NORMAN — One of the basic principles of the Norman North football program under second-year coach Wade Standley is to treat every game as if it’s the most important on the schedule, simply because it’s the next game on the schedule.
It’s the sort of cliché that can sound forced when the opponent is a school like US Grant, a team scraping to even put together a roster, which North blew out 56-0 last week.
But, for this week at least, it’s a cliché that will never be more true. No. 3 Edmond North will come to Harve Collins Field to meet the T-Wolves (5-1) at 7 p.m. today, and the contest is without a doubt the biggest game on North’s schedule. Edmond North enters undefeated at 6-0 and owns impressive wins over No. 7 Edmond Santa Fe.
“They’re the best team we’ve faced so far this year,” Standley said. “Offensively, they’re really good, and they have a defense that makes plays.”
Edmond North is led on offense by a potent running game, and the Huskies have averaged more than 40 points per game this season while allowing just a quarter of that.
But they aren’t invincible. Last week against Yukon, Edmond North fell behind 33-24 as the game wound down. The Huskies responded with a score of big defensive plays to create turnovers and give the offense a chance to fight back, which it did by scoring the game’s final 17 points to win. Still, the narrow win showed that the gap between Edmond North and the rest of District 6A-3 isn’t that wide.
Edmond North sits atop the district with a 3-0 record and 38 district points, while North trails them by just two district points as the only other undefeated team in district play. And, after tonight, there will be only one.
After Edmond North, the Timberwolves have an Oct. 19 game remaining against Putnam City North, which sits at 2-1 in district play and gave Edmond North a run for its money a few weeks ago.
Still, barring any big upsets in the final month of the season, tonight’s contest could turn into a de facto championship game, with both squads expected to win out after tonight. The Timberwolves know whatever team wins tonight will be a major step closer to locking up a title, a fact they’re not backing away from.
“From Week 1, we’ve just focused on the next game, but we know this is a big game for us that has district championship implications,” quarterback Peyton Gavras said. “Even with that in mind, we’re trying to take it as just another game. We need to keep doing what we’ve done in the past and come out focused and execute on the field.”
Corbin HoslerFollow me @Chosler88chosler@normantranscript.com
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