By Clay Horning
Norman High whipped Westmoore 34-10 Friday night.
Donovan Roberts ran for another 119 yards.
Chad Anderson threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more.
Jaime Myers brought one punt back 52 yards for a touchdown and set up two more with returns of 42 and 44.
All of that, and a much-maligned offensive line blocked the Tigers to a 991?2-yard third-quarter touchdown drive they'll be talking about at Harve Collins Field for a long time.
But it was junior linebacker Stephan McElroy who turned in the play of the game, maybe the season and, almost two years in, of the Greg Nation era, which has taken a big turn for the better.
The game tied 14-14 since the half, Westmoore had gone 97 yards on the back of Jonathan West, eating up the third-quarter along the way, but the Jaguars still had a yard to go and just one play to gain it.
Rhodes got the call.
He did not get the yard.
"I was just thinking about my teammates. I just knew I had to make a play for my teammates" McElroy said before describing the play. "The tailback got it, he jumped up and then I jumped up, and I just made the play."
The two plays met inside the 1-yard line a couple feet in the air.
So the Tigers took over inside the 1.
Eleven plays later, they led 21-14 when Anderson sneaked in from a yard a play after finding Gavin Edington for 33 on third-and-4 from the 34.
With that, a huge and close game in District 6A-2 turned into a fourth-quarter route.
Myers' first big punt return created the halftime deadlock 3:43 before the break. His second came after the Jaguars' first fourth-quarter possession, setting up a two-play, 20-yard drive: Roberts for 18, Anderson for 2.
Myers did it again after another Westmoore three-and-out, setting up a 9-yard touchdown pass to Seth Zimmer.
In a few minutes on the clock and not many more in real time, the game went from real close to not close at all.
How does it feel to be a Tiger these days?
"It feels good. We played well tonight," Myers said. "It's the best feeling in the world."
The win moved NHS to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the district, giving it a near stranglehold on the last playoff spot in the loop. Essentially, the Tigers are two games in front of the Jaguars (3-5, 2-3) by virtue of Friday's victory.
Had McElroy not made that play, it might be the Jags with the stranglehold. But things are going right for the Orange and Black.
"I think (the players) have had a tough time finding their identity with me," said Nation, who's on course to take the Tigers back to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. "They're starting to feel comfortable. They're starting to feel the calls before we make them."
McElroy's stop but a damper on a big night for Rhodes, who carried 27 times for 124 yards. Westmoore's best weapon, he finished 18 inches short of making it a very different game.
But a Tiger made the play and NHS left happy.
Confident, too.
"They're beginning to see what we've been telling them the whole time," Nation said. "'Hey, you're not a bad football team.'"
Clay Horning 366-3526 cfhorning@normantranscript.com
