Cascia Hall's Michael Bloomfield and Nathan Dinsmore catch Glenpool's Parker West Friday. Cascia Hall held the Warriors to 29 points in the second half, proof its defense hasn't gone anywhere despite losing key players. MICHAEL WYKE / Tulsa World
Speculation that Cascia Hall's "Blue Swarm" defense had lost its sting was very premature.
There were some doubts about how good Cascia's defense would be after graduating most of its starters from last year's team. Holland Hall then scored 32 against the Commandos in the season opener and Glenpool produced 14 points in the first half last Thursday.
The Commandos, however, shut out Glenpool and held the Warriors to 29 yards in the second half while contributing the clinching touchdown en route to a 24-14 victory.
"A lot of people didn't think we'd do that great and I think they're going to be surprised about what we've done and what we're going to do," Cascia junior Cooper Bethel said.
"We've been bigger and more experienced the last couple years, but we've been working really hard and I'll think we'll be do pretty well."
Bethel helped set the tone for the second half with a crunching sack on the final play before intermission.
"It does lift you going into halftime," Cascia coach Joe Medina said. "Cooper is just the typical Cascia Hall football player. He's another one of those tough fullback-linebacker type kids. They play hard and are really good in situations like this game."
Bethel, who was Cascia's top rusher with 11 carries for 75 yards, also scored the go-ahead TD on a 2-yard run in the third quarter to give Cascia a 17-14 lead. He suffered a leg injury a few moments before the TD but wasn't going to miss the chance for the winning touchdown.
Bethel helped Cascia (2-0) move up one slot to No. 5 in the Tulsa World's Class 4A rankings. Glenpool (1-1) remained at No. 9.
Cascia, which has rarely trailed at halftime during the past decade, has needed second-half comebacks in its first two games.
"The two things I will take away from these games is the tremendous amount of poise that they have shown and they haven't been rattled when we've been behind at halftime," Medina said. "This is why we have our system. When the game is tight or when you're behind, we have our system. You rely on the system we hang our hat on and what you believe in. And what we believe in is defense, special teams and running the ball."
A big special-teams assist against Glenpool was provided by Sam Percefull, who pinned Glenpool inside the 15 on a pair of fourth-quarter punts. Medina elected to punt in those situations instead of trying to convert a fourth down inside the Glenpool 40.
Percefull's second punt set up Robbie Colburn's clinching 8-yard fumble return for a TD.
"They were the right plays at those times," Medina said of the punts. "Everybody wants you to go for it, but the right play is punt and pin them deep. We practice that. We don't give it lip service."
Cascia will host Lighthouse Christian on Friday.
"I look at these three (nondistrict) games as the preseason and we have a preseason for a reason," Medina said. "And whether we're 0-3 or 3-0, as long we got our seasoning in those three weeks, when it's time for districts we'll be ready and be an excellent football team in the end."
Fort Gibson survives "wrong club": Fort Gibson, ranked No. 6 in 4A, edged Hilldale 17-10 on Friday. After Michael Richey's go-ahead TD run with 20 seconds left, Hilldale's Bradley Campbell nearly returned the ensuing kickoff for a TD, but was stopped at the Fort Gibson 30.
"Our kicker used a 3-wood but I wanted him to use a 9-iron," Fort Gibson coach James Singleton said with a chuckle about the kickoff.
Singleton said an overflow crowd estimated at 10,000 was the largest at a Fort Gibson home game in many years. The game was the first played on a new turf field that was installed last Monday.
Jacobs powers Titans: Sophomore running back Joshua Jacobs had 19 carries for 182 yards and three TDs plus a pair of two-point conversions in 4A No. 7 McLain's 22-16 win at Sperry.
"He's growing up," McLain coach Jarvis Payne Sr. said. "We got our running game going at just the right time. It was a hard-fought game."
Summit rallies around coach: Summit Christian, with head coach Ron Davis not on the sidelines for the first time in 38 years of coaching, improved to 2-0 with a 33-12 victory over Chouteau on Friday. Davis' father died last Monday and he then turned the game plan over to his assistants. Davis was a spectator at the game and was presented with the game ball by his players after the victory.
More Week 2 stars: Mannford's Tyler Gibson rushed for 300 yards and had five TDs in a 47-26 win over Cleveland.
Dewey's Jared Fink rushed for 240 yards and three TDs in a 30-26 victory over Pawhuska.
Pawnee's Marlon Houston Jr. had 237 total yards, including a 6-yard TD run in the opening moments of a 7-0 win over Hominy.
Bishop Kelleys's Max Denny had 24 tackles, including 14 solos, plus an interception in a 25-22 victory over Oklahoma City McGuinness.
Near miss: Sallisaw's standout kicker Sinue Rodriguuez had a 57-yard field-goal attempt clank off the crossbar in a 28-7 win over Claremore Sequoyah. Rodriguez kicked a 48-yarder in Week 1 against Greenwood (Ark.).
Preps by the Numbers: All football teams are invited to participate in the Tulsa World's Preps by the Numbers that is updated daily at
tulsaworld.com and published every Tuesday. The deadline for the print edition is 3 p.m. Monday. Each coach has been assigned a password that can be used to enter statistics on the World's website. For questions on passwords and instructions on how to submit statistics, contact Barry Lewis at
barry.lewis@tulsaworld.com or call 918-581-8393.
World correspondent Kevin Henry contributed to this column.
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