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The locker room is cleared out except for a few wandering players. Seated in front a computer screen are Ardmore defensive coordinator Josh Newby and senior linebacker Tyler Day.
Rewind. Play. Pause. Repeat. Day diagnoses the offensive formation. Newby asks for an alignment. The film is Lawton MacArthur bullying Deer Creek up and down the field.
It’s that critical study time that could help turn the outcome in Ardmore’s favor Saturday. Every extra second is important heading into the Class 5A semifinals against the unbeaten Highlanders (12-0).
“It’s been different having all the extra time,” Newby said of the week out of school leading up to Saturday’s game. “We’ve been able to go back to the first game and see all the mistakes we made and need to correct.”
The first game against Lawton MacArthur wasn’t Ardmore’s best. The Tigers were down 14-0 before they could blink, courtesy of turnovers on two of their first three possessions, and went on to lose 45-14. No film’s necessary to know what Ardmore can’t afford to do against a team some call the best in 5A.
Turnovers. Ardmore had four of them — three lost fumbles and an interception — against Pryor in a 14-7 quarterfinal win last week.
“At this point of the season, every team is good,” Newby said. “You better have your A-game on everything.”
MacArthur is coming off a 31-14 win over Bishop Kelley in the quarterfinals. The Highlanders have scored 31 points or more in five consecutive games.
To stop the Highlanders’ offense, led by quarterback Taylor Chasteen and downhill running back Darius Graham, Newby said the Tigers have to display better technique and play more physical. The Tigers did a good job of corralling Graham in the last meeting (39 yards rushing), but Chasteen threw for 243 yards and four touchdowns through the air via MacArthur’s screen game.
“(In the first game) A lot of people got reached in their technique,” Newby said. “We’ll have a better scheme. The kids understand it better. The kids understand their technique better.”
Ardmore’s last semifinal appearance was in 2005, when the Tigers, ranked No. 1 in the state, lost their only game of the season to third-ranked Bixby 15-13.
This season, the Tigers are the only team left in the 5A playoffs with a loss. Four to be exact. In the other semifinal, Guthrie and McAlester are each 12-0.
With a win Saturday at Yukon High School, the Tigers can continue to defy their record, and correct the mistakes of the first MacArthur meeting.
“I think we’ve gonna play our best football of the season,” Ardmore coach Douglas Wendel said. “I don’t know why, I just believe that.”
Erik K. Horne
221-6522
———
Lawton MacArthur vs. Ardmore
— Class 5A semifinals, 1 p.m. Saturday at Yukon HS
— Records: Ardmore 8-4, Lawton MacArthur 12-0
— How they got here: Ardmore def. Carl Albert 21-14, def. Pryor 14-7; MacArthur def. El Reno 58-28, def. Bishop Kelley 31-14
— Radio: KICM-FM 97.7
The locker room is cleared out except for a few wandering players. Seated in front a computer screen are Ardmore defensive coordinator Josh Newby and senior linebacker Tyler Day.
Rewind. Play. Pause. Repeat. Day diagnoses the offensive formation. Newby asks for an alignment. The film is Lawton MacArthur bullying Deer Creek up and down the field.
It’s that critical study time that could help turn the outcome in Ardmore’s favor Saturday. Every extra second is important heading into the Class 5A semifinals against the unbeaten Highlanders (12-0).
“It’s been different having all the extra time,” Newby said of the week out of school leading up to Saturday’s game. “We’ve been able to go back to the first game and see all the mistakes we made and need to correct.”
The first game against Lawton MacArthur wasn’t Ardmore’s best. The Tigers were down 14-0 before they could blink, courtesy of turnovers on two of their first three possessions, and went on to lose 45-14. No film’s necessary to know what Ardmore can’t afford to do against a team some call the best in 5A.
Turnovers. Ardmore had four of them — three lost fumbles and an interception — against Pryor in a 14-7 quarterfinal win last week.
“At this point of the season, every team is good,” Newby said. “You better have your A-game on everything.”
MacArthur is coming off a 31-14 win over Bishop Kelley in the quarterfinals. The Highlanders have scored 31 points or more in five consecutive games.
To stop the Highlanders’ offense, led by quarterback Taylor Chasteen and downhill running back Darius Graham, Newby said the Tigers have to display better technique and play more physical. The Tigers did a good job of corralling Graham in the last meeting (39 yards rushing), but Chasteen threw for 243 yards and four touchdowns through the air via MacArthur’s screen game.
“(In the first game) A lot of people got reached in their technique,” Newby said. “We’ll have a better scheme. The kids understand it better. The kids understand their technique better.”
Ardmore’s last semifinal appearance was in 2005, when the Tigers, ranked No. 1 in the state, lost their only game of the season to third-ranked Bixby 15-13.
This season, the Tigers are the only team left in the 5A playoffs with a loss. Four to be exact. In the other semifinal, Guthrie and McAlester are each 12-0.
With a win Saturday at Yukon High School, the Tigers can continue to defy their record, and correct the mistakes of the first MacArthur meeting.
“I think we’ve gonna play our best football of the season,” Ardmore coach Douglas Wendel said. “I don’t know why, I just believe that.”
Erik K. Horne
221-6522
———
Lawton MacArthur vs. Ardmore
— Class 5A semifinals, 1 p.m. Saturday at Yukon HS
— Records: Ardmore 8-4, Lawton MacArthur 12-0
— How they got here: Ardmore def. Carl Albert 21-14, def. Pryor 14-7; MacArthur def. El Reno 58-28, def. Bishop Kelley 31-14
— Radio: KICM-FM 97.7
