 |
|||||||||||||||
|
By: Chris Evans and Brad Trost
For the second consecutive year, Guthrie and Ardmore battled in the first round of the play-offs. This match-up, however, was played inside Noble Stadium giving the Tigers a home field advantage that proved to be too much for the Bluejays to handle.
No. 3 ranked Ardmore downed the No.7 Bluejays 20-0 and the Tigers redeemed their loss from a year ago and guaranteed that 5A would not have a repeat champion.
Both teams, in both years had big-time playmakers. In 2002, Guthrie had Demarko Jones, and in 2003 Ardmore had Roy Roberts, Drew McAdoo, and Jermaine Gresham. Guthrie was defeated and ended their season at 7-4 while Ardmore eventually made it to the state semi-finals and finished 11-2.
Guthrie, unable to move the ball the majority of the night, had a couple of drives that threatened the Tigers, but were unable to capitalize on the scoreboard.
Roberts, now the top defensive player for Tulsa, compiled 132 yards and McAdoo added 87 yards rushing as the Tigers rolled up a total of 240 yards rushing and just 35 passing yards.
Despite the Bluejays not scoring on that rainy Friday night, the game was not decided until the fourth quarter. Guthrie, however, mustered just 61 yards of offense in the second half after compiling 121 yards in the first half.
The Tigers, leading 6-0 at half and at the end of the third quarter, started to put the game away starting with Roberts. Roberts scored in the first minute of the fourth quarter on an 11-yard run to push the score 12-0 after the missed two-point conversion.
The icing on the cake, for the Tigers, was a 14-yard TD reception to Gresham, now an Oklahoma University stand-out, and a two-point conversion to finalize the scoring.
Ardmore 20, Guthrie 0
|
Guthrie |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Ardmore |
6 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
20 |
First Quarter
Ardmore - Roberts 23 run (kick failed).
Fourth Quarter
Ardmore - Roberts 11 run (pass failed).
Ardmore - Gresham 14 pass from
McAdoo (Nelson pass from McAdoo).
|
|
Guthrie |
Ardmore |
|
First Downs |
15 |
18 |
|
Rushing Att.-Yards |
37-113 |
41-240 |
|
Passing Yards |
69 |
35 |
|
Total Yards |
182 |
274 |
|
Passing Line |
6-19-4 |
4-12-2 |
|
Punts-Avg. |
3-42.7 |
3-25.3 |
|
Fumbles-Lost |
1-0 |
2-0 |
|
Penalties-Yards |
2-28 |
4-40 |
Guthrie Individual Statistics
Rushing - Chappell 19-44, Calvert 9-40, Lewis 1-13, Jones 5-11, Hodge 2-5.
Passing - Chappell 4-14-3, 48 yards; Hodge 2-5-1, 21 yards.
Receving - Calvert 2-36, Story 3-24, Perring 1-9.
Ardmore Individual Statistics
Rushing - Roberts 18-132, McAdoo 17-87, Harmon 4-11, Lightley 1-10.
Passing - McAdoo 4-11-2, 35 yards.
Receving - Gresham 3-30, Nelson 1-5