Both Norman High and Moore desperately need a victory. Both are 0-2 on the season and both have done almost nothing offensively the first two weeks of the season.
If the question is who's had it worse, Moore might take the prize. The Lions haven't even been competitive, falling 48-0 to Midwest City after coming up short 19-6 in the season-opening Moore War, failing to score until the fourth quarter. NHS, on the other hand, was competitive for a half with Norman North and throughout against Del City.
Whatever, the advantage would seem to hang with whichever team gets something going offensively. Through two games, Norman High has scored 16 points and secured only 165 yards of total offense. Also through two games, Moore has scored 6 points and gained 252 yards.
The good news for either team, barring another lightning storm, somebody's going to win.
Running strong
How good is Lexington's flex-bone option working right now?
Well, the Bulldogs have dominated their first two opponents, downing Luther 32-0, then dominating Marietta 49-12.
There's a trend brewing for the Bulldogs, too. In each game they ran for more than 300 yards.
Against Marietta, Lexington ran the ball 32 times for 311 yards. Even better, 10 different Bulldogs got to carry the ball.
Against Luther, the Bulldogs carried the ball 39 times for 366 yards.
"It's nice to have a team that starts the way we have," Lexington coach Brad Beller said. "We've dominated our first two games against pretty good teams."
Things get tougher this week, though, with the Battle of the Bridge against area rival Purcell.
The Dragons are no slouches on the ground, either.
Their shotgun-option offense rushed for 220 yards on 40 carries in a season-opening 35-6 win against Lindsay. Then Purcell rushed 327 yards on 40 carries in last week's 35-6 victory over Washington.
Tough D
If there's one big difference between this year's Community Christian and last year's, it's defense.
The Royals allowed 35 points a game last season.
Last week against Wesleyan Christian, the Royals gave up 36 total yards of offense, including negative 30 on the ground, en route to a 48-0 victory.
In Week 1, the Royals dominated Lawton Christian 56-8.
Four points a game is the mark of a ridiculously strong defense in eight-man football, though it's unlikely CCS can continue the trend so emphatically once Oklahoma Christian Schools Athletics Association games begin.
But defensive coordinator Paul Potter sure has the Royal defense playing well, and he and coach Josh Norman would sure like to see the trend continue against the home-schooled OKC Patriots Friday. The Patriots beat CCS 11-0 last year.
"Our defense is playing really tough right now, and it's hard to score on us," Norman said.
Smaller field
The Royals' offensive statistics didn't look as good as they might have in a typical 48-0 victory.
CCS ran for 72 yards and passed for 125 more; hardly imposing numbers expected from such a blowout.
The reason? Part of it was big runbacks from the Royals' punt return game, and the fact Wesleyan Christian was pushed back consistently, giving CCS many short fields.
But that short field was even shorter than usual.
Wesleyan Christian plays on an 80-yard field that's 40 yards sideline to sideline. That's 20 yards shorter than the typical playing field, and about 13 yards thinner.
One of the Royals' OCSAA rivals, Southwest Covenant, also plays on a shorter field.
-- Jeff Johncox and Clay Horning
Local Sports
September 16, 2009
Area Football Notepad: Somebody has to win
- Local Sports
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Shambaugh proves he is one to watch
It was hot, humid and the bugs were flocking to the lighted field at Tiger Stadium on Wednesday night. No one seemed to notice any of it by the sixth inning, though. Everyone was watching Jay pitcher Cale Shambaugh pitch a gem....
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This one's for Papa
Wednesday was big for Nathan Thornhill for a couple of reasons. He led Team Texas to a convincing 9-1 victory over Team Arizona in the Heartland Baseball Classic. His 11 strikeouts in seven innings have been one of the highlights of the ...
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Heart on the Diamond
The first Heartland Classic began Monday night at L. Dale Mitchell Park....
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Soccer teams brave weather
Under gale-force wind conditions, the Norman High girls continued their soccer resurgence Thursday night at the NHS Soccer Complex, taking care of Yukon 1-0.
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T-Wolves take third at invitational
Norman North coach Dennis Etter likes his team this season. Tuesday, he got his first real look at just how good it can be.
- SaberCats come out in force Julian Wilson was the first Southmoore player to commit last summer. And he was pleased at everything that has happened since then.
- Clash seating arrangements
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Cats tame Tigers
MOORE — Coach Wes Clark didn’t want the game to turn into a track meet. He believed Norman High had a shot to knock off Southmoore if he could slow the game down to a crawl.
The strategy worked … for a quarter. But after Southmoore’s athletes were unleashed, they cruised past the Tigers 59-36 Tuesday. -
Bombers too much for North girls
MIDWEST CITY — Do the Norman North girls belong near the top of the Class 6A rankings?
Tuesday night, at least until the last six minutes, the Timberwolves certainly made their case.
Then it all fell apart. -
NHS battles, but North rules mat
Norman North, as expected, claimed Tuesday night’s mat edition of the Crosstown Clash.
Yet, getting past the Tigers by the slim margin of 42-31, it might have been Norman High coach Bo Maynes who exited the NHS Gym with the bigger bounce in his step. - More Local Sports Headlines
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