Week One Top Stories
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Week one is in the books and while week zero officially kicked off the season, we had everyone in the party for this week. There were some fantastic games coming into this week and a lot of them lived up to the hype. Every Saturday, we break down the top stories from the week in high school football. Check out the breakdowns, get our in-depth stories of games we were at and the updated rankings going into the new week. And as always, check back on Sunday for our Top Performers feature, breaking down the best performances from this week’s games!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
TOP STORIES
Bishop McGuinness Makes Statement Against 4A Champ
Bishop McGuinness improved to 2-0 on the season as they took down reigning 4A champion Clinton with ease in a 46-14 victory. Junior quarterback River Warren River Warren 6'4" | 195 lbs | QB Del City | 2024 State OK performed incredibly well as the Irish offense would roll to 40+ points. Warren threw for five touchdowns and star senior running back Mike Taffe Mike Taffe 6'0" | 190 lbs | RB Bishop McGuinness | 2023 State OK also finished with over 100 yards on the ground. The Irish are living up to the preseason hype as the #2 team in Class 5A. They were never really threatened on Friday night. The Irish would jump out to a 26-7 lead at halftime and never looked back. McGuinness now turns their attention to a rivalry game with Bishop Kelley in week two. Clinton will now need to bounce back following the tough week one loss. The Irish has shown they can take down teams in a variety of ways on the offensive side of the ball.
Coweta Wins Rivalry Game With Wagoner Despite Injury To QB
It was certainly a bittersweet win for Coweta as they prevailed 9-7 over Wagoner on Friday night to win their second straight game in this Highway 51 rivalry. Early in the third quarter, starting quarterback Carson Laverty Carson Laverty 6'1" | 185 lbs | QB Coweta | 2023 State OK went down with a collarbone injury and never returned. Without him, the Coweta offense struggled to get anything going and if he misses significant time, that will certainly have a major impact on the Tigers, who climbed to #1 in Class 5A following their week zero win over Carl Albert. Kicker Parker Stephens ends up being the hero in this chapter of the rivalry after kicking nearly a 40 yard field goal with a little over 90 seconds left to put Coweta up and what would be the game-winning field goal. The Coweta defense also played outstanding, forcing five turnovers and giving up no points. The only Wagoner touchdown was from a fumble return.
Del City Dominates Booker T Washington
Del City continued their momentum opening up the 2022 season with another win over a top three team in 6A-2 as they knocked off Booker T Washington in Tulsa 27-6. The Eagles simply took advantage of any mistake that Booker T Washington made and there were a few of them in the first few quarters. The Eagles would jump out to a 20-0 lead at halftime and put it on cruise control from there. The Eagles look like a real state championship contender in Class 5A after back to back wins over Choctaw and Booker T Washington. Meanwhile for the Hornets, they’ll look for a reset after two tough losses to Bentonville West and then to Del City. They’ll renew their rivalry game with McLain a week from today before a bye week and then district play. The Hornets will attempt to get things going at the expense of rival McLain.
Noble Rallies To Beat Blanchard
In a match-up between top ten teams in Class 5A and Class 4A, it was 5A that prevailed but things did not look good early on. Noble would knock off Blanchard 34-27 but they would actually trail the Lions 27-14 at halftime. Noble’s second half explosion on offense, combined with a stout defensive effort would allow the Bears to escape with the week one win, one week after narrowly beating Piedmont in the season opener. Noble’s star senior wide receiver Brandon Harper Brandon Harper 5'10" | 165 lbs | WR Noble | 2023 State OK could not be stopped in the second half as he finished with nearly 200 receiving yards in the third and fourth quarter alone. The 1-2 punch of Harper and quarterback Colin Fisher Colin Fisher 6'3" | 200 lbs | QB Noble | 2023 State OK led the Bears to the victory over Blanchard, who got out to a great start on Friday night but turnovers and Noble’s defense would shut them down in the third and fourth quarter.
Pawhuska Avenges Semifinal Losses To Cashion
Despite Pawhuska moving up to Class 2A and these two not being able to meet in the playoffs for a third straight year, Pawhuska had this date circled on the calendar for a while. After losing to Cashion in the Class A semifinals the last two years by a combined five points, the Huskies were ready for a little revenge against the two-time state champs. But things did not start well as Cashion would force several turnovers and lead 14-0 after the first quarter. Pawhuska would explode for 34 unanswered points and would roll to a 40-29 victory over Cashion. The rebuilding Wildcats are now 0-2 but there’s no reason to be worried as they’re still one of the top teams in Class A. They’ve just run into two of the better quarterbacks in the state in their first two games. For Pawhuska, Friday’s win sure was sweet.
Short-Handed Jenks Survives Again
Following a scare in Edmond to kick off the season, two-time defending 6A-1 champion Jenks escaped again at home against Owasso, winning 14-7. Both teams came into this match-up short-handed and it showed on the field as both offenses struggled to get things going throughout the evening. Eventually, the Trojan running game would get going in the second half as sophomore Jordan Schelling had a breakout game with over 100 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the second half. The only points that Owasso got on the scoreboard came from a blocked punt that was scooped up and returned for a touchdown. Both teams now shift their focus to rivalry games as Owasso will face off with Broken Arrow and Jenks prepares for their annual Backyard Bowl game with Union.
Stout Union Defense Shuts Down Broken Arrow
Speaking of Union, the Redhawk defense made quite the statement to the rest of 6A-1 that they are for real as they took down Broken Arrow 28-7. One week after totaling around 600 yards of total offense and 48 points, Broken Arrow’s offense was held to a single touchdown and less than 200 yards of total offense. Union’s offense had no problems moving up and down the field as senior running back DJ McKinney DJ McKinney 6'0" | RB Union | 2023 State OK had another stellar performance in the victory. Union’s defense has been outstanding to start the 2022 football season and they’ll look to continue that next week against a Jenks offense that will still be without several key pieces and are looking to find an identity. The Redhawks were fired up for the Broken Arrow game but the Backyard Bowl brings a totally new level of excitement.
OTHER NOTES
Bixby Wins 51st Consecutive Game
Bixby’s winning streak crossed state lines on Friday night when they traveled to Arkansas and faced off with Springdale Har-Ber. The Spartans had no problems extending their state-record winning streak to 51 consecutive games with a 59-0 victory on the road. this game was in the books by halftime as the Spartans took advantage of Har-Ber miscues and turned them into immediate points. Like we saw from them in week zero in the win over Owasso, once the Spartans start getting any kind of momentum, it’s nearly impossible to stop. Bixby returns home in week two to face off with former 6A-2 district rival Sand Springs before having a bye week and then opening up district play in week four.
Muskogee Opens “Rougher Village” With Win
It was a night to celebrate in Muskogee as the Roughers officially opened their new stadium, dubbed “Rougher Village” and there was a lot to celebrate on the field. Muskogee had no problems scoring early and often as they would knock off Putnam City 47-3 to win the first ever game in their new venue. The Roughers are a team that we think will surprise quite a few in 6A-2 this season after going 2-8 last year. That’s why we had the Roughers as a top five team in the preseason rankings and so far, they’re living up to it with two straight wins over 6A-1 opponents. The biggest non-district test comes in week two when they travel to Midwest City to face 5A powerhouse Carl Albert.
Putnam City West Turnaround Continues
Head coach Willis Alexander has immediately turned around the Putnam City West football program and it’s only taken two games. The Patriots knocked off rival Putnam City North in overtime on Friday night and the Patriots improved to 2-0 on the season. That’s a big achievement when you consider the struggles that PC West has gone through over the last five seasons. From 2017-2021, the Patriots were 2-46 and the last three seasons were winless years. We checked out the Patriots in spring ball and it was apparent that they had athletes on both sides of the ball. So while it’s not entirely surprising to see the turnaround, it is great to see this struggling program back in the win column.