El Reno gives as much as it takes — and vice versa
By Justin Harper
jharper@opubco.com
In Thursday’s paper I wrote about El Reno’s turn around from a 3-7 team in 2007 to an 8-2 team in 2008. But in doing some number-crunching for the story I noticed an amazing trend: In terms of yards and points, the Indians give as much as they take — and vice versa.
Actually, if you looked at stats alone and didn’t see the scores to El Reno’s games this season the only logical conclusion would be that every game was a tie.
Let’s start out talking about rushing stats. The Indians have run for 933 yards and allowed 916. That’s an average of 93.3 yards for El Reno and 91.6 yards for the opponent. After 10 games, there’s less than two yards difference.
Now let’s look at passing. The Indians have thrown for 1,091 yards and allowed just two yards more, 1,093. That’s just amazing. El Reno averages 109.1 yards a game and the opponent 109.3. Since the rushing and passing numbers are so close, obviously the total offense stats will be similar —2,024 yards for El Reno, 2,009 for the opponent. That equates to less than two yards difference by average — 202.4 for El Reno, 200.9 for foes.
But that’s not the end of the similarities. Taking a look at the scores you see that
Mustang’s offense as prolific as ever
By Matt Patterson
If there’s one reason Mustang has a shot at its first undefeated regular season in school history, look no further than the ever-productive Broncos offense.
Mustang has scored 30 or more points in 8 of their first 9 games. The one time they didn’t reach the 30 point plateau came against Edmond Santa Fe, but Mustang still won that game 27-26.
How does that compare with the last 2 seasons? Fairly favorably. Mustang averaged 24 points last season and 42 points per game during their 2006 season.
Midwest City’s Stewart feeling better
By Matt Patterson
Midwest City linebacker Kameron Stewart said he was feeling better late Thursday afternoon after he suffered a knee injury during the Bombers’ Week 9 game with Norman. Stewart left the stadium on crutches but said he was no longer using them Thursday.
Stewart said he would know more about his injury Monday when he visits the doctor. The senior has 84 tackles and 4 sacks this season for undefeated Midwest City.
PC North RB duo a powerful combination
By Matt Patterson
Putnam North is 6-3 overall and while the Panthers’ defense has had its issues, the team does have a couple of clock killing running backs in its backfield.
Josh Booker sits at 965 yards, needing just a handful more to top the 1,000 mark for the second consecutive season. He has an 8.94 YPC average and has scored 15 touchdowns.
Not far behind is Greg Lewis who has 830 yards and a seven touchdowns. He’s averaging over 6 yards per carry.
“As a quarterback both of those guys give you a lot of confidence because you know you can just feed them the ball and they’ll get the yards,” PCN’s Hunter Frantz said. “They’re both great players.”
A little love for Punters
By Matt Patterson
High school kicking games are usually more about adventure than anything approaching reliability but there are a few players in Class 6A who have distinguished themselves with the art of the punt.
Austin Brasher, Edmond North: 28 punts for a 43-yard average
Ronson Calfy, Moore: 45 punts for a 39-yard average
Gavin Little, Claremore: 50 for a 34-yard average
Trent Williams, Putnam North: 35 for a 34-yard average.
By Matt Patterson
Putnam City is fighting for a spot in the playoffs, and a win over Edmond Memorial would go a long ways in determing that. The Pirates (4-2), Edmond Northan (4-2) and even Westmoore (3-3) are all the mix for the third and fourth spots with Midwest City and Edmond Memorial locking up the top two.
“This game has huge implications for the playoff seedings,” PC coach Mark Little said. “It goes without saying it’s critical. There’s a lot of figuring going on. We could be out or we could be third.”
The Pirates are getting healthy at the right time.
“We’re getting there,” Little said. “We’re still not 100 percent but we’re better off than we were.”
PC North feeling confident
By Matt Patterson
PC North quarterback Hunter Frantz had one his better games in a win over Lawton Thursday. The senior scored on an 81 yard run, his ninth rushing touchdown this year.
Frantz said he thinks he and his teammates have shaken off the duldrums that was present during consecutive losses to Mustang and Edmond Santa Fe.
“We wanted to get back on the right track,” he said. “Two weeks in a row we had fallen short. We practiced harder and showed a lot more desite. We didn’t change any of our schemes, but we changed metnally. We learned a lot from two weeks of losing.”
PCN (5-3) could have their hands full with Del City who has played well in recent weeks, including an upset of Norman North.
“We don’t take them lightly,” Frantz said. “They beat one of the best teams in the state. We can’t afford to look past them. They’ve got a lot of speed.”
PC faces tall order against Edmond Memorial
By Matt Patterson
Putnam City will face Edmond Memorial this week in their regular season finale and for the Pirates it may tell the story on where or if they will play in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.
Both teams are coming off wins over rivals. Memorial (7-2) handled Edmond North and PC took down PC (5-4) West Friday. But Memorial would have to be consdiered the favorite.
”For us to beat them we’re going to have to play our best,” PC coach Mark Little said. “It’s going to take an extreme effort. Their defense is outstanding and their offense has been improving. We’ve basically nickled and dimed our way to this point.”
The Split: How schools have fared
By Justin Harper
If you read the story in today’s section about the split of the Moore school district you may wonder how such splits affected other schools. Here is a look at how several large schools fared after a school district split, with their season record the year the new school(s) opened:
Putnam City
1968: Putnam City West added. Record: 7-2-1
1978: Putnam City North added. Record: 7-5
Putnam City West
1978: Putnam City North added. Record: 12-1
Moore
1988: Westmoore added. Record: 2-8
2008: Southmoore added. Current record: 0-8
Edmond Memorial
1994: Edmond Santa Fe and Edmond North added. Record: 4-6
Norman
1998: Norman North added. Record: 5-5
Westmoore
2008: Southmoore added. Current record: 3-5
* Here is a look at how the new schools fared after opening:
Putnam City West
First season: 1968, 3-5-1
First winning season: 1969, 7-3
Best season: 1981, 14-0, Class 4A champions
Putnam City North
First season: 1978, 1-9
First winning season: 1979, 9-2
Best season: 1991, 14-0, Class 5A champions
Westmoore
First season: 1988, 4-7
First winning season: 1991, 8-6
Best season: 1991, 5A runner-up
Edmond Santa Fe
First season: 1994, 5-5
First winning season: 1995, 11-2
Best season: 2003, 12-2, Class 6A runner-up
Edmond North
First season: 1994, 3-7
First winning season: 1998, 6-5
Best season: 2003, 10-2
Norman North
First season: 1998, 2-8
First winning season: 2007, 9-3
Best season: 2007
Southmoore
First season: 2008, currently 2-6
Mustang has been tested
By Matt Patterson
Playing in 6A-1 has afforded Mustang with plenty of challenges this year. The Broncos survived a tough game with Santa Fe earlier this year, giving them the upper hand in the district title race. Their win over pre-season No. 1 Norman North was a gut wrenching 30-29 squeaker that came down to a blocked extra point.
All of this should help the Broncos when they reach the playoffs.
“We’ve been tested a lot this year because of our district,” Mustang coach Ty Prestidge said. “Some of those games have been close, but it gives us experience in winning close games and that’s something that can only help us down the road when we get into the playoffs where every game has the potential of being close.”
