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By: Shawn Ingle
Six weeks ago I wrote an article and proclaimed the 2002 State Championship Bluejays the greatest team to come out of Guthrie High School. That was before the 2007 Bluejays defeated Carl Albert, in the game of the year, and before they rolled through the playoffs. That was before their offense rolled over everyone, the defense shutdown every opponent, and before the special teams produced points and setup great field position.
This team dominated in every aspect of the game. I also believe that they possessed the X factor in sports, HEART! After the Carl Albert game, anything less than bringing the gold ball back to Guthrie would have been considered a disappointing season, fair or not. That is the kind of pressure that mounted on the Bluejays this year. With every victory the pressure only increased. I never got the feeling that the players took the attitude that all they had to do was show up and the opponent would give them the game. They showed up to play week in and week out.
Nobody could have blamed this team for taking a week off and escaping with a win that was closer than it should have been. That didn’t happen, which speaks a lot for the job the coaches did with this team. Keeping this team focused through every game of the season speaks volumes to the heart and character of the kids that were a part of this historical season.
Even in an undefeated season you could point to at least one game where you thought the opponent had a better offense or defense. In the fourteen contests the Bluejays played in this year, I don’t think any opponent had an advantage in any of the three important aspects of the game. The offense rolled up points on the ground and through the air. The defense shut out eight of their fourteen opponents. Special teams, well they were just that, SPECIAL!
I am not going to take anything away from the 2002 Bluejays because they were great in their own right. They were underdogs in three rounds of the playoffs and found a way to get it done. The 2007 Bluejays were so dominate that they had to deal with the pressure of letting everyone down if they brought back anything less than the gold ball. They had to “Keep the Focus” and for high school kids to do that for fourteen straight weeks was impressive. They never bought into the hype and let it get the best of them. They showed up to work for every practice and game.
Guthrie now has two State Championships in football. Both teams were great in their own way, but with the 14 – 0 record and in the dominating fashion they played every week. I now claim the greatest team in Guthrie football history is the 2007 5A State Champions the Guthrie Bluejays. Perfection can never be attained in any sport as an individual, but rather as a team, and this team achieved just that.