NEXT UP: Semi-finals match pits Racers against Guthrie
A 38-37 win Friday night over the Pryor Tigers has placed the Newcastle Racers in the semi finals of the Oklahoma Secondary School Athletic Association State Tournament. The Racers will face the Guthrie Bluejays at 7 p.m., Friday, December 6 at Putnam City.
Against Pryor, the Racers had their work cut out for them, but came out strong in the first quarter to lead, 14-6. The Racers and Tigers practically matched each other in second quarter scoring with 10 for Newcastle and 11 Pryor. At halftime, the score was 2417.
Pryor notched another 14 points to the Racers’ 7 in the third, tying the score at 31 apiece going into the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Racers put another touchdown on the board and added a good extra point. Pryor also added a touchdown, but couldn’t convert their points after.
Newcastle Head Coach Jeff Brickman said the game was back and fourth, and the Racers had two costly turnovers that resulted in points for Pryor. However, a late game Pryor turnover aided Newcastle.
“Pryor was about to score to take a lead late in the game, but we intercepted a pass to seal the game,” Brickman said.
The coach said the Racers met six of their team goals. On offense, they had more than 400 yards, and completed more than 70% of their passes. They also scored 100% of the time when inside the red zone. Brickman said on defense the Racers held Pryor to under 100 yards rushing. On special teams, the kickoff team had four touchbacks, while also holding Pryor to an average starting field position after kickoff at the 19 yardline.
“We made all of our extra points and made a 40-yard field goal,” Brickman said.
There were several big plays during the game, but one was a Kaden Longman interception towards the end of the game. A second was Trey Burchett’s stop on the Tiger’s two-point attempt late in the game.
For his efforts, Longman was awarded the Racers game most valuable player. Alec Shumard was the offense player of the game, and Jackson Schanuel was the defense player of the game.
Bryan Medrano takes the honors for special teams. Cody Nix was awarded the Knockdowns award, and Eyan Barker earned the Sledgehammer.
Brickman said Guthrie is very physical and well coached. They beat Lawton MacArthur, 43-21, in the first round of State, and then Booker T. Washington, 29-20, in the quarterfinals. The Bluejays finished the regular season in second place in District 5A-2 behind Carl Albert, who beat them 29-0.
Carl Albert faces Del City in the other semi-finals at 7 p.m. Friday, December 6 at Putnam City North. The State Championship is at 7 p.m. Saturday, December 14 at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.
