, one of the Trojans was getting on this list. But after watching some Jenks’ games on Cox onDemand (hey, blatant plug), Kollmorgen had the consistency, but Ross had the wow factor. Where did this kid come from? Excited for his senior year.

9. Tyrequek Zimmerman, WR/DB, Lawton

For most of the year we didn’t really get to see what he could do. The Wolverines dominated the district. However, when the playoffs came around, Zimmerman was on full display on both sides of the ball. Zimmerman is headed to Oregon State (joined by teammate Jabral Johnson).

8. Donovan Roberts, RB, Norman

Take what I said about Ross and paste it here. Tremendous size, great speed, future is incredibly bright for the Tigers RB. Workhorse, doesn’t fumble, scores and gains yards against some of the toughest teams in the state. It may not be possible, but I think he might be even better next season.

7. Aliston Cobb, RB, Douglass

Not much more needs to be said about Cobb’s record season for the Trojans. All I point to is his two TDs against Wagoner. He gets hurt, team doesn’t get another first down. Now that’s an impact on a team.

6. Brandon Swindall, WR/DB, Millwood

Cannot believe schools aren’t busting his door down with offers. Some might say playing in 2A helps his numbers. I say if he was playing against bigger classes, he would have no problem adapting his game and have just as big an impact. All the great ones adjust.

5. Derrick Alexander, DL/LB, Booker T.

You could make a great argument that Alexander was the best defensive player in the state this season. The Hornets were loaded with incredible talent all over the place, but Alexander stood out. I mean you always knew where Alexander was on the field.

4. David Glidden, WR/DB/KR, Mustang

Always loved watching Glidden play. Week 2 against Edmond North last season — I was officially on the bandwagon. He was a little banged up at times this season so I don’t think we saw his full potential, but it does hurt when you’re trying to rank his season. We’ll see his full potential at Oklahoma State.

3. Christian Hood, WR/DB, Union

Now this is a kid I wish I could have seen on a weekly basis. Love the way he plays the game. And what can you say about his performance against Jenks in the championship? Another great prospect teams are sleeping on.

2. Sterling Shepard, QB/RB/WR/DB/KR, Heritage Hall

I won’t say too much here (haven’t I said enough at this point). When a play had to be made, Shepard did it — no matter what. Won’t forget that Kingfisher outing anytime soon.

1. Kentrell Brothers, RB/WR/DL, Guthrie

If I didn’t know Guthrie coach Rafe Watkins and his staff so well, I would venture to say they don’t know how to figure up stats. Those couldn’t be real numbers, right? Brothers is legit in every way, shape and form. He should make a fine transition to LB at Missouri, and I agree with Watkins who said in his All-State nomination form, “Kentrell is the best player in the state.” He was.

He jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Mustang’s David Glidden has always been a popular fella, and he proves it on these polls. He’s a likable kid who busts his butt off on the football field. Glidden easily won the first ever NewsOK.com Player of the Year, with Kentrell Brothers in second and Sterling Shepard right behind him.

Looking forward to great things from Glidden at Oklahoma State.

For Scott Wright’s All-State story on Glidden, here ya go.

Poll results for NewsOK.com Player of the Year:

1. David Glidden, Mustang – 597 votes, 32.7 percent
2. Kentrell Brothers, Guthrie – 480 votes, 26.3 percent
3. Sterling Shepard, Heritage Hall – 466 votes, 25.5 percent
4. Aliston Cobb, Douglass – 164 votes, 9 percent
5. Brandon Swindall, Millwood – 117 votes, 6.4 percent

The Varsity staff would like to thank everybody for their participation. It was great discussion on the blogs, and 1,824 votes were tallied. I’ll be back Monday with my personal top 10 players of the year.

Thursday’s Results
Girls
Ardmore 58, Lawton 45, seventh place
Northwest Classen 64, Putnam City West 50, girls fifth place
Mustang 68, Southeast 50, third place
Fort Smith-Northside 54, Yukon 32, championship

Boys
Guthrie 45, Southeast 40, seventh place
Midwest City 62, Ardmore 58, fifth place
PC West 82, Carl Albert 67, third place
Del City vs. Yukon, 7 p.m., championship

4:05 p.m.: The Mustang girls have a 22-point lead on Southeast in the girls third-place game with just under two minutes left to play. More exciting, however, we’re running pretty well on time after a dreadfully long day yesterday that ended around midnight.

5:07 p.m.: After holding a 10-point halftime lead, Putnam City West has started the second half fast and leads 54-35 on Carl Albert midway through the third quarter in the boys third place game.

5:15 p.m.: One thing we’ve learned this week: PC West is for real. They didn’t get lucking in a couple big wins. This is a good basketball team. Kyndall Dudley has hit six 3-pointers. He and Dante Lewis could each go for 20 in this game. The Pats are up 21 as we near the end of the third quarter.

5:40 p.m.: PC West takes third in the boys tournament with an 82-67 win over Carl Albert. Dante Lewis finished with 28 and Kyndall Dudley had 25 for the Pats. The girls title game is a few minutes away.

6:07 p.m.: Northside leads Yukon 8-4 at the end of the first quarter.

6:24 p.m.: Impressive run by the Millerettes gets them a brief lead late in a wildly exciting, fast-paced second quarter, but Northside finishes strong for a 21-17 advantage at the break.

6:50 p.m.: Big third quarter from Northside for a 39-22 advantage heading into the fourth.

7:14 p.m.: Northside takes the girls title, 54-32, over Yukon. The boys title game between Yukon and Del City will get going in about seven minutes.

Here is your girls All-Tournament team: Whitney Dunn, Mustang; Mackenzie York, Yukon; Jade Hardy, Yukon; Mannasha Bell, Northside; Taylor Green, Northside; MVP: Chauntel Terry, Northside.

7:40 p.m.: The first quarter goes to Yukon with a 15-10 advantage on Del City. Yukon’s D’Anthony Perkins has shown he is as athletic as just about any guard in the city area.

7:55 p.m.: A late rally for the Millers gives them a 25-21 edge at halftime. Del City led 21-18 with under two minutes to play in the half.

8:16 p.m.: Del City keeps scoring, and Yukon keeps answering, particularly with 3-pointers — one apiece from Shon Willilams, D’Anthony Perkins and Matt Burton, while Jordan Brown added a three-point play inside. Yukon leads 43-33 after three quarters.

8:32 p.m.: Yukon pulled out to a 49-38 lead, but seven straight points from the Eagles has it down to a four-point game with just over three minutes left to play.

8:47 p.m.: It came down to free throws, and the Millers held on for a 55-52 win.

Boys All-Tournament Team: Kyndall Dudley, PC West; Steffon Herd, Del City; Brett Cannon, Del City; Shon Williams, Yukon; Jacob Koontz, Yukon; MVP: D’Anthony Perkins.

The Yukon boys and girls are both in the finals at the Ardmore Holiday Classic, where I have been camped out the last three days. The Millerettes face Fort Smith-Northside in what should be a good battle of two teams with good size inside and shooters on the perimeter.

The Millermen face Del City in a matchup of two different but equally well-coached squads. Del City is more athletic and

And the Mustang and Putnam City North boys will square off for the title at the Duncan Invitational, pitting two undersized but extremely athletic squads against each other — and two teams off to very good starts with state tournament goals ahead of them.

Should be a fun day, and I’ll try to keep you updated on as much of it as possible.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

For the Millers, this will be their first time playing for a tournament championship since the current seniors were freshmen.

“It’s gonna be good,” said senior guard Shon Williams, who led the Millers with 16 points Wednesday. “We’ve been working hard, working together for the last four years. We think we can win this, so we’re gonna go out and try our hardest to play well and se if we can win it.”

Added coach Ralph Nigro: “I think it means a lot (to play for a title). We have seven seniors and they’ve been through some bad times. Last year, we won, what, five games? The year before, we won six. So it means a lot to them. I’m happy for them. I’m happy to see them smiling and winning. It’ll be a tough game tomorrow, though.”

Mike Nicholson had 13 points for Yukon, while D’Anthony Perkins and Matt Burton added 10 apiece and Jacob Koontz had nine. Kyndall Dudley led the Patriots with 15 points and Dante Lewis added 14. Kevin House had 11, hitting three of the Pats’ eight 3-pointers.

Here’s the Ardmore Holiday Classic schedule and results, with more game-by-game updates below:

Wednesday’s results
Girls
Northwest Classen 41, Lawton 38
PC West 49, Ardmore 41
Yukon 47, Southeast 28
Fort Smith-Northside 58, Mustang 39

Boys
Midwest City 63, Guthrie 41
Ardmore vs. Southeast, 3 p.m.
Del City 52, Carl Albert 46
Yukon 58, Putnam City West 48

Thursday’s games
Girls
Ardmore vs. Lawton, 11:30 a.m., seventh place (at middle school gym)
Northwest Classen vs. Putnam City West, 11:30 a.m., fifth place
Southeast vs. Mustang, 2:30 p.m., third place
Yukon vs. Fort Smith-Northside, 5:30 p.m., championship

Boys
Guthrie vs. Southeast, 1 p.m., seventh place (at middle school gym)
Midwest City vs. Ardmore, 1 p.m., fifth place
Carl Albert vs. PC West, 4 p.m., third place
Del City vs. Yukon, 7 p.m., championship

Updates below…

4:55 p.m.: Today’s winners so far are the Northwest Classen and Putnam City West girls, who will meet in the fifth-place game Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Midwest City’s boys rolled past Guthrie and Ardmore is up on Southeast 33-26 midway thorugh the third quarter.

5 p.m.: Ardmore standout Nino Jackson is sitting out again today. When I spoke to coach Mark Wilson after the game Tuesday night, he expected Jackson to play today, so I’ll see what the situation is after this game concludes. Ardmore leads 42-32 at the end of the third quarter.

5:15 p.m.: Southeast coach Walt Brewer already had one guard out with a broken foot and he lost another in Tuesday night’s game, so he has had to turn to 6-foot-5 forward Trai Jordan as one of his primary ball-handlers — and he’s doing well. It’s a tough situation for a team with a lot of talented pieces to work with. They’ve got good outside shooters, led by William Brewer, and (when he’s in the paint, not at the point) a strong post presence with Jordan. A floor general with handles is all this team really needs to make a significant jump.

5:57 p.m.: Word out of the Ardmore locker room was that Nino Jackson’s absence today was related to an illness that had him feeling pretty bad at morning shoot-around. Ardmore won by 15. Yukon has an eight-point lead on Southeast in girls winner’s bracket action right now.

6:35 p.m.: Yukon holds a 37-21 advantage on Southeast in the girls semifinals entering the fourth quarter. More stout defense today from Kelly Clarke’s Millerettes.

7:37 p.m.: Mustang trailing Fort Smith-Northside 25-16 late in the first half. We’ll need a Bronco rally if we’re going to get Canadian County Bedlam in the Ardmore final. Of course, the two teams play in Yukon next Tuesday anyway.

8:27 p.m.: FS-Northside up 16 with under a minute left to play, so it’ll be Northside vs. Yukon in the girls final Thursday night at 5:30. We should be underway with the 7 p.m. boys game between Del City and Carl Albert in 15 minutes or so.

8:56 p.m.: Del City grabs the early 13-7 lead on Carl Albert at the end of the first quarter. Six points for Anthony Holland for the Eagles.

9:19 p.m.: Carl Albert pulled back in it to give us a tight one at the break. Del City is clinging to a 25-23 lead. Dondre Brookins has three 3-pointers for the Titans and Holland has nine points for the Eagles as well.

9:50 p.m.: Del City extends its lead to 39-30 at the end of the third. Del City freshman Brett Cannon had a pair of big buckets in the third and has 11 points for the game.

10:05 p.m.: CA and DC all tied up with two minutes to play.

10:15 p.m.: The Eagles take the Mid-Del battle, 52-46. Anthony Holland finishes with 14 points to lead the way. Yukon and PC West are about to get started in our final game of the night.

10:54 p.m.: Yukon takes a 28-18 lead on PC West to halftime. Del City is waiting for the winner in the finals, set for Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Tuesday’s games
Girls
Southeast 34, Lawton 28
Yukon 45, Northwest Classen 36
Fort Smith (Ark.) Northside 69, Putnam City West 30
Mustang 66, Ardmore 27

Boys
Putnam City West 70, Midwest City 62
Yukon 41, Guthrie 34
Carl Albert 66, Ardmore 59
Del City 54, Southeast 35

Wednesday’s games
Girls
Loser’s bracket
Lawton vs. Northwest Classen, 11 a.m.
PC West vs. Ardmore, 12:20 p.m.
Winner’s bracket
Southeast vs. Yukon, 4:20 p.m.
Fort Smith-Northside vs. Mustang, 5:40 p.m.
Boys
Loser’s bracket
Guthrie vs. Midwest City, 1:40 p.m.
Ardmore vs. Southeast, 3 p.m.
Winner’s bracket
Carl Albert vs. Del City, 7 p.m.
Putnam City West vs. Yukon, 8:20 p.m.

Updates below…

2:30 p.m.: Shola Adebayo scored 20 of Southeast’s 34 points on the way to a win over Lawton. The Yukon girls played some good defense down the stretch to hold off a NWC rally. Jade Hardy led Yukon with 17 points. Meshelle Parker had 11 for the Knights and Alysia Whitaker added 10. We’re nearing halftime in the first boys game, where PC West is hanging with Midwest City, trailing 24-23. Cortrael Colbert already has 13 for the Bombers.

2:40 p.m.: PC West closes the first half with a 15-4 run to take a 27-24 lead at the half on Midwest City. Kyndall Dudley leading the Patriots with 12 points.

3:35 p.m.: PC West pulls off the upset, 70-62. Kyndall Dudley hit a pair of huge 3s down the stretch and finished with 24 points. Tavionne Pennon added 16, spoiling Cortrez Colbert’s 27-point outing for the Bombers.

4:12 p.m.: Speedy first half from Yukon and Guthrie. The Bluejays lead 13-10 at the break.

4:53 p.m.: The Millers pull away in the fourth for a 41-34 win. It’ll be Yukon and PC West at 8:20 Wednesday night in the boys semifinals.

5:20 p.m.: Not pretty in the third girls game of the day. Fort Smith-Northside leads PC West 20-2 after one quarter.

6:13 p.m.: Northside takes it 69-30 over PC West. The final girls game of the night, Ardmore vs. Mustang, is just a couple minutes away.

7:10 p.m.: Mustang girls out to a 50-20 lead midway through the third quarter. A win would put Mustang against Fort Smith-Northside Wednesday. Yukon faces Southeast in the first semifinal at 4:20 p.m.

8:20 p.m.: Ardmore and Carl Albert tied at the half, 33 apiece. Nino Jackson has not seen the floor for Ardmore so far.

8:45 p.m.: Carl Albert takes a 45-44 lead to the fourth quarter on top-ranked Ardmore.

9:32 p.m.: Sorry for the delayed update, but Carl Albert pulled off the upset of No. 1 Ardmore, 66-59. Ardmore standout Nino Jackson was held out of action by coach’s decision. He is expected to play in Wednesday’s loser’s bracket game against the Del City-Southeast loser.

9:55 p.m.: Del City boys out to a 30-14 lead on Southeast in the final game of the night.

10:38 p.m.: Del City finishes off the night with a 54-35 win over Southeast. We’ll do it all again tomorrow.

Will you cast your vote for Mustang's David Glidden as NewsOK.com Player of the Year?

David Glidden, Mustang
Class: Senior
Team record: 7-4
Stats: 1,244 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns on 65 catches, 13 rushes for 107 yards and 1-of-1 passing for 35 yards and a score. Six interceptions, returning four of them for TDs, and four kickoff return TDs. Finished with 46 tackles and averaged 35 yards per punt.

The case: If the numbers don’t speak for themselves, how about the fact that Glidden has been one of the most exciting players in the state the last three years?

He was the focal point of opposing secondaries all season, but still led Class 6A in receiving yards, and he came up with big plays at key times all year. Glidden has shown throughout his career that he’s a threat to score anytime he touches the ball, and 2010 was much of the same. Receptions, interceptions, kickoffs — he found the end zone 25 times in all.

After suffering an ankle injury early in a first-round playoff loss to Lawton Eisenhower, he limped his way to eight catches for 86 yards. Had he stayed healthy, who knows how the game could have gone.

Glidden has always wanted to be an Oklahoma State Cowboy, and he’ll get his chance. He committed last February and will be a perfect fit as a slot receiver in that offense. He would have preferred that Dana Holgorsen had stayed as offensive coordinator rather than head off to West Virginia, but regardless, you know the Cowboys will still be throwing it a ton in the spread, so it will work well for him.

Voting for the first NewsOK.com Player of the Year is open until Friday. Every day this week Varsity writers Robert Przybylo and Scott Wright will tell you why a certain player should win the award. The winner will be announced Jan. 2, the same day The Oklahoman’s All-State team comes out.

Monday: Sterling Shepard, Heritage Hall (Przybylo)
Tuesday: David Glidden, Mustang (Wright)
Wednesday: Brandon Swindall, Millwood (Wright)
Thursday: Aliston Cobb, Douglass (Wright)
Friday: Kentrell Brothers, Guthrie (Przybylo)

Still a week left to vote for the first ever NewsOK.com Player of the Year. David Glidden of Mustang has a commanding lead over Kentrell Brothers of Guthrie as we come down the stretch.

Starting Monday, Scott Wright and myself will write about one candidate per day and why that player should win.

As of Sunday morning, the percentages are as follows:

David Glidden, Mustang — 552 votes, 35.4 percent
Kentrell Brothers, Guthrie — 446 votes, 28.6 percent
Sterling Shepard, Heritage Hall — 236 votes, 20.9 percent
Aliston Cobb, Douglass — 133 votes, 8.5 percent
Brandon Swindall, Millwood — 102 votes, 6.5 percent

Voting is open until Friday.

In the Christmas spirit, we asked some of our All-State football players for their favorite Christmas memories.

Here’s what some of them had to say.

Derrick Alexander, Tulsa Washington

I received the gift of getting into Booker T. Washington. It was one of the best decisions of my life. It just made everything better.”

Dylan Dismuke, Duncan

A four-wheeler I got a couple of years ago. It’s been a way to go off and have fun away from sports all the time.”

Aliston Cobb, Douglass

A football when I was a little boy.”

Austin Beck, Nowata

My parents gave me some GI Joes when I was younger. GI Joes are my ultimate favorite toy.”

David Glidden, Mustang

It’s not just one, but every year in elementary school, I would buy everyone in my family at least one gift and the feeling of giving just made it better than receiving.”

Trevon Lewis, Midwest City

The best gift I received was a big wheel truck. I wanted one so bad when I was a kid, and I woke up one morning for Christmas, and it was sitting in my living room.”

Trent Martin, Jenks

Spider-Man web shooter. I was the biggest Spider-Man fan.”

Tyrequek Zimmerman, Lawton

A go-cart back in the younger days was the best present and also a BB gun.”

Devin Randall, Bartlesville

My favorite Christmas present was the first generation iPod that I received in fifth grade (Boneman’s note: That makes me feel old) This gift was the start of my love for music in my life.”

The Oklahoman’s All-State football team comes out Jan. 2 (Sunday), the same day when the NewsOK Player of the Year will be announced. The Big All-City team comes out Dec. 29 (Wednesday), with the Little All-City team Dec. 30 (Thursday). Voting for the NewsOK Player of the Year is open until Dec. 31.

Scott Wright and myself have made our selections, but now we want to hear from you. Who did you feel was the best player in the state in the greater Oklahoma City area?

Your candidates are:

* Sterling Shepard, Heritage Hall – Shepard did a little bit of everything for the Chargers. From passing to running to receiving to intercepting to returning kicks, he became THE MAN for Heritage Hall when Barry J. Sanders went down.

* David Glidden, Mustang – As said before, a lot of pressure on Glidden to produce after committing to Oklahoma State last winter. He delivered in every way possible on both sides of the ball. Named Gatorade Player of the Year.

* Brandon Swindall, Millwood – With all the talk of teammate Josh Turner, Swindall had one of the most eye-popping stat lines of the year. He had 17 interceptions and returned a national record eight of them back for TDs and was always a force at wide receiver.

* Kentrell Brothers, Guthrie – What didn’t the Missouri commit do for the Bluejays? He could take over a game at wide receiver where Bryan Dutton would just throw it up to Brothers and watch him work. Or he could dominate the game from the defensive line. Pick your poison.

* Aliston Cobb, Douglass – I expected big things from Cobb this year but not this big. He became the ultimate clutch performer in leading the Trojans to the state championship. Against Douglass’ toughest foes, Cobb was at his best, a true mark of a leader and great player.

The voting is open now and will be open until Dec. 31. The winner will be announced Jan. 2, here on the Varsity blog, the same day as when our All-State Football package will run in The Oklahoman.

But when it all shook out, the Putnam City West victory over Edmond Santa Fe was the biggest win. And senior guard Kyndall Dudley had the biggest impact down the stretch, so POW honors go to him.

It was hard to overlook what Mustang accomplished last week, beating No. 2 Putnam City and winning the Harrah Panther Classic. But I had higher expectations for Mustang than a lot of people, and I knew they’d pull off some wins like beating PC. There were a lot more questions around PC West, so to make that kind of statement in the first week of December was huge.

Dudley hit a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and two more in overtime of the Patriots’ 55-51 win at ESF last week. He finished with 17 points. Dante Lewis and Deonte Ogles both played key roles in the win as well.

Interestingly, the two teams leading the upset charge last week will face off tonight when Mustang hosts PC West.

Other contenders

Armon Provo, PC North boys basketball: It was hard to deny Provo yet again after he poured in 34 in the Panthers’ second game of the year against Choctaw. Provo tore it up over the summer and he has carried it into the season.

Ben Berry and David Glidden, Mustang boys basketball: Glidden scored 20 in the upset of PC, and Berry was the leading scorer in all three of the Broncos’ victories at Harrah, including a 23-point effort in the opener. Over the three games, he averaged 17.3 per game.

D’Anthony Perkins, Yukon boys basketball: Perkins scored 14 points in Tuesday’s 21-point rout of Edmond North, leading four double-figure scorers.

Ron’Quis Lewis, Putnam City boys basketball: Lewis scored 24 in the loss to Mustang. At 6-foot-6, Lewis already has an offer from Western Kentucky and his stock will continue to climb with games like this.

Ashley Callahan and Amanda Biorato, Mustang girls basketball: Callahan scored 16 and Biorato 15 in the overtime win over Putnam City.

LaShawn Jones, Putnam City girls basketball: Jones had 24 in the loss to Mustang and 34 total over two games at the Harrah tournament.

Joh’Vonna Mitchell, PC North girls basketball: Averaged 14.5 points over four games last week, including 21 in an eight-point win over Durant Friday.

No. 1 Edmond Memorial rallies from 13 down in the fourth quarter to knock off No. 3 Midwest City on its home floor, hitting four of four free throws in the final 13 seconds to avenge the overtime loss to the Bombers in the first round of the state tournament (well, sort of, though let’s not equate December wins to March wins).

Had to be the biggest drama of the night, right?

Wrong.

Three metro-area games go overtime, with Shawnee nipping Western Heights, Norman North taking down Southmoore and the big one — Putnam City West winning 55-51 at No. 4 Edmond Santa Fe.

That’s a huge win for the Patriots, simply to show themselves and the rest of Class 6A that just because Tyler Neal and Amric Fields are gone, the Pats aren’t going to be a doormat.

Guard Kyndall Dudley hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and overtime to spark the win and Dante Lewis had 10 boards and three blocked shots as the pair of seniors carried PC West to the victory.

“All our kids stepped up and made big plays,” first-year PC West coach Lenny Bert said. “They left their heart on the floor. After the game in the locker room, it wasn’t some big celebration. It was like we were supposed to win. It’s good to get that feeling early, because it showed us we can beat a legitimate team and gives us the belief that we can be good if we do what we’re supposed to do.”

Mustang didn’t need overtime to take down No. 2 Putnam City at PC. David Glidden scored only six points in a loss last week, so I wondered if maybe the ankle he injured in the final football game was still an issue. Then he busts out for 20 against the Pirates. Robert Shaw added 14 and Zac Grismer had 13 in the win.

Back to Memorial-MWC… these are two really good teams who will be hanging around in March. Memorial’s Obi Emegano is a horse, but we all knew that. The Bulldogs play some tough defense, too.

Sophomore Jordan Woodard is a budding star who will only get better. For such a young kid to step to the free throw line with 6.1 seconds left and a one-point lead and be able to hit two free throws — he was 2-of-4 at the line before that — was very impressive. He and his brother, James, are both very athletic and will make it tough for teams to figure out how to defend the Bulldogs this year, especially with Emegano.

“It’s hard to guard (Emegano) one-on-one,” Memorial coach Shane Cowherd said. “And if you foul him, he’ll make you pay at the line.”

He certainly did Tuesday, hitting 14 of 16, including two with 12.9 seconds left.

The Bombers look about the same as last year. Not huge inside but very tough on defense to create easy offense, and they can get going on some serious 3-pointer streaks. They might even have a little better depth than last year, too.

There was plenty more drama around the metro area last night, and a few big performances as well. Bridge Creek’s Ryan Spangler had 46 points, 26 rebounds, seven assists and six blocked shots in a rout of Crooked Oak. Armon Provo had his second straight 30-point game, scoring 34 against Choctaw, and his night ended when the Panthers held a 33-point lead after three quarters. And Deer Creek’s Garrett Hermanski scored 38 in a win over Chickasha.

We’re only two weeks into the season. How much better can this year get?

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

A rare chance to see such a talented team like the Woodward boys in the OKC area. Not a bad set of teams on either side.

Boys
Thursday
Game 1: Chickasha vs. Del City, 11:30 a.m.
Game 2: Mustang vs. Northeast, 2 p.m.
Game 3: Woodward vs. Ponca City, 5:30
Game 4: Choctaw vs. Harrah, 8:30

Friday
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 11:30
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 2:30
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 5:30
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 8:30

Saturday
Game 9: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 11:30
Game 10: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 2:30
Game 11: Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 5:30
Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 8:30

Girls
Thursday
Game 1: Putnam City vs. Northeast, 10 a.m.
Game 2: Carl Albert vs. Choctaw, 1 p.m.
Game 3: Del City vs. Ponca City, 4 p.m.
Game 4: Woodward vs. Harrah, 7 p.m.

Friday
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 10 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 4 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7 p.m.

Saturday
Game 9: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 10 a.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 1 p.m.
Game 11: Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 4 p.m.
Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 7 p.m.

Dominique Raney got off to quite a start himself, scoring 30 in the Pirate victory. The athletic 6-foot-5 senior will be asked to do a lot more on this team, which doesn’t have the interior presence of last year’s squad. He’ll handle the ball a lot more and he’ll be asked to lead the offense.

Raney said he’s letting his father and coach A.D. Burtschi handle most of his recruiting right now so he can focus on the season, but he’s got a chance to be the state’s top recruit this year — especially if he keeps putting up numbers like this.

Other contenders

Armon Provo, PC North boys basketball: Had the Panthers been able to pull off the upset, here’s your POW. Provo poured in 35 in the loss to PC.

Mackenzie York, Yukon girls basketball: York was the only player in double-figures as Yukon opened with a 15-point win over PC West.

Alexis Watson and Joh’Vonna Mitchell, PC North girls basketball: Watson scored 15 and Mitchell had 14 as the Panthers won a thriller in overtime against rival Putnam City.

LaShawn Jones, Putnam City girls basketball: The Oklahoma State-bound Jones scored 18 in the narrow defeat to PC North.

Send West Metro POW nominations to Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com

There was a lot of pressure on Mustang star David Glidden entering this season. After verbally committing to Oklahoma State to play football in February, a lot was expected.

He delivered time and time again. The honors continued for the Broncos standout as Glidden has been named the Gatorade Oklahoma Football Player of the Year.

Glidden made an impact on both sides of the ball for Mustang and becomes the first Bronco to earn the honor in the three decades of the award.

Glidden had 58 catches for 1,157 yards and 15 touchdowns on offense. But also made big plays on defense. He recorded six interceptions, including taking four back for touchdowns. He also returned four kicks for scores in leading the Broncos to another playoff berth.

At 5-foot-9, Glidden has been compared to former Heritage Hall standout Wes Welker, who is now with the New England Patriots. Welker also earned the Gatorade honor for the 1999-2000 season.

6A – 2 All-District Selections

Coach of the Year:            Randy Breeze            Lawton
Offensive Player of the Year:        David Glidden            Mustang
Defensive Player of the Year:        Carter Grigg            Lawton
Offensive Back of the Year:        Deaquan Wojciechowski    Lawton
Offensive Receiver of the Year:    Tyrequek Zimmerman    Lawton
Offensive Lineman of the Year:    Jamelle Naff            Del City
Defensive Lineman of the Year:    Tyler Newton            Westmoore
Linebacker of the Year:        Cody Cates            Westmoore
Defensive Back of the Year:        Brent Bowles            Lawton
Special Teams Player of the Year:    Randy Johnson        Del City

Greg Johnson            RB                    Del City
Chazten Gonzales        QB                    Del City
Bryce Freeman        DB                    Del City
Drew Smith            DB                    Del City
Quintrell Boykins        LB                    Del City
Jamelle Naff            OL                    Del City
Ismael Bueno            OL                    Del City
Ryan Adams            LB                    Edmond North
Kyle Aschenbreuer        DE                    Edmond North
Evan Whitt            DL                    Edmond North
Brayden Prough        DL                    Edmond North
Travis Townsend        QB                    Edmond North
Lex Rosson            OL                    Edmond North
Hunter Crutsinger        WR                    Edmond North
Don Quay Hammons        WR                    Edmond North
Phillip White            OL                    Edmond North
Tyrequek Zimmerman    WR                    Lawton
Daquan Wojciechowski    RB                    Lawton
Lee Pigrum            DB                    Lawton
Brent Bowles            DB                    Lawton
Carter Grigg            LB                    Lawton
Kyle Fultz            TE                    Lawton
Eugene DeLoach        LB                    Lawton
Jabral Johnson            LB                    Lawton
Michael Dempsey        Center                    Lawton
Diondrick Tawkoyty        DB                    Lawton
Adam Lambert        Tackle/Punter                Lawton
Cody Inger             Kicker                    Lawton
David Glidden            WR                    Mustang
Jon Luckey            DB                    Mustang
Tyler Webster            RB                    Mustang
Jacob Strassle            WR                    Mustang
Michael Anderson        WR                    Mustang
Cale Witter            DB                    Mustang
Elliot Malanca            OL                    Mustang
Zac McKay            LB                    Mustang
Justus Elliott            OL                    Mustang
Cole Kimmell            DB                    Putnam City
Caleb Lee            QB                    Putnam City
Cody Minor            LB                    Putnam City
Josh Gershon            LB                    Putnam City
Zach Moore            TE                    Putnam City
Caleb McFarland        Center                    Putnam City
Mike McClendon        Tackle                    Putnam City
Allen Zimmerman        DB                    Putnam City
Nate Robertson                            Santa Fe
Brady Bell                                Santa Fe
Patrick Hinton                                Santa Fe
Brandon Reece                            Santa Fe
Lee Glossett                                Santa Fe
Able Blaker                                Santa Fe
Tyler Newton            DL                    Westmoore
Cody Feuerborn        RB                    Westmoore
Cody Cates            LB                    Westmoore
Bryan Norris            LB                    Westmoore
Zack VanDyke        DB                    Westmoore
Justin Smith            OL                    Westmoore
Jake Woods            DL                    Westmoore
Ricky Balogun        DB                    Westmoore
Jordan Davis            OL                    Westmoore

Putnam City girls basketball player LaShawn Jones signed with Oklahoma State.

At 6-foot-4, Jones has been on the radars of college programs for a while, and she was glad to get her decision made early. Jones signed with Oklahoma State last week, noting that she enjoy’s Kurt Budke’s coaching style. But Jones is still focused on her senior season with the Pirates after averaging 14 points and 13 rebounds last year.

“I really want to improve on my footwork this year,” she said. “We’re ready to make a playoff run.

“I think offense is our strength. We have a good inside-outside game.”

Congrats to all of the West Metro athletes who signed with colleges during the early signing period. Here are the ones I know about. If there are more, e-mail me at swright@opubco.com.

Baseball
Brian Brightwell, Putnam City (Oklahoma)

Girls basketball
LaShawn Jones, Putnam City (Oklahoma State)

Softball
Kayla Kingsley, Putnam North (Missouri)
Kylie Lang, Yukon (Southern Nazarene)

Volleyball
Tori Cox, Putnam City (Baylor)

Yukon receiver/safety Kaiden Horn, playing what turned out to be his final game as a Miller, Horn had 132 receiving yards and a touchdown, and his final catch set up Yukon inside the 5 before the game-ending fumble.

Horn has been playing through an injury for the second half of the season, and his effort has never been questioned. Friday was a very impressive performance.

Horn finished the year with 576 receiving yards and five touchdowns.

Other contenders

David Glidden, Michael Andersen and Brandon Taylor, Mustang: Glidden, also playing through pain, caught eight passes for 87 yards and two TDs. Andersen grabbed a huge 47-yard TD to give the Broncos one last shot in the final two minutes. And Taylor threw for 281 yards and four scores while rushing for another in the 42-34 loss to Lawton Ike.

Carson Mathews and Jake Henderson, Yukon: The two linebackers were the strength of the Yukon defense Friday night. They both spent a lot of time in the Edmond North backfield, chasing down the running back and pressuring the quarterback. Mathews finished the season averaging better than nine tackles per game and was the only Miller to total more than 100 stops on the year.

Why Ike could win: The Ike run game is dangerous, and that’s been one area of success for opponents against Mustang. The Broncos are allowing nearly 190 yards per game, compared to around 150 through the air. So if Louis Durant can get going, the Eagles should put up some points. The health of QB Adrian McDonald is still a question.

Why Mustang could win: Regardless of what the opposing offense does, there aren’t many who can keep up with the points the Broncos can put on the board. Forgetting last week, which had little meaning for the Broncos, they’re moving the ball incredibly well of late.

Key matchup: Durant vs. Mustang linebackers. Regardless of whether McDonald can go, the Eagles will need Durant to move the ball on the ground. Speed will be crucial for Mustang’s linebackers, and the safeties will need to help in run support as well. 

The pick: Mustang 41, Ike 38. I think it’ll be a shootout down to the final gun.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

2010 Metro Athletic Conference Freshman Football All Conference Players

Putnam City — Offense: Gerrell Murray, Davion Wisby. Defense: Jamie Flowers, Jeremiah Hall, Kris Dorsey.

Santa Fe — Offense: Charles Wade, Cameron Westbrook, Chris Morgensen, Jon Wynn. Defense: Justice Hansen, Chase Hillmon, Marshawn Mills.

Choctaw — Offense: Derrick Briggs, Dallas Hamlin. Defense: Dalton Fittro, Caleb Shimp.

Mustang — Offense: Franklin Edwards, Colton Hadlock, Jaden Ray, Garreth Ballard, Joey Snodgrass. Defense: Josh Head, Tristin Hill, Logan Reed.

Edmond North — Offense: Josh Garbrecht, Blake Snow, Ezel McIntee, Lindell Tate, Joel Dixon. Defense: Mark Piatt, Noah Johnston, Lance Dixon, Andrew Dixon.

Yukon — Offense: Shawn Anderson, Tyler Bowling, Logan Parks. Defense: Josh Bedell, Andre Dowuona-Hammond, Bradyn Meyer.

Standings: 1. Edmond North; 2. Mustang; 3. Santa Fe; 4. Yukon; 5. Putnam City; 6. Choctaw; 7. PC West. 8. PC North.

Edmond North beat Westmoore in the Bi-Conference championship aka the X Game.

Giving up 52 points is definitely alarming, but something tells me that Mustang is going to be able to bounce back in the first round against Lawton Eisenhower.

I can’t get a good feel about the Eagles. Are they more like the team that shut out Edmond Memorial 35-0? Or are they more like the team that was blanked by Midwest City 28-0? Or (most likely) are they a combination of the two? A team with great promise but also with some flaws.

I’ve been a fan of RB Louis Durant for a long time, dating back to a scrimmage at Edmond Santa Fe when he was a junior. The health of QB Adrian McDonald is a concern. Ya figure he should be back, but the Broncos might be able to touch him up.

But the real reason I’m picking Mustang is because of David Glidden. I just don’t see him going out with a home playoff loss. QB Brandon Taylor has put up ginormous numbers. Some might say he’s just a product of what the Broncos do, but you still need to execute.

Glidden can make a play in so many different ways. He can be receiver, defensive back, returner and is dynamic in all three positions.

Also think this has to be a pride issue with that defense. Everybody (myself included) always says it’s just a track meet between Mustang and whoever it’s playing. The games will end at 11 p.m. because there is no pretense of defense in their games.

Gotta think the group will rise up to the challenge.

The pick: Mustang 45, Lawton Ike 33.
Boneman’s LOCK record: 8-2 (Guthrie over Duncan, Heritage Hall over Clinton, Purcell over Lexington, Midwest City over Yukon, Jones over Morris, Norman over Southmoore, Carl Albert over Guthrie, Clinton over Elgin, Tuttle over Anadarko, Bridge Creek over Blanchard).

With another strong performance from the offensive line, RB Casey Curtis posted his fifth 200-yard game of the season. He went for 236 and three scores in the 33-12 win over Santa Fe, which sported one of the better defenses in the district.

Curtis concluded his junior season with 1,659 yards and 21 touchdowns. He has started to gain some recruiting attention from some big schools. His top-end speed and strength in his 5-foot-8, 175-pound frame will keep him on the radars of D-I programs through the offseason.

Other contenders

Jon Luckey, Mustang: The senior WR/DB had TDs of 60 and 50 yards early for the Broncos before Del City pulled away. Luckey bulked up prior to the season and he’s been playing well on both sides of the ball. He’ll be key in run support from his safety position in Friday’s playoff game against Lawton Eisenhower.

Kollin Retter, Yukon: Retter had eight catches for for 129 yards and two touchdowns, though the Millers go into the playoffs on a sour note after the 38-21 loss to Edmond Memorial.

Dre Holman, Sam Wolfe and the PC North defense: The pair of running backs powered the Panther offense to a solid outing and the defense did what it needed to do in order to give the Panthers a shot at the postseason, but they didn’t get the help they needed from Yukon.

Mustang (7-2) at Del City (4-5)
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Kalsu Stadium, DC

Mustang (L – Yukon, W – PC North, W – Bixby, L – Lawton, W – Edmond North, W – Edmond Santa Fe, W – Putnam City, W – US Grant, W – Westmoore)
Why the Broncos can win: Confidence. This team is playing with a ton of it during the five-game win streak. In three of those five games, the defense  has allowed 10 or fewer points, and the offense hasn’t been held to less than 39. The Broncos have nothing to gain in the playoff sense, so they might get some subs in early, but they still want the ‘W.’

Del City (L – MWC; W – Nnorth; L- Norman; L – EdNorth; W – Putnam City; L – Westmoore; L – Lawton; W – Santa Fe; W – US Grant)
Why the Eagles can win: Well, they’re only playing for pride now, but they have a lot of it. This season has been a struggle, but the seniors would love to make their last game a victory for coach Nick Warehime.

Key matchup: Mustang passing game vs. Del City secondary. The Eagles have proven they can be worn down in games. Against a Mustang offense, that could produce a lot of problems.

Scott’s pick: Mustang 45, Del City 28. Senior Night — though not the final home game — for a large class that brought the Broncos a lot of success will be enough motivation to carry Mustang to the win.

Boneman’s pick: Mustang 41, Del City 30. Tough to see this one being a low-scoring contest. Broncos have too many weapons for Chazten Gonzales, Greg Johnson and company.

Boneman’s Del City prediction record: 4-5.

Player of the Year – Kady Self, Edmond North
Newcomer of the Year – Kilee Halbert, Yukon
Coach of the Year – Rick Nordyke, Edmond North

First Team
Edmond North: Abby Taliaferro, Madison Nordyke, Jordan Dixon, Sheridan Bond, Braxton Coil
Yukon: Kylie Lang, Madi Ellis, Skylar Leathers, Jade Hardy
Mustang: Courtni Clark, Jamie Rateliff, Kayla Adams
Edmond Santa Fe: Maddie Martin, Karly Nevez, Breezy McComas, Catherine Rodarm
Putnam North: Kayla Kingsley, Taylor Harris, Dani Nissen
Putnam City: Grace Self, Amanda Stevenson, Tiffany Holt
Putnam West: Ashley Tiger, Allyson Hemby
Choctaw: Elizabeth Sandman, Casie Foust

Second Team
EN: Ashton Smith, Brooke Crutchfield. YHS: Amanda Madden, Whitney Ellis, Caitlyn Halbert. MHS: Kyndra Holasek, Kierra Miles, Shelbi Legg. ESF: Kayley Humann, Siara Price, Sydney Brennan, Carly Cowan. PCN: Alli Whittington, Madison Welch, Amy Reynolds. PCO: Kylee Webb, Amber McCullough, Andrea Walling. CHS: Kylie Morgan, Ashley Hopkins, Sadie Marino. PCW: Haley Hemby, Kaleigh Ferrell.

He scored in each phase of the game, each of more than 70 yards, to help Mustang put away Westmoore and lock up a home playoff bid.

The Oklahoma State-bound Glidden earned POW honors with a 70-yard free kick return TD, a 70-yard receiving TD and a 96-yard interception return TD. He finished with 154 receiving yards and threw a 36-yard pass as well.

The Broncos are at Del City Friday to wrap up the regular season in a game that really doesn’t mean anything for the Broncos. They’ve got the No. 2 spot wrapped up. Del City will know Thursday night if the game has any meaning to them. If Edmond North defeats US Grant Thursday night at Wantland Stadium, the Eagles are out.

Other contenders

Kaiden Horn, Kollin Retter and Ty Garza, Yukon: Horn scored twice in Yukon’s big second half to seal up a home playoff berth. Garza and Retter each came up with a pick-6 to spur that second-half runaway.

Covin Conrady, Dre Holman and Brad Ross, PC North: Conrady and Holman came through with multiple big plays, and Ross scored twice as the Panthers stayed alive in the playoff hunt with a 42-40 win over Moore. 

Emily Helms and Andy Carroll, Mustang cross country: Helms finished second in the girls 6A state meet and Carroll was fourth in the boys race, but impressive accomplishments at the highest level.

Welcome back to the Saturday Morning Quarterback…This edition: Mustang vs. Westmoore

What happened: As Saturday morning’s story might have told, David Glidden happened. Westmoore double-covered Glidden from most of the game, but there’s a reason the receiver is headed to Oklahoma State.

Westmoore’s offense just couldn’t get enough going to take any pressure off its defense. After multiple three-and-outs, the Jaguars were just too worn out defensively. The Jaguars also lost three players to injury. Running back Cody Feuerborn and Zach VanDyke both returned to the game after missing limited time, but receiver Daulton Craig, Westmoore’s best deep threat, was injured on his first catch and never returned. Coach Billy Langofrd said it might be a collarbone injury, but wasn’t sure.

Westmoore possessed the ball for nearly five more minutes that Mustang in the first half, but the Broncos showed just how explosive their offense can be. Mustang moved the ball well in the first half and the Jaguars gave points away.

“We have to stop killing ourselves and quit giving things away,” Westmoore coach Billy Langford said. “Make people earn it instead of giving it away. We’re working to do that and we are making progress still.”

In the second half, Mustang earned its points and Westmoore’s defense had worn out.

What it means: Nothing really. This whole season Westmoore has been a little bit of a surprise to Class 6A. We all knew that Mustang and Lawton would be the class of 6A-2, with Lawton a little ahead of the Broncos. We knew that Mustang could throw the ball, and they did against Westmoore. If anything, the Westmoore secondary might have proven it’s not a detriment to its front seven. Instead, it surprised Mustang — Glidden included — and showed it can be an asset to one of the best front sevens in Class 6A.

Mustang earned a playoff home game and Westmoore has all but clinched a playoff berth. There wasn’t a whole lot to learn from this one — other than the fact that both teams are just about where we thought.

Up next: Westmoore travels to Lawton for the season finale with a chance to secure the No. 3 seed in the state playoffs. Meanwhile, Mustang travels to Del City looking to close its season with six straight wins.

Westmoore Jaguars (5-3, 4-1) at Mustang (6-2, 4-1)
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Bronco Stadium, Mustang

Why the Jaguars can win: Defense. There aren’t many teams in Class 6A that allow fewer points than the Jaguars. Loaded with one of the best front seven in 6A, Westmoore has only allowed more than six points once in the last five weeks.

Quote: “The winner of this one will host a home playoff game for sure. After that, if we get a win this week, we’re playing for a district title next week.” — Westmoore coach Billy Langford.

Why the Broncos can win: Offense. Obviously, this is a battle of strengths, and typically, you’d rather have the good defense. But Mustang has been in this situation a ton over the last half-dozen years. Offensively, they’re not going to feel pressure to go out and score. It’s been a while since Westmoore has faced an offense that scores at the pace of Mustang.

Justin’s key matchup: Trevor Thompson vs. Broncos’ defense. More than any other team, Westmoore’s success is predicated on how well Thompson plays. If he turns the ball over, the Jaguars have no chance. If he protects it, Westmoore has a shot any week.

Scott’s key matchup: Westmoore defense vs. the big play. Mustang will score, but the key for Westmoore will be forcing them to drive the field and use the clock. If the Broncos are able to hit some quick strikes, it will make it tougher on the Jags offense to keep pace.

Justin’s pick: Mustang 31, Westmoore 21. The good thing for Mustang is that Westmoore is weaker in the secondary than it is up front. The Broncos can throw the ball and they will Friday.

Scott’s pick: Mustang 38, Westmoore 31. I was very impressed by Westmoore’s defense last week against Putnam City, but Mustang is a different animal. The Jags will get their points, but outscoring Mustang is too much to ask.

Derek Deeds, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound junior, has been one of the Millers’ most reliable defenders at free safety and got the chance to show how dangerous he can be on offense the last two weeks while starting running back Terry Jones has been sidelined by an ankle injury.

Deeds, who had 11 receptions as a slot receiver in the first six games, has five rushing touchdowns the last two weeks. For the season, he has carried the ball 38 times for 211 yards, virtually all in the last two games.

He also had two interceptions, returning one 76 yards for a touchdown, in Thursday’s win over Moore that assured the Millers of a second straight playoff berth.

Other contenders

Andrew Madison, Mustang: The sophomore receiver had two interceptions and took both back to the end zone, only to have both called back by penalty. There are several sophomores like Madison, Jared Chance, Steven Fruit, Cole Williams, Dakota Warrington, Cory Irwins and Tucker Calmus getting the opportunity to help out the Broncos, and many of them are starting to come into their own.

Dre Holman, PC North: Holman finally broke loose, rushing for 189 yards and a TD (had another erased by penalty) in the loss to Lawton Ike.

Casey Curtis, Putnam City: Like Holman, Curtis had a strong rushing performance — 183 yards and a TD — go by the wayside in defeat at Westmoore.

Emily Helms, Mustang cross country: Won a 6A regional, winning by one second in 11:51. She will be among the favorites at state on Sunday.

Seems like a good time to break down playoff positioning for the five West Metro squads, so here we go:

Yukon, 6A-1
Record: 6-1, 3-1
Remaining games: vs. Moore; at Choctaw; vs. Edmond Memorial
The situation: Right now, this finishing schedule looks as easy as you could get in this district, but that could change with the return of Memorial’s Kameron Doolittle from injury. But still, these are three games the Millers will be favored to win. They’ll need help to get to the top spot because of the loss to MWC, but if they just take care of business, the No. 2 spot — and a home playoff berth — should be wrapped up.

Mustang, 6A-2
Record: 5-2, 3-1
Remaining games: at US Grant; vs. Westmoore; at Del City
The situation: That Westmoore game looks HUGE right now, and will be even bigger if Westmoore tops Putnam City Friday night, with the two teams tied for the No. 2 spot. Mustang’s wins over PC and Edmond North will be key should there be a tiebreaker in their future. Del City in Week 10 could be interesting, because the Eagles could be playing for their postseason lives at that point.

Putnam City, 6A-2
Record: 5-2, 2-2
Remaining games: at Westmoore; vs. Lawton; at Edmond Santa Fe
The situation: Not an easy road to finish the season, especially considering these are the three toughest defenses in the district — not counting PC itself — based on points allowed. The offense, and particularly the run game, will be tested to the max the last three weeks. The good news is that one win in the last three should be enough to get the Pirates into a tiebreaker for a playoff berth, and two wins probably locks them in.

Putnam City North, 6A-1
Record: 2-5, 1-3
Remaining games: vs. Lawton Ike; at Moore; vs. Choctaw
The situation: It’s not a stretch to imagine that the Panthers could win out and get to 4-3 in the district, which might be enough to lock them in and maybe even get them up to the No. 3 slot. But sitting in sixth right now is a tough spot to be in, because it looks like the district is destined for a tiebreaker. Every point counts.

Putnam City West, 6A-3
Record: 1-6, 1-3
Remaining games: at Muskogee; vs. Sapulpa; at Southmoore
The situation: If the Patriots win the next two, it’s possible they could find themselves in a tiebreaker. But it all hinges on beating Muskogee tonight, which won’t be easy. Otherwise the Roughers likely get to 4-3 and out of the Pats’ reach for the fourth spot.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Some weeks are easier than others when it comes to picking the West Metro Player(s) of the Week. This is one of those weeks.

The Yukon Millerettes rolled to the Class 6A state softball championship with an impressive performance.

Whitney Ellis, Madi Ellis and Skylar Leathers all had big RBIs in the title game, but it was a total team effort throughout the weekend to pull of the title. Here’s Robert Przybylo’s story on the finals.

Other contenders

Brandon Taylor, David Glidden and Cole Williams, Mustang: Taylor threw for 338 yards and six TDs, Glidden caught four TD passes and returned a kickoff 84 yards for a score, and Williams came up with two fumble recoveries to set up touchdowns as the Broncos exploded for 59 points in beating Putnam City.

Corben Jones and Derek Deeds, Yukon: Filling in for Terry Jones as he works his way back from an ankle injury, Deeds broke loose for four touchdowns and 91 yards on 17 carries to keep the Yukon offense balanced. Corben Jones was sharp as usual, throwing for 208 yards and completing 19 of 26 passes.

Casey Curtis and Putnam City offensive line: Curtis broke free for his third straight 200-yard rushing performance and his fourth of the year. Behind an offensive line with several seniors, this Pirate run game just keeps churning out big yards.

Jace James and Sam Wolfe Putnam City North: James had his second straight 300-yard passing game and led the offense to a near-comeback victory against Yukon. James threw one TD pass and rushed for another in the fourth quarter. Wolfe rushed for two TDs, including a 64-yarder that sparked the rally. 

Emily Helms and Andy Carroll, Mustang cross country: Helms won the girls race and Carroll the boys race at the Metro Conference meet — a good sign heading into regionals this weekend and state on Oct. 30.

Scott Massey, Yukon cross country: Finished fourth at the Metro Conference meet.

Send West Metro POW nominations to Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com

Last week: The Pirates bounced back from their first loss with a 37-22 win over Edmond North. Mustang defeated Edmond Santa Fe 39-10.

Why the Pirates could win: This team is playing with an amazing amount of confidence this season, and if it wasn’t for a bad fourth quarter against Del City, they’d be undefeated. Casey Curtis is establishing himself as another stout running back in the loaded junior class and the defense has shown its ability to make big plays when it has to have them.

Why the Broncos could win: In the same way PC is playing with confidence on offense, Mustang is feeling it in the passing game. Brandon Taylor has been on fire, utilizing all of his receivers, and the offensive line is giving him plenty of time.

Key matchup: Curtis vs. Mustang defense. Curtis is a big-play guy, and if he breaks loose, he’ll give the Pirates the ability to keep up with the high-flying Mustang offense in a shootout. If the Broncos can contain him, they’ll put pressure on the rest of the PC offense.

The pick: PC 35, Mustang 34. I really have no idea who is going to win this game. All I  know is that Putnam City keeps exceeding my expectations of what this team can accomplish, so I’m going with them here. Can’t wait to see this game.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Putnam City at Mustang

Major playoff implications are on the line in Friday’s Putnam City-Mustang game, and regardless of what happens, the two teams are likely to keep statisticians busy.

Each team comes into the game with a junior producing impressive offensive statistics in recent weeks.

Mustang quarterback Brandon Taylor has thrown for more than 800 yards the last two games and is up to 1,784 for the season. He has completed 60.4 percent of his passes with 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Putnam City running back Casey Curtis is coming off back-to-back 200-yard rushing performances with seven total touchdowns in the last two games. For the year, the 5-foot-8, 175-pound speedster has 942 yards and 15 touchdowns on 123 carries.

The winner has a leg up on the No. 2 spot – and thus, the home playoff berth — in District 6A-2. And in Putnam City’s case, it puts them in good position to get in the mix for the district title, with the No. 4 Wolverines set to visit PC Stadium in Week 9.

Yukon at Putnam City North

Obviously, this would have been a bigger game had the Panthers not been upset by Norman North last week, but that still adds some drama, since PC North must bounce back to keep themselves in serious playoff contention.

Regardless, Yukon can’t let PC North’s loss impact their opinion of the Panthers. This is still a team that beat Edmond Memorial and took Midwest City to overtime — nearly beat the Bombers except for a controversial fumble call at the goal line.

Terry Jones gutted out 22 carries on a bad ankle last week, and more of the same will be asked of him against a tougher defense this week. A win here puts Yukon in great position for the No. 2 seed in District 6A-1.

Meanwhile, a win for PC North would be a huge boost heading into the final three weeks against Lawton Ike, Moore and Choctaw.

PC West at Norman

Coming off the first win since 2007, PC West is facing quite a challenge in a powerful Norman team looking for a 7-0 start.

The Pats are good against the pass, but stopping the run is an issue. And stopping Donovan Roberts has been an issue for everyone all year.

If Johnny Smith can run the way he did last week, this will be an entertaining matchup, with two powerful backs carrying the ball a bunch.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

With the help of a few key plays by other people, Smith essentially carried the Pats on his back to their first victory in three years. He ran for 196 yards on 29 carries, scoring five touchdowns. He pounded out the tough yards in the middle. He punsihed tacklers who got in his way and ran past the ones who didn’t.

Smith just kept making big play after big play, like his two interceptions, one of which he returned 74 yards to the 1 and plunged into the end zone two plays later.

Overall, just an incredibly impressive performance. And congratualtions to the Patriots on the victory.

Other contenders

Casey Curtis and Elie Rushing, Putnam City: Curtis, behind another strong effort from his offensive line, posted yet another 200-yard game as PC knocked off Edmond North Thursday night. Rushing came up with a key tackle inside the 1-yard line to prevent Edmond North from cutting it to a one-score game. The win sets up a huge game at Mustang on Friday night, with major playoff implications on the line.

Corben Jones, Yukon receivers and Carson Mathews: With brother Terry playing on a bum ankle, Corben Jones threw for 280 yards, including TDs of 25, 29 and 41 yards to Kaiden Horn, Jordan Edwards and Eric Granado to carry the Millers to another win. Granado, who hasn’t gotten much notice for his solid play on defense this season, recovered a fumble for a TD to give Yukon its final points. Mathews intercepted a pass that was a huge turning point in the second quarter. It set up the Millers for a TD to take the lead just before halftime.

Brandon Taylor, Jacob Strassle and Tyler Webster, Mustang: Taylor was impressive again, throwing for 366 yards. He hit Strassle twice for TDs and Strassle also converted his first two field goals of the year, from 27 and 37 yards. Webster has been a huge part of the offense lately, accounting for 179 all-purpose yards in Friday’s win over Edmond Santa Fe, including some QB action in the second half.

Jace James and Covin Conrady, PC North: Conrady had another big week at receiver. He’s up to 638 yards and four TDs after grabbing a 47-yarder this week. And James was asked to throw a lot more than usual as PC North only ran the ball 14 times in Friday’s loss. James threw for 310 yards on 28-of-39 passing.

Mustang and Yukon softball teams: No point in singling out individuals here. When you make it to state, it’s a team effort. Yukon won the regional it hosted, while Mustang went to Midwest City as the No. 2 seed and came out on top.

Scott Massey, Megan Wilkerson and Alex Moore, Yukon cross country: Massey finished third in the boys race, while Wilkerson and Moore each finished in the top nine of the girls race at Southwestern Christian last week. Both teams finished third.

Andy Carroll, Mustang cross country: Carroll finished 10th in the pre-state meet in Edmond.

Mustang (3-2) vs. Santa Fe (0-5)
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: UCO’s Wantland Stadium

Mustang (L – Yukon, W – PC North, W – Bixby, L – Lawton, W – Edmond North)
Why the Broncos can win: After a bumpy start, the Bronco offense is a well-oiled machine. Brandon Taylor is hitting his throws. The offensive line is blocking. The run game is effective. Multiple receivers are getting involved. Mustang offense the way we’ve become accustomed to seeing Mustang offense.

Santa Fe (L – Memorial, L – Yukon, L – Midwest City, L – Westmoore, L – Lawton)
Why the Wolves can win: Let’s look at this cup half full. Santa Fe has been shutout in three of its five games and in both district games. However, the Wolves have only given up 36 points in the two district losses and were only down 3-0 to a very good Lawton team at halftime.

Scott’s key matchup: Mustang defense vs. Santa Fe offense. Despite their winning record, the Broncos have allowed 30 points three times. Santa Fe can play some defense and if they limit the Bronco offense, it will be up to the defense to avoid giving up big plays.

Boneman’s key matchup: Santa Fe’s mental state. It’s been a frustrating season for Bruce Gowen’s boys. A team that couldn’t take any injuries has been hit with so many, especially on the offensive line. Averaging 5 points per game, it’s easy to get down. This is a true test of character.

Scott’s pick: Mustang 27, Edmond Santa Fe 10. That Santa Fe defense will flex its muscles, but Mustang still has too much firepower.

Boneman’s pick: Mustang 30, Edmond Santa Fe 8. Trevan Smith gives Wolves’ fans reason to smile, but Brandon Taylor and the rest of the Broncos are too much.

Scott’s Mustang prediction record: 4-1
Boneman’s Santa Fe prediction record: 4-1.

However you describe it, Brandon Taylor was on fire Friday night. His first half alone would have been a great full-game performance — 22-of-25 for 354 yards and three TDs. He finished 30-of-38 for 442 and four TDs as Mustang coasted to a 56-34 win over Edmond North.

Taylor wasn’t alone in his special performance. The offensive line gave him plenty of time virtually all night. David Glidden pulled in 10 passes for more than 220 yards. Jon Luckey made some big catches and had an interception return TD. Tyler Webster kept the ball moving both running and catching the ball. And Stephen Fruit got his name called a lot on defense, making a lot of tackles.

When the Mustang offense is working like that, it’s fun to watch. Taylor is a big, strong lefty who throws the ball well and he’s starting to get more comfortable with his receivers other than Glidden and Luckey — guys like Michael Andersen, who had a TD Friday, Jacob Mersman and Jacob Strassle.

The offense will get another test this week against a stout defensive team at Edmond Santa Fe.

Other contenders

Covin Conrady, PC North football: If the Panthers had pulled off the upset of Midwest City, Conrady is your POW. The senior receiver had nine catches for 230 yards and a score. In case you missed it, here’s the game story.

Casey Curtis, Putnam City football: Curtis isn’t the type of back you’d expect to be a workhorse type who gets 30-plus carries, but he handled it well, rushing 33 times for 204 yards and four TDs.

Corben Jones, Yukon football: With his brother, Terry, sidelined by an injury, Corben Jones picked up the offense and turned a 17-14 deficit to a 35-17 win. He threw TD passes to Kollin Retter and Eric Granado, and rushed for a 20-yard score as well. He threw for 260 yards.

Jamie Rateliff and Kayla Adams, Mustang softball: The two seniors hit back-to-back home runs to finish off a 12-4 win over Choctaw.

Madi Ellis, Yukon softball: Ellis leads the Millerettes into regionals this week after driving in four runs in a rout of PC West.

Emily Helms and Andy Carroll, Mustang cross country: Helms won the girls race and Carroll was fourth in the boys race at the Mustang meet.

– Send West Metro Player of the Week nominations to Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com

Edmond North (2-2, 1-0) at Mustang (2-2, 0-1)
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Bronco Stadium, Mustang (Scott Wright will be there)

North (L – Southmoore 40-19, W – Choctaw 24-13, L – Memorial 17-6, W – Del City 36-21)
Why the Huskies could win: Because this team is finding their identity. They can rely on QB Travis Townsend, but they don’t need to. They’re better off leaning on the shoulders of Jarion Tudman and Troy Davis. Feature one of the more balanced offenses in the state.

Quote:

We feel really good about who we are. We still have some kids out, and we know that is going to make a difference when we get our pieces back.” – coach Jeremy Dombek

Mustang (L – Yukon 43-28, W – PC North 27-14, W – Bixby 47-21, L – Lawton 30-29)
Why the Broncos could win: The offense has seemingly turned a corner the last couple of weeks in yardage and point production against a couple of pretty stout defenses, Bixby and Lawton. Defensively, the young players are growing up and the secondary is getting things solidified.

Quote:

We’re starting to click a lot more. We’re learning new stuff every week and going out and executing it. The line has really stepped up. They’re really coachable and they’re working hard.” – Mustang RB Tyler Webster on the Broncos offense.

Boneman’s key matchup: North receivers vs. Mustang secondary. The Huskies have a number of solid receivers but none of them have been able to really break out and have that huge game. Could this be the night?

Scott’s key matchup: North run game vs. Mustang defensive front. Jarion Tudman is averaging nearly eight yards per carry for the Huskies and the Broncos are allowing 239 rushing yards per game. If Tudman, Davis and the North run game get going, it will only make things easier on the passing attack.

Boneman’s pick: Mustang 35, North 32. Expect a shootout in this one. Think Mustang stud David Glidden makes a play either on offense or defense that turns the tide.

Scott’s pick: Mustang 28, Edmond North 24. I get the feeling this Mustang team is close to putting together a string of wins, starting here.

Boneman’s North prediction record: 3-1.

Putnam City

I didn’t know what to expect from Putnam City at the start of the season. The district wasn’t too tough, but they lost a lot of key players on the defensive side of the ball and on the offensive line. But once they got past PC North in Week 1, you could see the potential for this 4-0 start.

But at the start of the season, Del City looked like a really strong team, especially with all the talent they’ve got on offense. Now, they’re the team that has some uncertainty surrounding it. So this becomes a winnable game for Putnam City. With Edmond North, Mustang, Westmoore and Lawton coming in the four weeks after this, the Pirates would greatly benefit from a win Friday night.

This PC team is playing with a lot of confidence right now, especially with that run game going the way it is, and Friday night should be a thriller.

PC North

We’ve been talking about it for a few weeks now, but it looks like running back Dre Holman will be back in action this week. That’s what he says. And the impact of his return can’t be understated. Sam Wolfe is a good back, and the addition of Holman gives the Panther offense a ton of options. One back, split Wolfe and Holman, put Wolfe in the slot, where he has been a strong receiver this season. Endless choices.

And Holman provides the team a pounding back who can get the tough yards. Wolfe’s game is based more in his quickness, so the two backs work perfectly together. An improved running game will make the team’s defense that much more valuable, and it should give them some more time to rest on the sideline as well.

PC West

Tough time being the Patriots right now. Broken Arrow last week and top-ranked Jenks this week. So, let’s look at this in a positive light — there’s no way PC West faces a team as tough as these two weeks the rest of the year. It only gets easier.

I still think the Pats win a game this season, but it won’t be this week. The biggest key is coming through Friday night without any major injuries, then get ready for the final five weeks of the season.

Mustang

The offensive line has really come together for the Broncos, and that’s been a big key for the improvement of the offense. Last week was different, because Lawton’s defensive front is stronger than most. But the Broncos still found a way to give Brandon Taylor time to throw, and opened some holes for Tyler Webster in the run game.

But with the 0-1 start in district play, there isn’t much room for error the rest of the way. The district is very hard to predict, but it looks to be very competitive in the middle. So if Mustang puts together a string of wins, they could re-emerge as a favorite for the second home playoff berth behind Lawton.

Yukon

This week is just as important as last week at Midwest City. Norman North has had some struggles early this season, so that might seem like an overstatement, but I really don’t think it is. Losing to MWC didn’t hurt the Millers’ credentials. The Bombers are really good.

But a loss or a lackluster win could hurt their image and take away from what they’ve done to this point in the season. It will start to raise questions again. The Millers are a top 10 team, but it’s important that they play like it this week, or people will stop thinking they are one. Considering the way the offense has moved the ball against everyone, and the defense’s strong play for 3 1/2 games, I don’t think it will be an issue.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

That’s why they’re the collective West Metro Players of the week. Memorial had 223 total yards, mostly coming on the ground, and the Panther D even poked in a touchdown on Daniel Grimes’ 39-yard fumble return.

After the 0-2 start, the Panthers certainly look to be getting things together. Don’t be discouraged by only scoring 10 offensive points against the Memorial defense — they’re legit.

After turning the ball over nine times in the first two games, the Panthers didn’t turn it over once on Friday, which was huge. And the long TD connection between Jace James and Rico Griffin should be a welcome sight. Griffin is an inexperienced receiver who is very talented and could give the passing game a boost by providing an option opposite Covin Conrady.

Other contenders

Brandon Taylor and Tyler Webster, Mustang football: Taylor threw for 300 yards in the second straight game and Webster kept the offense rolling with an effective run game, though the Broncos fell 30-29 at Lawton.

Casey Curtis, Putnam City football: Curtis got the Pirates off to a strong start in their fourth straight victory. He scored two early touchdowns on the way to PC’s rout of US Grant.

Yukon football team (first half version): The whole Miller football team gets noticed for their performance in the first half of the 48-21 loss at Midwest City. That team was unstoppable. Unfortunately that team didn’t show up for the second half.

Emily Helms and Andy Carroll, Mustang cross country: Helms finished third — first among Oklahoma girls — and Carroll was sixth in the boys meet at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater.

Madi Ellis, Yukon softball: Ellis had three RBIs in the Millerettes’ 6-5 win over No. 1 Edmond North last Tuesday.

– Send West Metro POW nominations to Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com

Last week: Mustang put on an offensive show in a 47-21 rout of Bixby. Lawton rolled past Altus 28-0.

Why Mustang could win: The Bronco offense is getting back on track after Brandon Taylor threw for over 300 yards last week. The defense will be tested by Lawton’s skill players, but it’s yet to be seen what kind of impact the loss of QB Cody Miller will have on the Wolverines. If Mustang can exploit new QB Brandon Bartlett’s inexperience, it could be a major momentum swing.

Why Lawton could win: Even without Miller, the Lawton offense has a lot of weapons, the most important of which will be RB Deaquan Wojciechowski. If he can keep up his pace of rushing for nearly 130 yards per game, it will take significant pressure off Bartlett. And let’s not forget that the Lawton D is still pretty darn solid, too.

Key matchup: Taylor vs. Lawton DBs. Last year, Lawton turned the tide in this game with six interceptions of Mustang QB Jacinto Biorato. Taylor has thrown three picks so far, so he has taken care of the ball pretty well. He needs to avoid the big mistake Friday.

The pick: Lawton 27, Mustang 21. I got burned when I picked Mustang at Lawton last year. I got burned when I picked Lawton Mac over Lawton two weeks ago. If I get burned this week, at least it won’t be by picking against the Wolverines.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

This week’s Speed Read takes a look at what lies ahead in district play for Yukon, Mustang and the PC3.

Yukon (3-0)

The 6A-1 schedule is still brutal, even though Norman North is struggling at the star of the year. There are still five playoff teams from last year doing battle, and the fight for the two home playoff games between Midwest City, Edmond Memorial and the Millers will be wild.

The Millers’ hot start won’t be diminished by a loss to Midwest City this week, and neither will their chances of getting one of those home playoff games.

Week 4: It doesn’t get any bigger than the Bombers and Millers. I’m pumped for this one. To paraphrase the ESPN line — Is is Friday yet?

Putnam City (3-0)

Everything we thought we knew about 6A-2 is scrambled up entering the first week of district games, and at a pretty solid 3-0, the Pirates are right in the mix for the postseason. The key will be the defense, which has been solid all year. There are a few really good offenses in the district and the Pirates will need to knock one of those teams off to move up in the pecking order.

Week 4: The Pirates open with US Grant at home, and if they take care of business, they should be looking at a 1-0 start to district play. And the confidence of a 4-0 start overall could produce more happy results down the line.

Mustang (2-1)

There’s a lot up in the air in this district because of Mustang’s scattered performances to begin the year, and Lawton losing its QB, Cody Miller, to a torn ACL. So that makes this week’s district opener that much more crucial.

Week 4: The Broncos seemed to get the offense back on track last week against Bixby, but doing that against the Lawton defense will be more difficult. The defense will have quite a task, not only trying to contain all of Lawton’s playmakers at running back and receiver, but also preparing for a quarterback they’ve never seen.

Mustang is putting a lot of miles on the buses lately. Bixby last week, Lawton this week — just the way it worked out with the district shuffle this season, making the Broncos go down to Cameron Stadium two years in a row.

Putnam City North (1-2)

For as well as I thought I knew this team before the season, I found out I really knew very little about them. We’ll see if they get it together and come back to the level I expected them to be at — a fringe top 10 team and definite playoff team.  

The Panthers still have a good shot of getting to the postseason, though right now, it looks like three spots are spoken for in 6A-1, with Midwest City, Edmond Memorial and Yukon. But Dre Holman’s return should provide the offense with a spark, and the defense has been reliable all year.

Week 4: The Panthers are at No. 7 Edmond Memorial Friday night, a defense that will pose a challenge for the shaky Panther offense. But the Memorial offense is having its own issues with QB Kameron Doolittle bothered by a bum ankle. So I’d be looking for a defensive slugfest in this one.

Putnam City West (0-3)

The toughest thing for PC West entering district play isn’t the strength at the top of their district. At the beginning of the year, 6A-3 looked top-heavy, with Jenks, Broken Arrow and Southmoore. But some of the other teams are stepping up and making it look like a pretty loaded district.

Shawnee is a good team, and Norman looks to be the real deal, especially with a strong defense and run game. So it’s a tougher future ahead for the Pats than we might have thought at the start of the season.

Week 4: Tulsa Union is about the only team in the state that could go through what  PC West will face the next two weeks and come out with a victory. In fact, Union went 1-1 against this same schedule earlier in the month. PC West hosts Broken Arrow Friday, then travels to Jenks next week.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

This time around, the 5-foot-8, 170-pound junior lowered the boom on Choctaw, rushing for more than 200 yards in Thursday’s 42-22 defeat of the Yellowjackets.

He had three touchdowns and four runs of 20 yards or more, incluing his last two touches before heading to the bench for a well-deserved break.

Honorable mention to PC’s offensive line, and Curtis’ backfield runningmate, Desmond Tilly, who surpassed the 100-yard mark on Friday as well. The run game will be a big part of what the Pirates do as they try to make a run at the postseason, starting this week with a Thursday home game against US Grant.

Other candidates

Brandon Taylor and the Mustang offensive line: The Bronco front five gave their quarterback ample time to throw, and the result was 25 completed passes in 30 attempts for 313 yards. And give credit to senior receiver Michael Andersen, who had seven catches for 117 yards, providing Taylor with a reliable target as teams try to take away David Glidden.

Sam Wolfe, Putnam City North: Another strong week from Wolfe has him among the top rushers in Class 6A with 417 yards on 54 carries (an average of 7.7 yards per carry) with two TDs.

Yukon’s Jones brothers, Terry and Corben: Running back Terry Jones exploded for 261 yards and a pair of touchdowns behind another stout effort from the Miller offensive line, and QB Corben Jones completed 14 of 24 passes for 232 yards, including scoring tosses of 51 (Eric Granado), 64 (Kollin Retter) and 18 yards (Jake Doyle). He also rushed for a TD in the win over Stillwater.

Tori Cox, Putnam City volleyball: The Baylor commit anchored the Pirates’ run to the finals of the Bartlesville Bruin Invitational.

Andy Carroll, Oscar Barcenas and Lucas Goble, Mustang cross country: All three runners finished in the top 11 at one of the metro area’s top meets, the Edmond Dog Pack, on Friday. The trio each finished between 17:12 and 17:24.

Emily Helms, Mustang cross country: A contender for the 6A girls state individual title, Helms was second at the Dog Pack. She finished the 3,200-meter run in 11:59, just 14 seconds off the winning pace.

Scott Massey, Tyler Baxter and Thad Dies, Yukon cross country: The Millers dominated the PC North meet at Woodson Park, with Massey winning gold, Baxter the bronze and Dies finishing foruth. Clay Mattox and Kelby Watson also finished in the top 10 for the Millers.

Send West Metro Player of the Week nominations to Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com

Putnam City

Putnam City is off to a 2-0 start with wins over its two sister schools, PC North and PC West, so morale is peaking for the Pirates. But with a physical Choctaw team visiting Putnam City Stadium tonight, they know they have to stay focused.

The defense has allowed just seven points and fewer than 400 yards through two games, but Choctaw brings a potent backfield with three players — running backs Corey Bennett and Aaron Fournier, and QB Tanner Hessman — who have rushed for more than 100 yards apiece so far this season. And Hessman can throw it around, too. He’s 16-of-36 for 224 yards and two TDs.

Yukon

Yukon is at Stillwater Friday night in the kind of game that should scare Miller fans a little bit. You avoided the post-Mustang letdown, and there’s a HUUUUUGE game — and a huge opportunity to prove yourselves as one of the west side’s top teams — waiting in Week 4 with the district opener at Midwest City.

The Millermen beat Stillwater 17-14 last October in Yukon. Based on the first two weeks, it looks like the Pioneers are about the same team as last year, while the Millers have shown some serious improvement. So it’s a game Yukon folks probably think they should win — and accurately so. In Vegas, they call it a trap game. Will the Millers fall into the trap?

Putnam City North

Some good news on the injury front for the Panthers, who learned on Tuesday that backup QB Joe Summers would miss only 4-6 weeks with a partial tendon tear — not a torn ACL. And running back Dre Holman could return this week from mid-August surgery to repair torn cartilage in his knee after suffering the injury on the first day of practice. But I wouldn’t expect him to be used full-time for at least a game or two.

Holman’s presence would not only aid the rushing attack, but also give the Panthers the chance to use Sam Wolfe in the slot more often. He was dangerous there last week at Mustang, catching six passes for 72 yards while rushing for 104.

Mustang

The Broncos are still growing up. They had two really good offensive series and only one big mistake — the Pick-6 at the end of the first half — in the win over PC North. The run blocking was outstanding at times and Tyler Webster ran hard, pounding out 93 yards on 26 carries.

You’re going to see gradual improvement from this team every week, with so many young players and first-time starters on the field. And they need some other receivers to step up as well. Jacob Mersman and Michael Andersen made some good catches last week, as did Jacob Strassle. Derek Garvin and Corey Irwins could be back from injuries this week or next, and that will help, because getting the ball in David Glidden’s hands has been tough so far, with secondaries keying on stopping him.

Putnam City West

I paid a visit to Patriot practice early last week, and there was a sense that the focus wasn’t there. The frustration in the coaches’ faces was obvious, and you just got a feeling that things might not go well against Putnam City. The 44-0 loss — which was actually more competitive than the score would suggest — probably didn’t surprise some of the coaching staff, despite the great week of work the Patriots put in before the opener against Choctaw, and the positive results it produced in defeat.

So this week, I would expect better effort from the Patriots in practice and on Friday night against PC North. PC West has a strong senior class of leaders, so look for those guys to get the team refocused.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

PS: Here’s a link for those of you too young to know who the Micro Machines Man was.

Patton had rushed for 41 yards before the injury Saturday. He has been a key piece in the Falcons’ potent offense, which is averaging 41 points per game so far. Patton has 202 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries for the season.

The Falcons, ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, host 4A No. 2 Bishop McGuinness at 7 p.m. Friday at Leodies Robinson Field.

Patton is a dangerous player with the ball in his hands, and he’s a vital part of making the Millwood offense go. He’s Kevonte Richardson’s best friend, because he can take pressure off the passing game and open some running lanes for the QB as well.

If Patton is limited this week, Allen Starks should be able to fill in well. He’s not quite as dangerous, but he runs hard and the coaches like him. And don’t be surprised to see Josh Turner or Mike Cole get some carries, too.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Jones returned the opening kickoff 82 yards for a TD, and that gave the Millers a quick burst of momentum, making sure there would be no post-Mustang letdown. From that point on, Jones and his blockers worked in tandem to finish off Edmond Santa Fe with the power run game that produced two straight TDs in the fourth quarter after Santa Fe pulled within 21-19.

Jones finished with 148 rushing yards and four total TDs, nearly five until he fumbled into the end zone and it was recovered by Parks.

Other contenders

David Glidden and Jacob Strassle, Mustang football: Glidden was quiet much of the night as he has become the No. 1 focus of opposing defenses. But the OSU commit came up with the game’s biggest play, intercepting a pass and returning it 92 yards for a TD to seal the Broncos’ win over Putnam City North. Strassle continues to make major progress in his first season of football — ever. He caught a TD pass that put Mustang ahead in the fourth quarter.

Covin Conrady, Sam Wolfe and DeQuante Colbert, PC North football: Conrady is among the state leaders in receptions this year with 18 for 271 yards and two touchdowns. He had eight catches Friday, accounting for 66 yards and the Panthers’ only offensive touchdown. Wolfe rushed for 104 yards and had six receptions for 72 yards out of the backfield. Colbert, a key player in the young secondary, had an interception which he returned for a TD just before halftime that gave the Panthers the lead.

Casey Curtis and Desmond Tilley, Putnam City football: The junior running back duo powered the Pirates to 286 rushing yards in a 44-0 rout of Putnam City West, moving PC to 2-0 entering Thursday night’s game against Choctaw.

Emily Helms, Mustang cross country: The sensational sophomore won one of the biggest meets of the young season at Norman last week. She finished the course in 12:28, 15 seconds ahead of her closest follower. Only four runners finished under 13:00.

Scott Massey and Megan Wilkerson, Yukon cross country: Both runners earned gold medals in their division at the Putnam City meet at Dolese Park last week.

Madi Ellis, Kendal Smith and Skyler Leathers, Yukon softball: The trio was among several Yukon hitters who powered the Millerettes to five wins in six games last week.

– To nominate an athlete for West Metro POW, e-mail Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com

Why PC North could win: The Yukon offense found success, piling up more than 550 yards last week on the Broncos, and if Mustang doesn’t make adjustments, the Panthers will find a way to do the same. PC North’s offense is similar to Yukon in that both have a good running back and use a short passing attack. So if Jace James can get the ball to his receivers, and if Sam Wolfe has some running room, the Panthers should be able to move the ball. The key will be eliminating turnovers that killed them last week. The defense only gave up 186 yards in last week’s loss.

Why Mustang could win: The Broncos are a better team than they showed last week, but the growth curve might take some time. The offensive and defensive lines have a lot of inexperience, and will need some game reps to get up to speed. QB Brandon Taylor just needs an extra half-second in the pocket to get a better look on some of his throws. Once that starts happening, the offense will be on the move again.

Key matchup: Mustang receivers vs. PC North secondary. Putnam City only threw 10 times last week, completing six of them for 95 yards and a touchdown. That’s pretty efficient, and Mustang will throw the ball a lot more, maybe three or four times as much, so that PC North secondary, which includes multiple sophomores, will be tested by David Glidden and Jon Luckey.

The pick: PC North 35, Mustang 34. I still think the Broncos need some time to get everything together. Even though PC North has some youth, too, and had an ugly performance last week, I think they’re further along right now. However, Mustang’s refurbished stadium could be the wildcard. That place is really nice and the crowd should be fired up for the home opener tonight.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Putnam City West

There was a lot of rivalry excitement in the West Metro last week, so PC West’s strong effort in defeat to Choctaw was lost in the mix. For the teams on the Patriots’ schedule, don’t ignore these guys. In talking off the record with a couple different coaches who have taken a deeper look at this team than other coaches probably have, both guys said the Pats are much better than last year. Size in the trenches is still an issue, but the talent is there, especially with QB Ray Young, RB Johnny Smith and the receivers.

From what I’ve seen of the Pats in practice this season, Young’s throwing ability is far improved from last year, and the receivers are definitely more comfortable in their routes. I haven’t seen Smith in action a lot, but he’s got good size and speed, and went for 150 yards and a TD last week. I know Putnam City isn’t overlooking Friday’s meeting at PC Stadium.

Mustang

There’s an obvious level of frustration after the 43-28 loss at Yukon last Friday. Now, they’ve got to get ready for Putnam City North, which is also coming off a loss to its rival. The thing Mustang is lacking most right now is experience. Their young players are talented, but they had some mistakes. They’ll get past it, but it’s a question of when. The schedule isn’t exactly easy. After PC North, it’s a pair of long bus trips to Bixby and Lawton, followed by Edmond North, Edmond Santa Fe and Putnam City.

Yukon

Talking to some people at Mustang, the Broncos were as impressed with the Yukon O-line as I was, but they also were impressed by the play the Miller defensive ends, Jake Doyle and Andrew Edwards. Those two, along with others on the defensive front, were making it hard for QB Brandon Taylor find a rhythm in the passing game, and they really came alive in the second half, with four sacks, including a safety.

The Millers are on TV Thursday night at Edmond Santa Fe (Cox 3) as they try to follow up the big Week 1 victory.

Putnam City

In case you missed it, here’s my story on PC receiver/kicker Carson Lynn. And while Lynn was the most interesting story of the week for PC following their upset of PC North, it was the defense that deserved the most praise. The five turnovers they created were HUUUUUGE.

“We’ve been focused on getting nine or 10 hats to the ball and we were ready for whatever they could throw at us,” defensive back Cody Minor said. “If one guy misses a tackle, there’s three or four more guys there to make the tackle. We practice pursuit every day.

“We can’t get big-headed. PC West has a reputation of not winning too often, but that doesn’t matter. We’ve got to maintain our intensity. We can’t slack.”

Putnam City North

Bob Wilson was frustrated by the turnovers, and not too happy with the offense in general, but the Panthers outgained PC last week. They just shot themselves in the foot over and over again. So the goal is an obvious one this week at Mustang — don’t give the ball away.

The defense was a bright spot, but PC didn’t throw a lot to attack that young secondary. So those guys will be on the spot a little more this week.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

The group has only two returning starters, Travis Henning and Lantz Parks, with only one of them — Henning — being a senior. Other guys like Tyler Bush, Logan Schantz and Will Paddock have done well stepping into roles on the Yukon front.

Behind them on Friday, the Millers got 120 rushing yards from Terry Jones and 72 more from quarterback Corben Jones, who had good protection all night in the passing game as well.

Other contenders

David Glidden and Jacob Strassle, Mustang football: Other than Glidden’s more than 200 return yards, including a 95-yard TD, Strassle was one of the only other players to make a significant impact Friday night for the Broncos. He joined the team to be a kicker, and he made all four of his extra-point tries, while putting a couple of kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. And he caught two passes for 41 yards on the Broncos’ only significant offensive touchdown drive.

Carson Lynn, Putnam City football: Last year’s version of Strassle, Lynn joined the football team to help the kicking game, but soon became a receiving option as well. This year, with a full offseason under his belt, he will be one of the team’s top WRs. He scored a TD and kicked a late field goal in the 16-7 win over Putnam City North.

Scott Massey, Yukon cross country: Massey won the Shawnee Canadian River Run on Thursday, 19 seconds ahead of his closest competitor. Teammate Tyler Baxter was fourth.

Emily Helms and Andy Carroll, Mustang cross country: Carroll finished third to lead Mustang in the boys competition at Edmond Santa Fe, and Helms, a sophomore, won the girls competition.

Madi Ellis, Yukon softball: Ellis had a two-run double to help third-ranked Yukon edge Edmond Santa Fe 5-4 last week.

Shaundra Hicks, Putnam City volleyball: Hicks is a reliable player who holds the Pirates together. She and hitter Tori Cox have led PC to the No. 7 spot in the rankings after a hot start.

Jordan Cox, Mustang volleyball: The Broncos have made a move to get into the top 15 early in the season, including winning their own tournament. Despite a pair of losses in the last week to top teams PC and Edmond Santa Fe, Mustang is making some noise, and Cox’s hitting ability is a big reason why.

– If you’d like to nominate a West Metro player of the week, e-mail information to Scott Wright at swright@opubco.com.

- The final score doesn’t do justice to Yukon’s performance Friday night. The Millers held a one-score advantage until 1:06 was left, when Terry Jones powered his way into the end zone to put it away. Yukon controlled the line of scrimmage, did what it wanted offensively and contained the Mustang offense.

- The Mustang offense should be excited with what it was able to do in the second half. The Broncos had an 80-yard TD drive in which QB Brandon Taylor was 5-of-5 passing. And they took advantage of a short field to poke in another score, one that made it a 36-28 game early in the fourth quarter. They showed the kind of efficiency you expect from the Broncos, and the kind of production I’d expect from them as they get settled in. Let’s not forget, Taylor only played half a season last year, and the offense lost a lot of vital pieces from that squad.

- Mustang’s tape of the first half should be burned, or shown to the freshman and junior-high teams as an example of how not to run the Mustang offense. The offensive line and run game struggled, and Taylor was 3-of-13 passing. A couple of the incompletions were his fault, a couple more were good defensive plays and some were thrown on the money and dropped — a recurring problem for the Broncos that will need to be resolved. Mustang went into halftime down 27-14 and on the two scoring drives, its offense had covered a total of two yards.

- That brings us to the one shining bright spot for the Broncos — David Glidden. The senior answered Yukon’s second TD of the night with a 95-yard kickoff return to make it 14-7. After Yukon went up 27-7, Glidden got free on another long kickoff return, getting dragged down at the 2 to set up another score. He made plays all night when he was able to get the ball in his hands. Outside of the return game, however, he only had four touches.

- Yukon WR Jordan Edwards was playing Chris Carter-style, “All he does is catch touchdowns.” Almost, anyway. Edwards had three catches for 67 yards and two scores. The other reception was a 50-yarder that ended with a controversial fumble at the 1. Had he finished it off, the Millers would have been up by three TDs at the half.

- I’ve said before that the Miller wideouts are an impressive group, and the thing that stuck out the most Friday was their versatility. They have all different types of guys. Edwards and Kaiden Horn are small and quick. Eric Granado is big, and has good speed to go with it. Kollin Retter and Derek Deeds are the middle ground, both in the 6-foot-1 range with strong bodies and quicks, too. They can run around you just as easily as over you. And they all got involved Friday.

- I said what needed to be said about Yukon’s offensive line in the game story linked above, but the run game in general was impressive. Coach Todd Wilson said he didn’t want the team’s rushing ability to be ignored because of all the weapons in the passing game. This team will be balanced, and they’ve got the ability to hit you for a big play in the air or on the ground.

- The 25 combined penalties — 16 for 134 yards for Yukon — probably frustrated coaches on both sides, but it seemed the refs were a little flag-happy. At one point during the second quarter, I found myself hoping someone would sew the flags into their pockets at halftime.

-  The size of the crowd was ridiculous. Miller Pride Stadium couldn’t hold them all, and at some spots around the end zones, people were lined up four- or five-deep, like golf fans lining the fairway at a PGA tournament. I estimated 10,000 in the story and it had to be at least that, if not more. The visitor’s bleachers, as well as the general admission seats on the home side, were full long before kickoff.

What’s next: Yukon has a short week, visiting Edmond Santa Fe on Thursday. Mustang will get to open its new stadium with a visit from Putnam City North on Friday. Santa Fe lost 14-0 to Edmond Memorial Friday night and PC North was on the wrong end of a 16-7 final against Putnam City.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Why Mustang could win: The Broncos have high hopes of competing for a state title again this year, after an unexpected early exit from the playoffs last season. They’ve got big-time talent on offense, built around WR David Glidden and QB Brandon Taylor, and the defense looks to be pretty solid.

Why Yukon could win: Last year’s loss at Mustang stung the Millers after they played so well and couldn’t finish it off. This year, on the home turf, they don’t want to feel that again. The offensive line seems to be progressing and the defense has a lot of speed on the field, which will give them the ability to do some different things. With this being the 100th year of football in Yukon and the last year at the current stadium, the crowd will be even more jacked up than usual for this rivalry, and it probably trickles down to the players.

Key matchup: Yukon passing game vs. Mustang DBs. Mustang players feel the defense is ahead of where it was at this time a year ago, when Corben Jones burst onto the scene with a 400-yard, 7-TD passing performance against the Broncos. Jones has a ton of receivers to throw to in this offense, and they’ll need to take advantage of the experience in that group.

The pick: Yukon 31, Mustang 28. Sometimes my picks are based on logic, and sometimes it’s all feeling. This one is feeling. I get a sense that something’s missing right now in Mustang, and I think they’ll get it worked out in time for district play, but they’ll need a couple games to see what’s what. Meanwhile, Yukon is a team on the incline with massive motivation from last year’s playoff appearance. If you ask me who’ll have the better season, I’d give the slight edge to the Broncos, but right now, tonight, I feel a victory for the Millermen. I’m just glad we have games like this in Week 1. It makes you forget summer real fast.

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com

Yukon

Originally, I thought it’d be a good idea for Yukon and Mustang to swap hosting the game the next two years, so that Mustang could have it at their new stadium for the first game this year, and Yukon could have it at their new place when it opens next season. But for the 100th year, it seems right for this game to kick off the season at Miller Pride Stadium. 

As for football, I’m interested to see Yukon’s secondary in action against the Mustang spread this Friday night. Yukon has a lot of talent back there, but some of them are playing new positions, so it might take some game time for everyone to get on the same page. Wilson said defensive coordinator Steve Chard was happy with the team’s performance against Del City last week, and he said the team tackled much better than the previous scrimmage. 

Mustang 

I expect Mustang to be one of the top teams on the west side of the state by the time the season ends. However, I’m a little curious to see what the offense looks like in Week 1 at Yukon. It seems the Broncos have less depth at receiver than they expected, but the talent is there with David Glidden, Jon Luckey, Derek Garvin and some other less experienced young players. 

The most interesting twist in Mustang has been the players’ enthusiasm about the defense. One player told me last week that the defense is farther along right now than it was in Week 7 last year.  

Putnam City West 

The Patriots put in a new defense to get more defensive backs on the field, and if the secondary is comfortable with the new assignments, it should make a difference. And the offense should be much improved from last year, with experience at quarterback and deep talent at receiver and running back. 

Choctaw is a winnable game, but it will come down to line play on both sides. Guys like Grayson Buchanon and Cameron Sisco are leaders up there who will be heavily relied on.

Putnam City

In talking to John Wofford, his biggest concern is developing some depth on the offensive and defensive lines. Some of the starters on the offensive line will have to put in double time on the defensive line. And that will wear on kids who are going against guys half as tired as they are.

The Pirates seem to be pretty excited about the developing run game with Casey Curtis and Desmond Tilley. The pair of juniors give the backfield a nice mix, with Curtis coming from the scat-back mold and Tilley a bigger, straight-ahead runner.

Putnam City North

There’s one big question facing the Panthers as they head into the opener against Putnam City on Friday, and that’s the development of the secondary. Only junior Dequantae Colbert has any real experience, and there are at least a couple sophomores looking at significant playing time back there.

“JR Simon looked pretty good (in last week’s scrimmage),” coach Bob Wilson said. “Roosevelt Turner is another sophomore playing back there. We’re just so young, and that’s a tough place to play when you’re young, because if you mess up back there, everybody knows.

“Colbert is really the only guy on the back end that’s played on Friday nights. He’s got to be a leader. We’ve challenged him to do that and he’s trying to.”

– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com