Jays looking to avoid Demons for second straight year

Regardless of what preseason publication you may read, the Guthrie BlueJays and Duncan Demons are expected to make deep playoff runs. Perhaps a preview of another post season battle will take place in week one Friday night.

Duncan leads the overall series with the Jays 12-2

The Jays and Demons will meet up after last years opening round of the playoffs. Guthrie traveled down to Stephens County and came out of Halliburton Stadium with a 20-12 win to advance and move on to the second round.

One would think that the Demons have been waiting for this Friday night to come like a Christmas morning?

“I don’t think much of it as a revenge factor or getting even,” Duncan head coach Jim Holloway said in a radio interview with GSP. “I think our players are excited about it and obviously they remember what happen last year. We have not talked about beating Guthrie; we’ve talked about being disappointed that we did not get to go to the second round, we talked how we need to get better. Our players are going to be excited more in the fact that it is going to be opening week and it just happens to be Guthrie and that’s makes it all the better,” Holloway concluded.

Guthrie’s defensive coordinator Kelly Beeby says while Duncan may be motivated to face the Jays, Guthrie will be motivated too.

“Opening up with a very, very strong opponent like Duncan is a good motivator for you because when you are lifting weights, running in the summer its easy to tell those kids that you have Duncan week one,” Beeby said. ”So we are real excited about the opportunity, we are thankful they’re at home, and it will be a great ball game. ”We are excited and can’t wait to get on the field.”

A season ago the Demons led Class 5A in rushing with 240 yards on the ground while averaging 24 points a game, but could only muster 96 yards against the Jays and were held to minus three in the second half. Opposing teams and coaches should expect nothing new in the 2010 season in the Duncan philosophy.

“For years we ran the wishbone and it was run first, run second, run third, and pass it every now and then,” Holloway said as he prepares to start his 35th season as a head coach. “We really try to be balance, but if the running game is there we are going to run the football there’s no doubt about it and everybody that we play knows that too.”

Holloway has many reasons to be confident in running the ball as much as the Demons do. A good reason is a combine 1,273 pounds of a senior, experienced offensive line. The tackle book ends are gathering not only leverage, but Division I offers.

Dylan Dismuke (6’7, 301), the Demons senor right tackle, was the first offensive lineman to give his verbal commintment to the University of Oklahoma this past June for the 2011 class. Dismuke has battled injuries throughout his career, but enters as healthy as he has been.

The Demons senior left tackle, Dylan Laurens (6’4, 278) continues to pile up Division I offers has taken advantage of Dismuke with the attention he has garnished.

Duncan's Tyler Wilkins looks on with Guthrie's Kentrell Brothers in last years playoff game.

The line will look to lead the way for  four running backs and their signal caller, who has bulked up over the summer.

Brandon Wilson (6’0, 202) won the quarterback job just prior to the first game last year and threw for nearly 1,ooo yards, but the junior is best known for his running style. In last season’s game with the Jays, Wilson took off on a 44-yard run that resulted in a Duncan touchdown.

Junior running back Payton Atchley (5’6, 181) is the main ball carrier for the Demons. The short, but quick back can hide behind the monsters up front and did so for 750 yards and 9 scores. Junior Jordan Laskey (5’5, 168), senior Dominique Petties (6’0, 206), and junior Jonathan Berry (5’4, 135) are expected to get some touches as well in the run happy offense.

“That is one thing that got us in trouble last year when we played Guthrie. We could not run the football and we did not execute very well in the passing game and most of that had to do with Guthrie,” Holloway said as the difference in last seasons lost to the Jays.

 Holloway said Wilson has improved his passing ability over the summer and throwing catchable footballs. Wilson’s main targets will be junior Daniel McCoy (6’2, 174), twin brother Bradley Wilson (5’11, 198), and senior tight end Michael Rice (6’1, 196). Rice is projected as one of the tight ends in Class 5A.

Defensively, Duncan continues with the future college star power with defensive back Petties. Labeled as a top 10 state player, Petties, a linebacker and safety, has multiple offers from Big 12 schools, is a big hitter and has tremendous speed that allows him to make plays.

The Demons are looking for depth on both sides of the ball as Dismuke and Laurens will have to take naps on both the offense and defensive line. Bradley Wilson and Atchley may be more important on the defensive side then offensive at their linebacker positions. Atchley finished with 106 tackles last season.

The Demon defense will try to contain the Jays offense that proved to be very balance in last years game with 113 yards in the air and 109 on the ground.

“The people who come to this ball game are going to get to see two fine teams play,” Holloway recalls on last years match-up,” Holloway said.

You can listen to the game on Triple Play Sports Radio 105.1 FM, or streaming world-wide at www.GuthrieSportsPage.com. The pregame is set for 7:00 with Chris Evans, Casey Porter, and Craig Fleck.

Brothers readying for season

August 30, 2010

Brian Gates
GoPowercat.com Recruiting Editor

 

Talk about it in Wabash Station

 

Guthrie, Okla., linebacker Kentrell Brothers is working toward his final season of high school football, but the recruiting process has not slowed down much for the three-star rated prospect as two official visits have already been added to the calendar.

Kentrell Brothers has two official visits scheduled.

“I am going to visit Arizona State this weekend,” the 6-foot, 207-pound Brothers said. “Then the next weekend, I will go to Washington. If a school is in driving distance, there isn’t a need to use an official visit for that. So, the schools around here I won’t take an official visit to. I don’t have any others planned at this point. Tulsa, Kansas State, Missouri and a few others I’ll try to drive to, but I don’t know when.

“I haven’t taken a real visit to Kansas State, yet. I was on my way home from a basketball tournament and stopped by. I got to see the facilities and the stadium was amazing. Coach Clements showed me around. I was impressed with everything there. I want to find out more about them. That’s the way with a lot of schools.”

At this point, no school has emerged at the top of the list for Brothers.

“I don’t have any favorites. Every school is right about the same. I just need to find out more about the schools.”

Brothers and Guthrie open the 2010 season this week.

“Our first game is this week,” he said. “We play Duncan. Our team can be as good as we want to be. We have a lot of hype already. We can be very good. We all have good work ethic. Hopefully we can get back to the playoffs this year.”

Top four in 5A to play each other in week one

With the start of the Oklahoma High School football season this week folks in Class 5A will have a good look at what they may see toward the end of the season.

Class 5A’s rankings have varied from a variety of publications, but the top four teams have been the same. Guthrie, Tulsa Washington, Carl Albert, and Duncan.

This coming Friday the past two 5A state champs will square off in Midwest City when the Hornets visit the Titans and in Guthrie the Demons visit the Jays for a rematch of last years thrilling opening round playoff game. Two weeks later Duncan and Carl Albert meet for their annual match-up.

It really should be no surprise to see these four teams near the top. Just look at the head coaches. Rafe Watkins, Darrell Hall, Gary Rose, and Jim Holloway. Not to shabby if you are into winning state titles.

Naturally all four teams have talent on both sides of the ball. All four teams should be near the minimum seven-eight win club and all very well could be hosting first round games.

That is what makes this week so special because no matter what happens it has no reflection on the playoff seedings, but it will give us a look at what it may take for a team to win 5A. Nothing else should help the rankings fill themselves out, but that really don’t mean a thing in high school football.

If you were a casual fan the toughest decision would be what game to go and watch. Carl Albert – Booker T. or Guthrie – Duncan. Something about watching the past two champions play may be the deciding edge on some people’s choice. Watching four guarantee Division I players play on the same field and that does not even include underclassmen and add in a rematch from last years down to the wire playoff game with a combine 28 returning starters makes it an intriguing choice.

Regardless, whatever game some may choice it is rewarding for these coaches to play each other and not only for us fans, but for their teams as well.

Junior High Football opener pushed back

The Guthrie Junior High Football season will have to wait one more week to get started.

The Jays 7th and 8th grade teams were schedule to open up on the road in Shawnee Thursday, September 2nd, but due to ongoing construction at Shawnee’s stadium the game has been moved to September 13th.

In fact, the Shawnee varsity team will have to play at Tecumseh’s field for their first game of the season this Friday night.

The Shawnee Public Schools board of education approved to purchase bleachers for Jim Thorpe Stadium’s visitors section. The bleachers, which will seat about 750 for just over $69,000 according to the Shawnee News Star.

The Junior Jays will now open their season at home on Thursday, September 9th. The delay will force the teams to play three games in eight days.

Complete schedule can be found on Guthrie Sports Page on the Junior Jays home page.

Oklahoma LB to Visit Pac-10 Schools

By Hod Rabino Posted Aug 30, 2010 Kentrell Brothers may not be getting much recruiting interest from his home state schools, but colleges from coast to coast have pursued the Guthrie, Okla. linebacker in earnest. Brothers will begin his official visit circuit this week in Tempe and talked to Devils Digest about his recruitment with the maroon and gold.  “I (unofficially) visited Arizona State a couple of months ago,” said the 6-1 215 Kentrell Brothers. “I was actually visiting the University of Arizona that week and since we were going past Arizona State on the way (to Tucson) we thought about visiting Arizona State. I didn’t know much about them but once we got there it turned out to be a very good trip. I was hoping to be offered on the visit and they did. We have been in contact ever since.  “I liked how close coach Trent Bray, who is recruiting me, is close to his players. I believe that the way a coach treats you on the field is the way a coach will treat you all the time. The campus was amazing and I really didn’t expect it to be that nice. The dorms were beautiful. It was a little hot but that’s what the swimming pool if for (laughs)…it was a good trip.” Brothers will officially visit Washington on September 10th (he also visited Seattle unofficially), and while he does expect right now to take all five visits, he doesn’t know which three remaining schools he will trip to. Other schools that have offered him are Arizona, Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Tulsa, Baylor, Connecticut, Duke, Syracuse and Vanderbilt. With an array of offers spanning various time zones Brothers indicated that distance from home won’t dictate his decision. “I know that wherever I go to play my family will be supporting me,” he said. The linebacker admitted to be “surprised and disappointed” that both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State aren’t among the dozen or so schools to already offer him. “It does fire me up,” Brothers remarked, “to show them what they missed out on once I get to college.” The Guthrie High School star plays on both sides of the ball, and as a junior he earned second team All-State honors with 95 tackles, 17 sacks, four interceptions, and a fumble recovery. On offense he had 62 catches for 1,122 yards and 12 touchdowns. He benches 250 lbs. and is being recruited as a WILL linebacker by ASU. “I have good knowledge of the game, knowing what the offense will do,” Brothers said of his skills. “All of my coaches at my high school have a done a good job teaching me what techniques to use to recognize alignments and what blocks will be coming my way. I also make big plays when needed. “I do need to work on understanding the linebacker position better and all the different roles a linebacker has. But that’s something I will learn a lot once I get to college.” The Guthrie Blue Jays were 8-5 last season and were eliminated in the semi-finals of the state championship. “We weren’t expected to make it that far,” Brothers confessed. “We surprised a lot of people then, but now when the polls come out we should be ranked #2 or #3. We return six players on defense and almost everybody on offense.” Brothers values education a great deal and claimed that this will be the number one factor influencing his decision on which university he will attend. “You always need a fallback plan and get your degree in case you don’t go and play in the NFL out of college,” Brothers said. “I also want to be around coaches that will be honest and make me a better player. I want to be on a team with players that don’t get into trouble and can also push me to be a better player.”

Junior Jays Softball wins Kingfisher Tournament

It was well over due, but the Guthrie Lady Jays softball program won their first softball tournament in some time.

The Guthrie Junior High Softball team got some sweet revenge from a season ago with an extra inning 10-9 win over the Oklahoma City Broncos to claim the Kingfisher Tournament championship.

The Junior Jays improve to 6-3 overall.

A year ago, the Broncos took down the Lady Jays twice in the same tournament, but this season Guthrie took down the Broncos in two of three games played.

“The girls played well and were very excited. They were exhausted too,” head coach Sondra Danner said.

Guthrie opened the tournament with a trouncing 24-0 win over Watonga before dropping the Broncos, 5-4, on Friday night to remain in the winner’s bracket.

On Saturday, Guthrie punched their ticket to the championship round with a 5-3 win over Fairview.

The Broncos fought their way through the loser’s bracket and actually took down Guthrie 8-5 to force an “if necessary” winner take all game.

The finals and rubber game between the two programs over the last two season’s needed extra innings. It took seven innings, but Guthrie prevailed 10-9 to win the tournament.

“The girls had some shirts made and on the back it says ‘Go Hard or Go Home’ and that’s exactly what they did,” Danner said. They played with a heart of a champion.”

Up next for Guthrie will be a travel game on Monday to El Reno and returning home Tuesday to host Perry. Both games will be a double header beginning at 5:00.

Guthrie hosts competitive CC meet

When the Oklahoma High School Cross Country state championships roll around in late October there is a good chance several state championship teams and individual winners ran this past Saturday in the 13th Annual Guthrie Cottonwood Flats Invitational. 

This year the meet was spread out to 10 races this season due to higher than normal athlete’s turning out for the ever-growing popular meet. The runner’s appreciate one of the flattest courses that they will see all season. Click here for the photo gallery.

Complete results of the races can be found here.

6A Varsity Girls 

Of all the races Saturday morning, the 6A field had the least amount of teams, but that had no reflection on the talent field with the defending state champions coming to town. 

Edmond North, winners of last years biggest race, came away with the top spot with a team score of 26 points and was followed closely by cross town rival Edmond Memorial with 42 points. 

Memorial’s Tara Lewis, who finished fourth at last years state-run, took top honors with a time of 12:07 in the two-mile race. Just behind her was North’s Hannah Helker with a time of 12:21. Helker finished 12th in last seasons state-run and is the defending 6A 800 champion in track. 

The Lady Huskies had runners finish 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 12th to secure the win. 

6A Varsity Boys 

Edmond North boys, who were last year’s state runner-ups, tried to make it a 6A sweep of the plains, but counter parts Edmond Memorial had other idea’s. 

Memorial captured the top three spots, including Alex Shook’s time of 16:20 and teammate Simon Greiner was just 28 seconds behind in the three-mile run to help the ‘Dogs prevail. 

The Bulldogs had five runners finish in the top seven spots and finished with just 19 points. Memorial is looking to improve off of their fourth place finish in state a season ago. North finished with 42 points. 

5A and Below Varsity Girls 

It was expected and it happened. 

Hennessey's Cheyenne Choate comes across the line in 12:00. It was the fastest time all morning for the girls in any race.

Hennessey’s Cheyenne Choate was the favorite Saturday morning after coming off a top 15 finish a season ago at state. The sophomore ran a 12 flat in the 2-mile to take the top honor. The next runner did not cross the line until 39 seconds later.The race saw four teams that placed fifth or higher in last year’s state meet. 

Coming away with the team title was Deer Creek. The Lady Antlers had runners finish 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th to finish with a team score of 50. McGuinness was second with 77 points and Shawnee followed in third place.  

5A and Below Varsity Boys 

If you are into competition then the 5A and below varsity race was what you needed. 

Deer Creek's Taler Buck and Guthrie's Jonathan Ogan are two of the top runners in Class 5A.

The race saw three defending state champion teams from a year ago (Guthrie, Jones, and Santa Fe South) and returned the overall 5A state champion in Deer Creek’s Taler Buck. Buck, who also won state in the 1600 and 3200 in track last season, ran a ridiculous 15:49 in the three miles to come away as the Flats champion. Tournament directors believe that may be a course record. 

However, McGuinness took the top team honor with 31 team points and was followed by Deer Creek’s 48 team points and Guthrie’s 69 points. 

The Jays junior runner Jonathan Ogan finished behind Buck for second place (16:14). Guthrie’s Zach Cates (16:29) and Hunter Sallee (16:50) racked up top 10 finishes with 5th and 9th, respectively. Walker Cross ran a 17:06 and Adam Beery ran a 19:15 for the Jays. 

Junior High debuts as well 

The Guthrie Junior High got their first opportunity of the season to run competitive as well in the Junior High races. 

Guthrie's James Clay takes off the starting line in his first BlueJay run.

With the high volume of runners, the Guthrie directors had to split up two races into four runs. 

The Lady Jays, who are coached by Maggie Wade, had four runners in the 7th grade girls race with Lexie Hastings coming away with a 13th place finish in a time of 7:27 in the one mile run. 

Molly Swartbaugh ran an 8:03, Sydney Little had a 10:59 run, and Hannah Minlien finished in 11:14 

The only Junior Jay boy run was seventh grader James Clay, who finished in a time of 8:13. 

In the 8th grade girls race, Guthrie’s Kaylea Hopfer ran an 8:04 and teammate Carly Bothroyd came in behind at 8:36. 

Edmond Sequoyah won both the 7th grade boys and girls races while Piedmont won both the 8th grade boys and girls team titles. 

Guthrie will host another Cottonwood Flats for Junior High and Elementary teams and individuals. There will be one mile races in 7th grade boys, 7th grade girls, 8th grade girls, 8th grade boys, Elementary girls, and Elementary boys. 

For more information contact Gary Boxley, at Guthrie High School, (405) 282-5906.

Staley leaves the OSU football team; will remain on scholarship

Oklahoma State running back/linebacker and Guthrie High School All American Kye Staley has decided to hang up his football cleats for good. However, he will remain on a medical scholarship at OSU.

Staley suffered one of the worse knee injuries that the Oklahoma State medical team had seen after tearing several knee ligaments during an OSU practice when he suffered a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus when a player rolled into his knee while carrying the ball early in the 2009 season. Staley red-shirted in 2008.

Staley made tremendous strides just to return to the practice field, but was unable to perform to his and the team’s standards. Staley then moved over to the defensive side and practiced at linebacker before informing the coaching staff about his decision.

Guthrie Sports Page learned of the situation on Wednesday, but remained silent until official word was released.

One of the most decorated members of the 2008 incoming class and he was considered the top player in the state of Oklahoma.

SuperPrep All-America selection as the magazine named him the No. 6 prospect in the country under the “athlete” heading and the seventh best prospect in the Midlands region.

Staley was selected to the Under Armour All-American game and was an All-American by Tom Lemming, a consensus all-stater, and named offensive player of the year by The Oklahoman.

Rivals.com ranked him as the third best prospect in Oklahoma and No. 13 nationally among “athletes”.

Staley played multiple positions in leading Guthrie to the state championship in 2007. He ran for 1,380 yards and 28 touchdowns while passing for 625 yards, and caught 10 passes for 320 yards. Staley left the Guthrie program with multiple school records.

Jays conclude scrimmages; moving on to Duncan

The Guthrie offense and defense looked stout in their first 12 plays on offense and first 12 plays on defense, on Stout Field, as they participated in their final scrimmage of the season with the Piedmont Wildcats on a cool summer evening.

Quarterback Bryan Dutton takes off for a 13-yard touchdown run on the 10th play from scrimmage.

The Jays now move forward to game week preparation with the Duncan Demons coming to Jelsma Stadium next Friday night. 

The 79-minute scrimmage included the junior varsity. Prior to the 7:00 varsity start, the freshmen Jays took part in a 90 minute scrimmage with Piedmont and Edmond Santa Fe. Click here for the photo gallery. 

The Guthrie offense got the ball first and went 60 yards on 10 plays to score when sophomore quarterback Bryan Dutton rolled out and scored from 13-yards out. 

Setting up the score was a Dutton to Devante McCulley for a 9-yard connection, a 12-yard screen pass to Kentrell Brothers, and an 18-yard run by running  back Luke Davis. 

Dutton took just two more snaps for the remainder of the night soon after his touchdown. He found McCulley for a 22-yard pass and Brothers for a 12-yard reception. Dutton finished 4-5 passing for 55 yards, two rushes for 15 yards, and a score. 

McCulley and Brothers each had two receptions and finished with 31 and 24 yards, respectively, on the first 12 plays. Davis finished with two carries for 21-yards and Alfonso Wilcots finished with 5-yards on three carries. 

“They (Piedmont) had a lot of fire and a lot of focus,” defensive coordinator Kelly Beeby said. “I think they were looking for a little bit of redemption from last year’s game. Their kids played extremely hard.” 

The Guthrie defense proved to be solid by holding Piedmont to minus six yards of offense on 12 plays. The tempo was set on the first play. 

Marcus Ware read the opening play well as he came down with an interception. The Wildcats picked up three yards on a run, but gave it right back on the next play with a botched option play. Then on the next play, Guthrie picked off their second interception on just the fourth play when Brothers jumped in front of a would be Wildcat receiver. 

From that point, Piedmont was 1-for-5 passing for negative 5-yards. On the final play, Brothers forced the ball away from the Piedmont quarterback. 

“We played extremely well with our No. 1’s. We used this scrimmage as a format to try find some depth at defensive line, depth at defensive end, secondary, as well as linebacker depth,” Beey said. 

The Guthrie defense looks over the Piedmont offense Thursday evening.

Beeby went on to say, “We had a lot of players out on the field. They run an up tempo hurry up type offense and it was mentally stressing on us tonight and it was good for us. I told them adversity is going to happen in ball games. You got to be unified, you got to trust each other, and trust what we are doing. So from that aspect it was a success tonight.” 

Freshmen quarterback and defensive back Kai Callins took snaps with the first team offense and had a highlight run on his third snap from scrimmage. 

Callins took a low snap and was forced to run to his left immediately, but made a juke to the inside avoiding tacklers and quickly made multiple spin moves to gather 20-yards with multiple Wildcats having a chance to bring down the frosh. He finished 2-for-5 passing, but had two drops. 

Guthrie will now prepare for Duncan and week one of the season. Last season, the Jays traveled to Duncan and got a 20-12 first round playoff win. The game is set for 7:30, at Jelsma Stadium, and can be heard on Triple Play Sports Radio 105.1 FM and streaming live on Guthrie Sports Page beginning with the pregame at 7:00 p.m.

School Bond Issue fails in a landslide

The Guthrie Public School Bond Issue failed nearly four to one with 3,834 no votes (77.88%) to 1089 yes votes (22.12%).

There are approximately 12,800 registered voters in the Guthrie district and 4,923 exercised their right to vote. Election Board said it was a “decent” turn out and was higher than normal.

The bond would construct a new high school which would be located two blocks east of the I-35 and Highway 33 intersection on 80 acres currently owned by the City of Guthrie. The new school would allow for middle school students (6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade) to be moved to the current high school.

The bond would also include upgrading current facilities and adding sports facilities on site of the new proposed high school. The proposed bond was for $89,745,000 and would have increased property taxes by 23%.

03-06-07: $16.8 million issue to renovate the Jr. High and construct additional classrooms and a new cafeteria.   

VOTE:   Yes  49.86%       No  50.14%                            

12-09-08: $5.5 million issue to renovate the existing Jr. High

VOTE:   Yes  58.38%      No  41.62%

04-07-09: $5.8 million issue to renovate the existing Jr. High

VOTE:  Yes  57.41%       No  42.59%

 08-24-10: $89.7 million issue which included moving the Jr. High students to the existing High School

VOTE:  Yes 22.12%        No 78.22%

The Guthrie Election Forum