By JOHN E. HOOVER Sports Columnist on Aug 28, 2012, at 6:23 PM Updated on 8/29 at 10:47 AM
GAME POINT
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Bill Blankenship’s appreciation for what has transpired — what continues to transpire — between the high school football programs at Union and Jenks has multiple facets.
Now beginning his second season as head coach at the University of Tulsa, Blankenship’s perspective on recruiting has changed immeasurably.
“It is a lot of fun to get to recruit from both schools. I got accused all the time of recruiting at Union,” he joked. “Now I get to recruit both schools.”
No. 1 Union — four-time defending Class 6A state champion — meets No. 3 Jenks at 7:30 Friday night at TU’s Chapman Stadium in the 2012 season opener. It's sure to be another classic for the two superpowers who share the last 16 consecutive state championships in Oklahoma’s largest classification.
In 14 seasons at Union, Blankenship’s teams were 154-26 with 6A state championships in 2002, 2004 and 2005.
Going into his 17th season, Jenks’ Allan Trimble is 176-30, with nine 6A crowns, including six straight from 1996-2001.
After two ordinary seasons under Kevin Wright, Union brought back Blankenship assistant Kirk Fridrich, who is 65-5 going into his sixth season with four consecutive state championships.
Blankenship’s recruiting duties have shifted as a head coach from the four years he was a TU assistant. During a press conference on Monday, he offered a perspective that only he could.
“It was kind of odd the first time I went into Jenks High School, because I had another coach with me and people were following me around like, ‘What’s HE doing here?’ The coach was like, ‘It’s OK, we’re trying to recruit these guys.’ ”
Blankenship is proud that his current TU roster has 29 Tulsa-area players, including 12 from either Jenks or Union.
He’s also proud that Fridrich has taken the Union program, which he practically built, to another level. It almost seems impossible that Fridrich has won four straight 6A titles.
“It seemed impossible for me,” he joked. “No, I’m very happy for him and it’s an amazing run that they’re on. You know, I was unfortunate to have been on the other side of the Jenks run like that.”
Since 1996, Jenks leads the series 13-12, and 11 of those games were decided by a touchdown or less. Three ended in overtime. The dramatic endings sometimes transcend the rivalry itself.
“The whole Jenks-Union phenomenon is an amazing thing to me,” Blankenship said. “I think that game has consistently lived up and surpassed the hype. To me, that’s an amazing thing when a game can continue to do that.
“I know there are a lot of times when coach Trimble and I would just meet each other at midfield and kind of shake our heads at each other when it’s all said and done because you just couldn’t figure that it had done it again, and it had. It’s continued to do that with coach Fridrich and coach Trimble and the leadership they’ve had with the programs.”
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