O — how nice



If the camp’s scoring system was any indicator, Rusty Harris’ offense showed gradual improvement as the day went on. Muskogee scored 28 points against Central, 25 against Pocola and 49 against Sequoyah in three 40-minute games, totaling 13 touchdowns on the day.

“The drives that really made me happy were the ones where we drove the ball rather than had the quick strike,” the first-year Roughers offensive coordinator said. “I told Matt when we played Poteau that I wanted to run the ball every down. I think we looked good doing it.”

The running game will be shared by Eddie Venters and Brenton Bogar. Both are starting on defense and will split time at running back. Harris, calling them “Thunder” and “Lightning,” a reference to the New York Giants’ former ground combo of Ron Dayne, the power back known as Thunder, and Kiki Barber, the speed back as Lightning.

“There may be someone out there faster than Bogar but I don’t know of them,” Harris said. “Eddie’s a great vertical running threat with a lot of authority in his runs.”

Unofficially, Bogar scored five touchdowns in the three scrimmages.

Harris and MHS head coach Matt Hennesy were also happy with the improvement of quarterback Mitch Stevenson. Stevenson was handed the reins of the offense when Archie Bradley transferred to Broken Arrow this spring.

“Mitch started slow yesterday and ended strongly,” Hennesy said. “He knows he’s going to make mistakes right now and we know he’s going to make some mistakes. But he’s going to work his way through it and be ready later this summer.”





Like father, like son

Sequoyah coach Brent Scott is a former quarterback at Oklahoma State. His son, Brayden, a freshman, is starting to find his niche early as the Indians’ QB.

“He did some things in the pocket that we think is going to serve us well,” the elder Scott said. “He can stay poised under pressure and that’s great for a freshman.”

Adding, tongue-in-cheek, “Even if I did marry his mom to get him on the team.”

Scott thinks the combo of his son and returning running back Brian Salazar, who led the Indians in rushing and receiving as they went three rounds deep into the 2A playoffs last season, will give the Indians a nice offensive attack. Salazar proved his mettle, running 40 yards for a score against the Muskogee defense on the first play of their scrimmage.



Back to the books

Warner coach Curt Denton had this to say to his team after the camp.

“You go out and play catch, then sit inside and play the video game and the things you can’t grasp you use cheat codes to overcome, well, that isn’t how the game is played out here,” he said. “And we need to go out and find out how.”

Warner won one of its scrimmages, but Denton’s concern is valid. According to his figures, of the 25 kids who made the trip to Indian Bowl, 15 are in either their first or second year of football.

“We’ve also got a sophomore class that missed an entire year of football in sixth grade because we didn’t have enough to field a team in Paul Young, they were too old to move down an age group and too young to move up into the school program,” he said.

“When we’re talking coaches lingo and we refer to a two-technique or say rip inside a lot of these kids aren’t grasping that. I told them between now and the start of preseason work they need to hit the Internet and bookstores and anything they can -- read football for dummies. Heck, even attend those clinics they have for women to understand the game their husbands played and watch. If it educates them on football knowledge, I’ll accept it.”



Pirates’ heist

Well it’s more like he landed it their lap rather than any theft taking place.

A.J. McFarland, a two-time All-Phoenix linebacker and the small school defensive player of the year two seasons ago, moved into Gore and was part of the Pirates’ defensive package this weekend. He’s led Class C in tackles the past two seasons.

“We’re glad to have him,” Gore coach Brandon Ellis said. “Our starting middle linebacker didn’t come back. This kid will come strike you.”

That solves one defensive problem and a portion of an offensive problem. McFarland may rotate with James Barry at running back to take some of the heat off the primary offensive weapon, Logan Andrews at quarterback.

Ellis is thrilled with the progress of the 6-4, 205 Andrews, who threw for 1,000 yards last season.

“He made some checks and good throws and when someone wasn’t open he took it and ran with it. He’s learning more and getting better all the time,” Ellis said.

Ellis was also a very happy camper.

“The way Matt (Hennesy) set this up today with these mini-games, I loved it and the kids love it,” he said. “It’s one thing to practice and it’s another thing to compete. We got both in with this format and the kids work harder when they’re competing.”

— Compiled by Mike Kays