Union-Lawton: What to watch for
11/20/2009 5:06:50 PM
I'll be at Union-Tuttle Stadium tonight for a quarterfinal showdown between Union and Lawton. No. 2 Union comes in as the favorite, despite a first-half struggle in last week's 27-9 win over Claremore.
Was that performance just a rough game by Union, or are there chinks showing in the Redskins' armor? We'll find out tonight against a talented Lawton team.
Here are three things I'm keeping an eye on tonight:
1. The first quarter: Union struggled last week, falling behind 9-0 to Claremore after the first period. "We came out real rusty," Union quarterback Chase Boyce told my colleague, Lynn Jacobsen, "and they hit us in the mouth." The Redskins can't afford to do that tonight - Lawton's offense is just too powerful (at least 28 points in its last six games). If Union punches first and establishes the tone early, it will jump out to a big lead and wear the Wolverines down with its depth. If not, Lawton might be able to hang around long enough for an upset.
2. Can Union pressure Lawton's Cody Miller? The 6-foot-5, junior QB is one of the best in the state with 2,032 passing yards and 20 touchdowns for the Wolverines. If Union can rattle Miller and force some sacks or errant throws, it will be on its way to yet another berth in the state semifinals.
3. Chase Boyce: I've only seen Union once this season, and that was its 27-25 loss to Jenks in Week 2. Boyce struggled, finishing 11-of-21 passing for 71 yards, two interceptions and only one touchdown. Boyce will have to step up tonight. And he's certainly capable of it. His 1,404 passing yards and 15 touchdowns have been huge for the Redskins. Tonight's game could turn into a shootout between Boyce and Miller. If that happens, Boyce will have to shine to keep Union's season alive.
--Matt Baker
Sometimes finishing fourth is better than third
11/19/2009 5:17:57 PM
In Oklahoma's football playoffs, it can sometimes be better for a team to finish fourth in its district than third. Third-place teams have no shot at playing at home in the first two rounds of the playoffs. However, a fourth-place team will be at home for the second round if it can survive its opener.
As a result, among the teams hosting second-round games on Friday are fourth-place finishers such as Wagoner, Blanchard, Dewey, Morris and Sperry.
In 4A, Wagoner hosts Oklahoma City Douglass. Wagoner needed a touchdown in the last seconds of its regular-season finale to even qualify for the playoffs.
Wagoner coach Dale Condict on 4A's turn of events: "Who would have ever guessed two weeks ago that (defending champion and then-No. 1) Glenpool would now be out of the playoffs and we would be at home for the second round?"
In 3A, Berryhill visits Blanchard, which stunned previously undefeated Madill last week.
"I tell our players that in the playoffs, anything can happen," Berryhill coach Pat Harper said. "We certainly can see on film how Blanchard could beat Madill. Blanchard has a good team. We just need to keep playing like we have been, not turn the ball over and not have many penalties."
Also in 3A, Dewey is at home in the playoffs for the first time since 1994 as it hosts perennial power Clinton.
"Playing Clinton will be a challenge, but our kids are excited to be playing at home," Dewey coach Chris Revard said.
--Barry Lewis
Dream seasons can end with a bad taste
11/19/2009 5:05:02 PM
Last week, several football teams lost their playoff openers after going 10-0 in the regular season. Those teams included Metro Christian, Madill, Tahlequah Sequoyah and Maud.
Commerce coach Willie Ng can understand what the coaches of those teams are going through now. Last year, Commerce lost its playoff opener after a 10-0 regular season. Last Friday, Ng had a much better feeling after a 32-31, double-overtime win over Woodland in a Class A playoff opener.
"We waited 365 days to get that taste from last year rinsed out of our mouths," Ng said.
Commerce (9-2) visits No. 5 Talihina (11-0) in the second round on Friday.
--Barry Lewis
Spartans could upset Shawnee
11/18/2009 7:49:00 PM
Not many experts across the state are giving eighth-ranked Bixby (7-4) much of a chance when visit No. 2 Shawnee (11-0) in the Class 5A quarterfinals on Friday night. It would be a mistake, however, to count out Bixby, which stunned many experts two years ago with a quarterfinal win over Midwest City Carl Albert.
Bixby's seniors will respect, but won't be awed by Shawnee. The Spartans beat Shawnee twice when they were in the same district in 2006-07.
One of the heroes of that '07 quarterfinal win over Carl Albert was Bixby tailback-safety DeWitt Jennings III, who also had a stellar game last week in a 17-13 victory over Central.
"That was the hardest first-round game we've had in five years," Jennings said. "And Shawnee will be even tougher. They're going to come out ready and hyped at their place. We've got to come out ready."
--Barry Lewis
Sperry's Jones improvised key play
11/18/2009 4:46:01 PM
Sperry tailback Charlie Jones picked up a key first down when he faked a punt and ran for 11 yards with 7;31 left in a 28-14 upset over Tahlequah Sequoyah in a Class 2A playoff opener last Friday. Sequoyah trailed only 19-14 at the time. The play set up B.J. Driver's 37-yard TD run.
Jones' fake punt was not a planned play by Sperry coach Robert Park.
"Charlie had seen earlier in the game that their players had their backs turned when he was punting," Park said. "When he saw them do it again, he took off. We never talked about him faking a punt, but we're glad he did it. It swung the momentum back to us."
Sperry hosts Stigler in the second round on Friday. Stigler is coming off a 55-48 win over Prague. Stigler quarterback Jarret Radford passed for 510 yards and seven TDs, including the winner with four seconds left.
Radford was selected as the Tulsa World's football athlete of the week in online voting.
"It was as crazy a game as I've coached," Stigler coach Chris Risenhoover said.
--Barry Lewis
Rivals: Oklahoma football not among nation's top 12
11/18/2009 11:37:19 AM
Here's a question several national Web sites have tried to answer lately: What state has the best high school football?
According to Rivals.com, Oklahoma doesn't make the list.
Using its national high school team rankings as a guide, Oklahoma finished outside the top 12 and didn't make its "The Greatest State Debate" tournament. Click here for Rivals' story.
Not sure how I feel about Rivals' list, because I'm not familiar with high school football in many of those states. Still, I was surprised to see Oklahoma in 14th.
A few other links to share:
* NOAH gets Oklahoma some positive press on Rivals with a nice story by Dallas Jackson.
* Virginia has cracked down on celebration penalties, writes the Washington Post's Paul Tenorio.
* You think the spread offense has caught on in Oklahoma? Try Texas, where five teams in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex averaged 500 yards per game, according to my former colleagues at The Dallas Morning News.
* Indianapolis Public Schools is cutting football at three of its high schools due to lack of participation, writes the Indianapolis Star's Kyle Neddenriep.With Oklahoma schools losing state funding, I hope area schools don't have to take a drastic step like that.
--Matt Baker
Bartlesville's quiet star
11/17/2009 1:49:00 PM
Bartlesville WR Garrett Powell |
I went into last week thinking Bartlesville wide receiver Mike Thompson might be the best wide receiver in the area.
I left thinking that Thompson might not even be the best wide receiver on his team.
No knock on Thompson - a speedy, 6-foot senior who can leap out of the stadium. It's just that his teammate, Garrett Powell, is that good.
"No. 15 is a college football player," Bartlesville coach Ron Smith said today.
Powell has 48 catches for 952 yards and 12 touchdowns this season. That's nearly identical to Thompson's 51 catches for 980 yards and 10 TDs.
Powell played well in a playoff-opening 14-7 at Owasso last week and made a key third-down catch in the third quarter. The Bruins scored 11 plays later in what proved to be the deciding touchdown.
The 6-foot-1 junior is also one of the most versatile players around. He plays wide receiver on offense. He plays free safety on defense. He punts. He returns punts. And he's the holder on field-goal and extra-point attempts.
"He never comes off the field," Smith said.
--Matt Baker
Jenks, Union up in national polls
11/16/2009 10:43:00 AM
As Jenks and Union continue their playoff runs in this week's quarterfinals, they're getting a little more respect nationally.
Union's stock is rising - at least according to Rivals.com: "Union is looking better and better each week," writes Rivals' Dallas Jackson. "Beating Claremore 27-9 was another nice example."
The Redskins moved up eight spots, to No. 53, in the RivalsHigh 100. Jenks also moved up a spot in that poll, to No. 28.
Jenks stayed at No. 15 in the National Prep Poll. The Trojans remained at No. 4 in that poll's Southwest Region, and Union was steady at No. 7.
Finally, Jenks continued to inch forward in the ESPN RISE FAB 50. A week after cracking the top 10 for the first time all year, the Trojans moved up a spot, to No. 9. Union moved up two spots in that set of rankings, to No. 33.
--Matt Baker
Top-ranked teams impress in playoff openers
11/15/2009 12:48:19 PM
Although the first round of the state football playoffs was filled with upsets, all the teams ranked No. 1 in their respective classes showed why they hold that position.
The average winning margin of the eight top-ranked teams was 30.4 points.
Jenks (6A) belted Yukon 44-6, Bishop Kelley (5A) blanked Ada 25-0, Weatherford (4A) beat Seminole 34-14, Cascia Hall (3A) thumped Okmulgee 35-14, Lincoln Christian (2A) socked Adair 49-3, Tonkawa (A) defeated Foyil 41-6 and Garber (B) romped past Allen 50-12.
In a surprise, the least impressive of the top-ranked teams was Class C's Shattuck, a 26-6 winner over Thackerville. Shattuck extended its state record winning streak to 93 as it looks for its seventh consecutive state title.
My World colleague, Mark Foster, points out that if Shattuck keeps winning, it would have a chance to break California De La Salle's national record of 151 in the 2013 state final.
Shattuck's winning streak began on Sept. 5, 2003. That means the freshmen who would be on that record-breaking squad in 2013 would be players who would not have even been in first grade when the streak began.
--Barry Lewis
Silence is golden for Sperry
11/14/2009 6:47:52 PM
Sperry's bus ride home from a 28-14 upset over third-ranked Tahlequah Sequoyah in a Class 2A playoff opener on Friday night was surprisingly silent.
"Our kids were all spent," Sperry coach Robert Park said. "They gave everything they had and left it on the field. They were real fired up right after the game but it was pretty quiet on the way home."
Park ranks the win as probably the best among his 64 as Sperry's coach.
"I'm still flying high," Park said on Saturday afternoon.
Sperry hosts Stigler in the second round on Nov. 20.
--Barry Lewis
Bartlesville at Owasso: What to watch for
11/13/2009 7:09:11 PM
OWASSO -- I'm at Owasso Stadium for what should be one of the best opening-round games of the playoffs: Bartlesville (8-2) at Owasso (6-4).
Bartlesville's offense is one of the best I've seen all season. The Bruins are putting up 40 points consistently and have a great passing game.
Owasso's defense is equally strong, giving up only 21 points a game and holding opponents to fewer than 10 points in half of its contests.
Here are three things to keep en eye on tonight:
1. Bartlesville's run game: Quarterback Kirby Schoenthaler and receiver Mike Thompson air it out. That's a given. But, Bruins head coach Ron Smith said this week, the ground game is going to decide the game.
"We can't be one-dimensional," Smith said.
That means Bartlesville's tailbacks (and Schoenthaler) need to follow their blocks and make Owasso respect the run. That will make a potent passing attack even more powerful.
2. Can Owasso bounce back after last week? The Rams ended the regular season on a disappointing note, a 7-3 loss to Stillwater. Owasso has to put that loss behind it. Fast. Look for the Rams to try to get out on the board quick to establish momentum and show that last week's defeat was a fluke rather than a sign of things to come.
3. Aaron Colvin: Owasso's safety (and OU commit) is one of the top players in the area, and he's the anchor of Owasso's stingy defense.
"They've got that OU football player standing back there in the middle of the field," Smith said, "and he can do some amazing things."
He'll have to tonight. If he can make a big play or two and shut down Bartlesville's own big-play threat, Mike Thompson, Owasso could spring the upset. If not, it could be one and done for the Rams.
--Matt Baker
Q&A on forfeits, violations and scandals
11/12/2009 2:01:53 PM
When the OSSAA board of directors approved Booker T. Washington's self-imposed penalties yesterday, the board put an end to an unprecedented six weeks of rules violations.
It's premature to say that this run of investigations and punishments is over. But this is a good time to do a quick Q&A on some common questions I've received about what happened at these schools:
Q: Does Oklahoma have a widespread problem with rules violations?
A: Depends on who you ask. Two-thirds of Tulsa residents who responded to our recent poll think so. Most coaches and school officials I've talked to say no. That includes Ed Sheakley, the executive secretary of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association.
Q: If we don't have a widespread problem, why are these things happening?
A: The OSSAA is getting more tips, Sheakley said. The organization looks into every credible tip it receives, officials say. After Jenks' investigation showed many rules violations, more anonymous tips rushed to the OSSAA. They've looked into those tips, and some have turned out to be true.
Q: Is the OSSAA trying to crack down on schools that break rules? Is the OSSAA trying to look harsh after its own scandal with a former executive secretary being charged with embezzlement?
A: No, according to the OSSAA. "I don't think we're cracking down more," Sheakley said earlier this week. "I just think that we're getting more calls, more e-mails, more letters to investigate kids or programs."
Q: Jenks head coach Allan Trimble was suspended indefinitely by the OSSAA. Why didn't the board also indefinitely suspend BTW head coach/athletic director Antwain Jimmerson?
A: That's pretty much what the board did. Trimble can go before the OSSAA at the board's June meeting for possible reinstatement. TPS suspended Jimmerson for the 2009-10 school year and also said he has to go before the board at that June meeting to be reinstated. The wording is different, but the difference is only semantic, Sheakley said.
Q: Could BTW have punishments from last year's state championship football team?
A: Not unless new evidence is presented. TPS athletic director Stephanie Spring said the district hasn't had a reason to think that violations took place last season. If it had a reason to think so, it would have investigated last year.
Q: Why have these problems occurred?
A: In some cases, the coach, parents, athletic director or principal claim not to know the rules. That's what happened at Sand Springs, where coach Dustin Kinard said he didn't know additional paperwork had to be filed for one football player. The Sandites had to forfeit a game because of that missing paperwork. In other cases, OSSAA board members say, schools knew the rules but chose not to follow them.
Q: Wait. Isn't the job of athletic directors and coaches to know the rules?
A: Yes. But: 1. There are a lot of them – it's hard to memorize 70+ pages of rules. And 2. It's hard to tell which cases apply to each student. There are lots of rules because the OSSAA wants to take into account many, many different scenarios because each student-athlete's case is unique.
Q: So are the rules clear?
A: Some of them are. But many athletic directors claim others are not. I sat in on a handful of hardship appeal hearings yesterday, and several coaches or ADs said they didn't know what this meant or didn't understand every part of the rule. Their interpretation of what the rule said differed from the board's.
The OSSAA is working on educating athletic directors. Officials are working on a PowerPoint presentation to give to schools – Rule 8 for Dummies, Sheakley called it – to clear up eligibility issues. The OSSAA will also offer seminars to explain the rules and certain scenarios to districts. "I think we're going to see more problems in the future," if athletic directors don't understand the rules, board member Todd Steidley said yesterday.
Q: Did Booker T. Washington intentionally break rules?
A: I've been asked this question several times, specifically with the lack of grade checks at BTW. According to Tulsa Public Schools' report, principal Micheal Johnson and the school's athletic directors were alerted to the lack of grade checks but did not do them, blaming it on a new computer program that worked fine at eight other high schools.
At least seven of the 37 student-athletes who participated while academically ineligible were starters on the football team, which makes it look as if BTW was "definitely trying to enrich their athletic program," as OSSAA board member Bob Bush said Wednesday.
I've asked three TPS officials – Spring, high schools superintendent Kevin Burr and superintendent Keith Ballard – about this recently. They all said that they did not know whether that rule was broken intentionally to try to win more games.
"The bottom line is, whether you say you did or didn't know the rules, the rules were violated," Spring said Wednesday. "The fact of the matter is that the rules weren't followed, and the penalties had to be imposed. Bottom line."
Q: What about (Insert school here)? I know they're cheating!
A: The OSSAA looks into every credible tip it receives, OSSAA officials have said repeatedly. But, especially in recruiting violations, it can be hard to prove.
Q: So are we done with all of these violations and forfeits?
A: Maybe. Maybe not. It's possible that another anonymous tip could come in today and result in another string of investigations.
--Matt Baker
Football playoff format change needed
11/11/2009 2:54:00 PM
In basketball, every team makes it to the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association's playoffs. And it should also be that way in football.
I didn't feel that way until last Thursday when Muskogee was knocked out of the Class 6A playoffs due to Sand Springs using an inelgibile player. No coach should ever have to go through what Muskogee coach Matt Hennesy did that day. He described how tough it was for him to look in his seniors' faces and tell them they weren't going to the playoffs because of another team's mistake.
October has become a scary month for football teams that reasons that have nothing to do with Halloween. Every team having a good season, even if it is following the rules the best it knows how, has to worry now that its using an ineligible player that could cost it a playoff berth. Missing the playoffs should not be the penalty for a team using an ineligible player, unless it was blatantly breaking the rules.
If every team makes the playoffs, that dark cloud can be removed.
Half the teams in most classifications currently qualify for the playoffs. A change to the playoff format would not even require the season to be lengthened if one nondistrict game was eliminated. Each team would still have 10 guaranteed games.
--Barry Lewis
Anonymous tips? Not in Arkansas
11/10/2009 2:32:05 PM
In my reporting for a story in tomorrow's Tulsa World, I've been contacting other states to see how they handle rules violations at high school athletic departments.
Here's one thing that surprised me:
Arkansas doesn't let parents or schools send anonymous tips about possible violations.
"We have to have it on letterhead from the school, and it has to be signed," said Lance Taylor, executive director at the Arkansas Activities Association. "If we're going to put ourselves out there in the line of fire, we've got to have proof someone sent to us."
That's a big change from what happens in Oklahoma (and many other states). Problems at Jenks and Sand Springs started with anonymous tips - first an e-mail to the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association about Jenks, then an anonymous letter to Claremore about Sand Springs. Booker T. Washington's violations were uncovered after a phone call to Tulsa Public Schools from a neighboring school.
Instead, Arkansas relies on schools to police themselves.
"Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of our violations are self-reported because administrators at the school, once they find out, they're embarrassed by it, and they're going to report it," Taylor said.
And there are plenty of reported violations, even without anonymous tips.
Lamar High School recently had to forfeit five wins for using an ineligible player, which will keep the team out of the playoffs. One school had to forfeit its boys basketball state championship after a player was later ruled academically ineligible.
"Those appeals hearings are the worst part of our job," Taylor said.
--Matt Baker
First round could be filled with upsets
11/9/2009 5:06:00 PM
The first round of the high school football playoffs usually doesn't include many upsets. History shows that a district champion loses in the first round as often as an incumbent congressman.
In the last five years, the biggest stunner I've witnessed was Sapulpa winning at Jenks in 2005.
This year, however, could yield a few more upsets than usual. Fourth-place teams that will be underdogs, but have a realistic chance at winning include Wagoner (at Jay), Collinsville (at Sallisaw), Ada (at Bishop Kelley), Putnam North (at Midwest City) and Hominy (at Salina).
And there could be quite a few third-place teams winning at second-place teams. If sixth-ranked Bartleville wins at Owasso, that would not be an upset. Central at Bixby appears to be an even matchup. And Glenpool will need to be ready for Oklahoma City Douglass.
--Barry Lewis
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