By Jeff Johncox
There are quite a few area football alums running around in college football's top division.
Some have proven to be stars on their respective teams. Some are receiving limited playing time, but are still early in their college careers. Some are redshirting and have yet to hit the field.
Here's how the area guys are doing this year on college football's biggest stage:
· Ryan Broyles, Norman High -- WR, Oklahoma -- Broyles has turned into the Sooners' go-to playmaker, whether he's catching passes out of the slot or taking a handoff. He's rushed for 41 yards, has caught 44 passes for 591 yards and 10 touchdowns and has returned 11 punts for 132 yards.
· Mossis Madu, Norman High -- WR, Oklahoma -- It seems the Sooner coaching staff hasn't quite figured out what to do with Madu this year since they moved him from running back to receiver. It doesn't help that he's basically playing the same position his former Tiger teammate Broyles plays. Madu has five carries for 17 yards and five receptions for 32.
· Colby Whitlock, Noble -- DL, Texas Tech -- As Whitlock showed in last year's Texas Tech victory over Texas, he can be a playmaker. This year he's one of the top Red Raider defenders with 31 tackles, three sacks, one fumble forced and three pass deflections.
· Beau Blankenship, Norman North -- RB, Iowa State -- Blankenship was a star for three years at North, and he's seen very limited work with the Cyclones. He's carried the ball four times for 11 yards, and all came during ISU's 34-14 victory over Kent State Sept. 19.
· Tyler Simmons, Washington -- LB, Navy -- Simmons won his team's most-improved player award in the spring, and he's come on strong as one of the top tacklers for the Midshipmen. Simmons is second on the squad with 53 tackles and has one sack.
· Tyler Tettleton, Norman North -- QB, Ohio -- Tettleton has played sparingly in five games for the Bobcats. He has a 78.76 quarterback efficiency rating, has completed 9-of-20 passes for 128 yards with two interceptions and has negative 36 yards rushing on nine attempts. The good news? The freshman's 92 yards of total offense is good enough for sixth on the team.
· Jack Jewell, Norman High -- DE, Tulsa -- Jewell has yet to play.
· Bryce Easley, Norman North -- K, Oklahoma -- Easley has yet to play.
· Nathan Badger, Norman North -- DL, Air Force -- Badger has yet to play.
Beat up T-Wolves
Almost every area team is suffering some injuries going into the final week of the regular season (Norman High and Lexington are really hurting), and Norman North is no exception.
The T-Wolves will be without DE/TE Hunter Madole (concussion), all-around star Jamar Harrison (shoulder), WR/LB Ryan Green (knee) and LB Jon Johnson (shoulder) tonight against Lawton.
Junior running back Ramond Demby has been out for a few weeks now with a torn ACL, too.
"Everybody else has a lot of injuries, too," North coach Lance Manning said. "It's that time of year. Some teams are the fortunate ones and don't have any injuries. The less fortunate ones have quite a few."
Better Bears?
Noble has struggled all season, from its season-opening 21-20 loss to Tecumseh (in which it had a 20-0 lead) to last week's 38-14 loss to Shawnee.
But really, that loss to Shawnee was probably a lot closer than most people thought it would be.
In fact, the Bears were down just 7-0 to the undefeated Wolves with 1 minute left in the first half.
"They played tough against Shawnee," coach Ray Crawley said. "The kids played hard. I was proud of them."
With the exception of a 48-7 Week 8 victory over Capitol Hill, playing Shawnee tough in the first half seems to be one of the few bright spots on a tough 1-8 season.
Friday's trip to Guthrie, though, will be another tough test to end the season.
Jeff Johncox 366-3535 jjohncox@normantranscript.com
