The Altus Bulldogs have already sewn up third place in District 5A-1, but they have one more task before turning all of their attention to the playoffs: defeat Capitol Hill.
To put it bluntly, the Redskins have had a terrible season up to this point, standing 0-6 in district play and 0-9 for the year. Not much is likely to change on Friday night at Taft Stadium.
"The Capitol Hill program is at a low point this year," said Altus head coach Jim Holloway. "The just have about 20 kids out for football and some of them play really hard."
"When you watch them line up they show that they've been well coached. They have some pride but they just don't have the manpower to get it done.
"You have to respect them for showing up to practice every day and for taking the field and giving it their best shot every Friday night."
The Bulldogs are looking at three different possibilities in the upcoming Class 5A playoffs. If Carl Albert defeats Guthrie on Friday, the Bulldogs will face Noble at Noble.
If Guthrie should defeat Carl Albert by 13 or fewer points, Altus would play at Carl Albert in the first round. If Guthrie should win by 14 or more, that would mean that the Bulldogs would travel to Guthrie a week from Friday.
"We either get the most improved team in 5A (Noble, 8-1), last year's state champions (Guthrie, 6-1) or the five-time state champions (8-1 Carl Albert)." Holloway said.
"These programs are on the same level as Clinton, Ardmore, Lawton Mac and others that we have faced this year. We will meet a good team in round one."
Carl Albert is ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press Poll this week, Noble is No. 6 and Guthrie is No. 9. The 6-3 Bulldogs are rated seventh this week.
"We've had a good week of practice and our players understand that Capitol Hill isn't the same caliber of team that we have faced in most of our games this year.
"We're getting prepared for Capitol Hill, but at the same time we are working on some things that will help us in the playoffs.
"We're still in pretty good shape injury wise. De'Arteuy Jones could play this week but we want to give his knee another week of rest. Devon Davis will see limited action with a sore wrist and we'll hold Marc Thompson out due to a sore shoulder.
"Marc has really improved his play the past three weeks. The fullback is not a guy that's going to carry the ball a lot in our offense. As the season has progressed he's realized that our offensive success will be determined by how well he blocks.He is going to be at the point of attack on almost all of our plays. It takes an unselfish player to do what he does."
Andy Curtis once again graded out as the top offensive lineman for the Bulldogs once the film of last week's game was evaluated. Mark Shelly and James Holt were the top defensive players, and Daniel Tabon-Cox had one of his best games in several weeks.
Jason Kornmeyer continues to lead the rushing, picking up 719 yards on 109 carries for a 6.6 average. Jones is next with a total of 503 yards and and an average of 5.9. Omar Nails is third with 353 yards on 61 rushes for a 5.6 average.
The Bulldogs can also move the ball through the air. Quarterback Matt Howard has completed 42 of 103 passing attempts for 559 yards and five touchdowns.
Holt has the most receiving yardage with 206 yards on 11 receptions, including three touchdowns. Davis has 14 catches for 123 yards, and Shawn McBlain has eight catches for 135 yards.
Neal Lundby continues to lead the team in tackles with 104. The rest of the leading defenders are Roger Shaw (79 with 16 for losses), Davis (66), Trey Walker (60), Kipp Moss (55), and Tabon-Cox and Jones with 50 each.
The directions to Taft Stadium are: 1) Go east on Hwy 62 to Lawton, 2) Take l-44 to Oklahoma City, 3) travel past the 1-240 and I-40 junctions, 4) take the NW 23rd exit, 5) Go east (right) on NW 23rd to May Avenue, 6, Torn north (left) on May for two blocks...the stadium will be one-fourth miles on the left. Parking will be on the east side of the stadium and visitors will sit on the east side. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
District 5A-1
Team Dist All PF PA +/-
Lawton Mac 6-0 8-1 344 157
Ardmore 5-1 8-1 284 94 65
Altus 4-2 6-3 214 106 37
Chickasha 3-3 6-3 274 82 15
Southeast 3-3 4-5 211 213 -11
Duncan 2-4 3-6 112 284 -34
Western Hts 1-5 1-8 133 335 -56
Capitol Hill 0-6 0-9 78 412 -90
This week's games
MacArthur at Chickasha
Altus at Capitol Hill
Western Heights at Ardmore
Duncan at Southeast
Post a Comment
