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September 14, 2012

Tigers seek 3-0 start

By Kenton Brooks Phoenix Sports Writer

— Coach James Singleton believes his Fort Gibson Tigers have come back to earth.

That could be a good thing as they travel to Catoosa to play the Indians in the last non-district game of the season that pits two teams ranked in the Associated Press Class 4A poll this week.

Fort Gibson comes off the highly-emotional 21-12 win against rival Hilldale last Friday, snapping a five-game losing streak in the series and taking back The Rock.

Singleton, in his second season, doesn’t expect his team to have any hangover from the victory.

“People are still patting our players on the backs, but we’ve done a good job of getting the kids refocused,” he said. “(Catoosa) beat us pretty bad (42-14) last year. That’s got our players’ attention.”

The Indians, a state semifinalist last season, are 1-1 for the season and ranked 10th. The 2-0 Tigers are No. 9 this week.

“We had a solid walk through practice (Thursday),” Singleton said. “Our players will be focused and ready to go.”

The Indians beat Pryor in overtime in the opening week of the season and lost 34-10 to Collinsville last Friday night.

The loss doesn’t tarnish Catoosa in Singleton’s eyes.

“They’re very sound on defense,” he said. “They have twins (Hunter and Hagen Harrison) at linebacker. They’re the catalyst of their defense. They are juniors and weigh 200 pounds and will hit you right in the face. They also run with the ball the same way.

“Their weakside defensive end is very active and he gets up field. No one stands out in the secondary, but they’re sound in their schemes. Catoosa may be a little down with the kids they lost after last year, But their coaches do a great job of coaching and they don’t make a lot of mistakes as a team.”

Singleton wants his team to cut down on their mistakes. Against Hilldale, the Tigers had five turnovers — two interceptions and three lost fumbles.

“We can’t afford to do that,” he said. “Taking care of the ball was something we needed to work on after last week.”

After tonight, the Tigers open District 4A-4 play at home against Tulsa Rogers.

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