Glenpool looks to start season on better note
BY MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer
Thursday, August 16, 2012
8/16/12 at 6:14 AM
Jake Ramos admits that he and his Glenpool teammates might have gotten ahead of themselves last football season.
Instead of taking care of business in the present, they focused on what the program had done in the past.
"We had to face the fact that we couldn't rely on the (Glenpool) name," he said. "We still had to prove ourselves."
At first, the Warriors weren't proving anything. They started 0-3, a little humbling for a school that has won two state titles and finished runner-up for two others over the past 10 years.
None was more humbled than Ramos, then a junior in his first full season as starting quarterback. Ramos got more serious about film study after throwing four interceptions in a 57-7 loss to Cascia Hall.
"I never wanted that to happen again," he said. "I realized that I was making a lot of bad decisions. I saw that I had to throw the ball away more. I couldn't be out there thinking I had to make a play every time."
Ramos got better and the Warriors pulled together. They won six of their next seven games to assure a 15th straight postseason appearance under head coach Steve Edwards, and beat Piedmont to reach the playoff quarterfinals.
Many of the same players are back, wanting more in 2012. But winning District 4A-2 might be a stretch with powerful OKC Douglass in the mix, not to mention tradition-rich Ada, down from 5A. The Cougars' 19 state football titles are the most by any school.
Ramos says he's grown as a quarterback in the offseason, and the Warriors will have a potentially dazzling presence at wideout.
Andre Seymore is ready to contribute on offense after starring at defensive back last season when he returned three interceptions for touchdowns.
Seymore caught two TD passes in the spring game and posted a 4.41 time in the 40-yard dash at a combine in Missouri this summer.
"I've been working with Jake and I feel like I've gotten a whole lot better over the past few months," Seymore said.
Edwards is tweaking a defense that allowed 26.4 points per game in 2011, most since his rookie year at the helm in 1996.
"That was disappointing and it's part of the reason for some of the changes we're making," Edwards said. "Some of the coverages we were using in the past were too easily recognizable. It's been a point of emphasis, and we're also trying to get a little different type of run support."
The Warriors will have a new look at tailback with senior D.J. Womack and sophomore Josh Hallemeier sharing time in place of Alton Adkins, who rushed for 3,336 yards and 39 TDs the past two seasons.
Mike Brown 918-581-8390
mike.brown@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Glenpool wide receiver Andre Seymore (left), shown tossing the ball around with Warriors quarterback Jake Ramos after practice on Tuesday, says he and Ramos have been working together over the summer. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World
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