Football practices officially start on Tuesday and Grady County teams are gearing up for the season.
First-year coach Rick VanCleave takes over a young Fightin’ Chick team and will have to find someone to take over for quarterback Wyatt Kinnamon, who accounted for much of the team’s offensive production last year.
Sophomores Chase Rodgers and Chance Thomas are expected to battle it out for that job.
Two seniors will be either quarterback’s “go-to” guys – tailback Daniel Ramirez and wide receiver Joe Joe Euwins. Around forty kids showed up for physicals so numbers are expected to be up this year.
District rival Duncan also has to replace an outstanding quarterback – Trent Wilkins – and backup Houston Johnston is expected to step up into the starter’s role. Head coach Jim Holloway also has veterans for Johnston to work with – three-year starter Jacob Meiers at the receiver slot and tailback Clint Miller, who ran for 800 yards last year.
Tuttle, a state semifinalist last year in 3A, is expected to possibly go all the way this year with senior quarterback Sterling Koons and tailback Paco Moore providing lots of firepower.
Koons, son of head coach Phillip Koons, recently finished in the top ten at the US Army’s Top Gun Quarterback Challenge and is considered to be one of the best in the state in any class.
A young and green Rush Springs has a new staff after longtime coach Barry Foster and assistants David McKay and Darren Brantley defected to Marlow over the summer.
Former Western Heights defensive coordinator Chris Vandersypen takes over the program with Tim Johnson and James Price assisting. After dominating for many years, the well has started to run dry for the Redskins, who graduated 14 players key to the team’s long run.
Minco, which cracked the playoffs last year in A-4, moves over to District A-2 this year with another young team. Stephen Justus’ Bulldogs have shown remarkable improvement since Justus took over the program but they got dinged by graduation and will be in rebuild mode this year.
Junior quarterback Chandler Barr will run the offense and has what could be a very solid backfield with senior veteran Jacob Burchfield and sophomore David Adams.
Alex rounds things out and has the potential to make a run at the eight-man playoffs this year. Junior quarterback Wayne Heffington and junior tailback Randy Alexander are young but experienced and the line will be big and solid on both sides of the ball with senior Tracer Ridley, Tre Ketchum and senior Jason Phillipes, who comes in at 6-2 and 385 after a productive year in the weight room.
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Equipment is ready to be handed out when Chickasha High School hits the practice field Tuesday.
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New CHS assistant coach Allen Coley and the staff were out Friday getting the practice field ready for next week. Coley came over from Dibble and will coach the tight ends and middle school lines. Chickasha will have its first practice Tuesday at 2 p.m.
Discussion
Area grid teams ready to strap ’em on
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THURS, SEP 9
BSB-Am-Po, Ninnekah @ Fletcher WB tournament (TBA)
BSB-Verden @ Geronimo tournament (TBA)
SB-Alex hosts Elmore City (4:30 start)
SB-Am-Po, Verden @ Sterling tournament (TBA)
SB-Chickasha @ OU HOF tournament (TBA)
SB-Chickasha MS hosts Noble (5:00)
SB-Ninnekah @ Lindsay tournament (TBA)
VB-Chickasha HS/MS @ Cement (4:00 start)
XC-Chickasha @ Cameron (4:30 start) -
O-State finds go-to receiver in Blackmon
Justin Blackmon had the humblest of goals in Oklahoma State's season opener. Even a single catch would have made him a happy man.
He ended up with so much more. Blackmon caught eight passes for 125 yards and three touchdowns in the Cowboys' 65-17 win against Washington State on Saturday night. He also picked up a blocked punt and scored on that, too.
Even after his career day, Blackmon isn't getting ahead of himself.
"That was just one game," he said Monday. "The next game, it could be somebody else being that guy, having numbers like that." -
Mighty-mites to sponsor scrimmages, food drive
The Chickasha Mighty Mite Football Association will sponsor a food drive in conjunction with several scheduled scrimmages Saturday.
Scrimmages will start at 10 a.m. at the Chickasha Sports Complex. Fans are asked to donate a non-perishable food item or $2 for entrance into the complex. Food and money donations will go to soup kitchens at Lighthouse Ministry and Cornerstone Church.
The scrimmages will feature eight to 10 teams from Chickasha, as well as teams from Andarko, Elgin, Weatherford, and Lawton. -
Storms empty Memorial Stadium early
The first night of real football ended early when Thursday’s storms blew into Chickasha, forcing the cancellation of the Chicks' freshman game with Anadarko.
The cancellation was announced it at the end of the third quarter of the eighth grade game, and they tried to finish that one, but when the Warriors scored with just under three minutes left to extend to 38-14 under threatening skies, the officials said “enough” and sent everyone home. -
Wort adds British flair for No. 7 OU
Football is king where Oklahoma linebacker Tom Wort is from. Just not American football.
Wort’s father would regularly bring footballs back to England from his business trips to the U.S., feeding his son’s obsession with the game played an ocean away. Wort would promptly get them confiscated by the headmaster. No room for that at recess.
“I’d be playing around with it on the playground, I’d be playing catch and he came and took it away from me because he said that because of the point, if it hits someone, it might hurt them,” Wort said. -
Mount St. Mary's: Too big of a hill to climb
Chickasha’s volleyball team turned a much-needed corner at Mt. St. Mary’s Thursday but still came up short, losing on the road in four tough games.
The Chicks lost games one and two by identical 19-25 scores and then came back for a 25-23 win in game three. They dropped game four 23-25 for their tenth match loss of the year. -
UTAH STATE at OU
Line: Oklahoma by 34.
Series Record: Oklahoma leads 4-0.
Last Meeting: Sept. 15, 2007, Oklahoma 54-3
What's at Stake
Oklahoma can become the seventh Division I program to reach 800 wins if it avoids starting a second straight season with an upset loss to a Utah-based team — last season it was BYU at Cowboys Stadium. The Aggies are trying to win their season opener for just the fourth time in 24 tries and the first time since 1997.
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Lady Chicks' bats heat up in 7-4 win
Chickasha’s softball team secured its third win of the season Thursday just before thunderstorms rolled across into town and drenched the diamonds.
After another slow start, this one against Guthrie in conference play, the Chicks turned things completely around for a solid, 7-4, comeback win.
“We got the game in then got us out,” Chick coach Jimmy Darnell quipped. “The storms and lightning were coming in pretty quick.” -
QB Roethlisberger suspension reduced
NEW YORK (AP) — Ben Roethlisberger's suspension has been cut from six games to four by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' star quarterback met with Goodell early Friday and was told he could return on Oct. 17 against Cleveland.
Roethlisberger was suspended in April for violating the league's personal conduct policy, but Goodell said at the time he would review the player's behavior over the next few months. Goodell was satisfied that the quarterback has followed the league's guidelines and stayed out of trouble. -
SCORECARD
SAT, SEP 4
BSB-Am-Po, Ninnekah, Verden @ Hydro-Eakly tournament (TBA)
SB-Ninnekah hosts Verden (noon)
SB-Am-Po @ Maysville (11 a.m. start)
SB-Chickasha HS/MS tournament (TBA)
SOC-USAO v Emmanuel College @ Union, TN (1:00, 3:00)
SUN, SEP 5
BSB-Am-Po, Ninnekah, Verden @ Hydro-Eakly tournament (TBA)
MON, SEP 6
BSB-Am-Po, Ninnekah, Verden @ Hydro-Eakly tournament (TBA) - More Sports Headlines
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