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 | | Cougar Football | 09/07/10 - Turnovers, penalties costly in loss to rival TigersJeff Cali Sports Editor Ada Evening News Ada Evening News Tue Sep 07, 2010, 01:35 PM CDT Ardmore — After its disappointing 28-7 Week 1 loss to rival Ardmore Friday night at Noble Stadium, one thing’s for certain. Ada needs to clean up its act.
The Cougars were charged with seven penalties and had three turnovers and simply gave the speedy, athletic Tigers too much help.
“They had the best football team. That’s all there is to it. They were just better than we were tonight,” Ada head coach Matt Weber said following the game. “There were too many penalties first of all, and they didn’t turn the ball over and we did — and two of them led to scores on their end. There were just too many things you can’t do to beat a good team.”
Even after all that, they still had a chance to put some pressure on the Tigers and maybe even steal a victory.
After spotting Ardmore a 21-0 lead, Ada finally used a big play from sophomore quarterback Wyatt Robson’s big arm to break the ice. Pinned at his own 12, Robson executed one of his many nice play fakes, launched the ball down the left sideline and hit steady receiver Christian Johnson almost in stride at about the Ardmore 40. Speedy Ardmore defender Dee Williamson saved the big touchdown, dragging Johnson down at the Ardmore 8. The 80-yard catch-and-run still led to the first Cougar score of 2010. Two quarterback sneaks — Robson barreled his way down to the 2-yard line on the first and scored on a fourth-and-goal play on the second — and a Sam McCann kick later and Ada was in business at 21-7.
The Cougars got a stop on Ardmore’s next possession and partially blocked a punt by Ashdon Perry that resulted in a net gain of only two yards. That set up the Cougars in good shape near mid-field.
Robson went back to the air, hitting Skylar Alexander with a 21-yarder to get Ada to the 32. Runs of four and two yards by Nathan Blakely — who hung exactly a hundred yards on Ardmore in 20 tries — and three more from Mason Girdley on his only tote of the night set up a fourth-and-one play from the Ardmore 28. Robson easily snuck his way to a first down, but a delay of game penalty happened before the snap, resulting in a loss of five yards and ultimately the first down. Robson just missed Alexander with a pass to the 3 on fourth-and-six.
Ardmore then melted the all but :17 of the 5:49 left in the game with a drive that ended with backup running back Kenny Gordon’s meaningless 10-yard touchdown run.
“We had some chances, but we just made too many first-game mistakes,” Weber said.
Ardmore struck first after Gordon recovered a fumble that ended Ada’s first drive of the game.
Andra Brown totaled 21 yards on Ardmore’s first two offensive plays en route to a monster 216-yard night. Quarterback Trey Cohee, who complimented Brown with another 128 on the ground, capped the short drive with a 15-yard TD toss to Josiah Reed. The PAT kick was no good, leaving the hosts on top 6-0 at the 9:13 mark of the opening frame.
There was no more scoring over the next 17-plus minutes. And after Brady Bowers pinned Ardmore on its own 6, the Cougars were in need of a big defensive stop for some much-needed field position. But Cohee gave Ardmore some breathing room with a nifty 50-yard scamper and Brown tacked on the final 22 yards for the touchdown. A two-point run by Reggie Thompson gave Ardmore a 14-0 lead it would carry into halftime.
Brown broke free for a 61-yard cross country jaunt on the first offensive play of the third quarter — Johnson prevented it from being a 76-yard touchdown run by chasing him down at the 15 — and Cohee hit Tray Fish for a 3-yard TD pass to get the Tigers into the end zone. Ardmore pushed its lead to 21-0 at the 8:31 mark of the third period before Ada tried to play catchup. Cohee would finish 9-of-13 through the air for 66 yards and the two touchdowns.
Interceptions by Ardmore’s Levonte Douglas and Reed short-circuited Ada drives in the second and third quarters.
Chase Bowker, Payton Patton, Cody Johnson, Ronald Lucas and Cale Russell all had tackles for losses for the Ada defense.
It’s back to work for the Cougars this week in preparation for another tough battle. Archrival and No. 9 McAlester visits Norris Field Friday night.
“My seniors know we got beat by a better football team, but we plan on going back to work and becoming a good football team,” Weber said. “I still think we’ll have a good football team if our kids want to.”
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| Ada Cougar Football |  09/03/10 - It's Ada Cougar Football Time! Jeff Cali Sports Editor Ada Evening News Ada — Consider this the rubber match.
Former Ada High coach Larry McBroom won his first-ever game as the ‘enemy’ in 2008 as he guided the Ardmore Tigers to a slim 14-7 victory over the Cougars.
Current Ada head coach Matt Weber and company returned the favor last year by a 21-18 count, another close call.
Expect more of the same when the two rivals butt heads Friday night at Noble Stadium in the 2010 opener for both teams.
“We’re excited. We’ve had three weeks of preparation. It’s nice to finally get into game week and get into our routine,” Weber said before Wednesday’s practice session. “We’re excited to get to go play at Ardmore. They’re always a good opponent, and they have nice facilities. It’s a nice place to open.”
Fan can expect to see a familiar Tiger team Friday night.
“We’ve seen their two scrimmage films but you kind of know what to expect when you turn Ardmore film on. They’re going to have a lot of kids that can run fast, which they do this year,” Weber said.
The Ardmore offense is centered around returning tailback Andra Brown, who broke free for an 87-yard touchdown against a solid Sulphur defense during a preseason scrimmage. Brown scored on a 17-yard run and averaged six yards per carry against Ada last year.
“He’s their go-to guy,” Weber said. “He got loose for quite a few yards against us last year.”
Also returning for the Tigers is senior quarterback and two-sport star Trey Cohee, who took over as the full-time starter last year after then-QB Reed Downing suffered an injury.
“The Cohee kid is their quarterback. He’s another very good athlete and throws the ball well,” Weber said. “Everybody knows him from being a good basketball player. He’s a confident kid. He’s started since he was a freshman on the basketball team, and he’s probably going to be a highly-recruited basketball player. He’ll be pretty comfortable running their offense.”
Defensively, to say Ardmore runs to the football would be an understatement.
“They run a slant-50, pretty much the same defense we started our first year here. They have a big strong noseguard that can move his feet, and both of their defensive tackles are back,” Weber explained. “And they’re impressive on the back end. The same kids that are running and catching the ball are in the secondary.”
Ardmore opened the season ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press Class 5A rankings while Ada was two spots behind at No. 13. Yet another indicator that the game will be a dogfight.
“They have experience and they have athletes. You’re going to have to play your best to have a chance,” Weber said. “And you know they’ll always be well-coached.”
A few question marks surround a new-look Ada offense that features sophomore quarterback Wyatt Robson and a mostly inexperienced offensive line. The plan is to lean on a much more experienced defense in the beginning.
“Like we’ve said before, early on we need our defense to lead us just because that’s where we have the most experience,” Weber said. “Our offense will come along and will be fine. Just how fast they come along, we don’t know.”
Ready or not, the 2010 season is here.
“You never feel like you’re totally prepared. You feel rushed. But the best thing is with our kids, the effort has been there. We feel good about our football team. We feel like it’s a football team that’s going to get better and better each week which is what you want,” Weber said.
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| Cougar Football |  08/25/10 - Tecumseh travels to Ada ThursdayJoe Claxton ACS Publications Director Ada Evening News Ada — Quick, name the hottest evening of the year. That’s right, every other year in the blazing sun sans shade in the steaming metal bleechers at Noble Stadium in Ardmore. Quick, name the coldest away evening ever for Ada High football.
Most will quickly reply that it was 1991, November 1, ninth game into the season at Tecumseh, the opponent for the scrimmage here Thursday night.
Freezing had been the norm that month. That night was below the norm, way below. Somewhere in the teens. Coaches struggled to keep their troops warm. Band directors did the same, saliva quickly froze in the spit cups of the brass.
Ada head coach Larry McBroom and band maestro Bronson Warren agreed it was the coldest ever. Both survived and went on to win state championships, however. For football No. 15 of now 19.
Sophomores that year, now assistant coaches, Nathan Elliott and Trevor Robbins, shiver when the game is mentioned.
“We had a huge squad, a tiny dressing room and the sophs had to stand outside before the game and at halftime,” Elliott said, recalling the thin rain jackets and keeping warm by shivering.
Despite the cold, Ada won that night 44-0 for the fourth of six straight blowouts.
Flash forward to 2010 and Tecumseh is back in the thick of things in Class 4A and the Savages are in town Thursday starting at 5:30 p.m. with the freshmen.
Ada head coach Matt Weber makes no bones about it, he will use the scrimmage looking ahead to the opener at Ardmore.
He will look for ‘a few more good men’ to round out various rotations with penciled in starters.
QB Wyatt Robson may also get a few more snaps than normal as he eases into the starting role as a sophomore.
Tecumseh finds itself paired with defending state runner-up Douglass and an odd-man out from the Tulsa area.
Powerful Glenpool was ousted to the west into a more or less Oklahoma City-based district. Tecumseh joins the 4A-2 cast alsong with Harrah, McLoud, Cushing, Cleveland and Santa Fe South.
Tecumseh, 8-3 a year ago, will have to beef up and beef up fast with Glenpool moving in in addition to Douglass and will sharpen their game against Ada Thursday.
A year ago Glenpool was coming off two state title appearances going into the playoffs, but lost in the first round, ironically to Douglass, to finish 9-2.
Tecumseh is picked by district coaches to finish third to Glenpool and Douglass with Harrah getting the fourth playoff slot.
Senior QB Kyle Fowler (6-2, 175) is a double threat running or passing. So is junior RB Ryan Craighead running and catching out of the backfield.
The receivers are talented with Jackson Ryan (5-10,175, Jr.) and Chanler Martinez (5-11,165, Sr.) heading the list.
Mold that around a solid center in Blaine Atchley (6-2, 240, Jr.) and tackle Hunter Montgomery (5-10, 260, Sr.).
Like Ada, the line sticks out on defense and the defenders are deep at most positions. | | More >> |
| Cougar Football |  08/24/10 - Young Ada Cougars clash with DemonsJoe Claxton ACS Publications Director Ada Evening News Duncan — After reviewing film from the scrimmage against a veteran, top-caliber team in the Duncan Demons, Ada High head coach Matt Weber pronounced his youngish Cougars a long way down the road toward becoming a good football team.
The Demons, built around two D-1 prospects in lineman Dylan Dismuke and back Domonique Petties, played their marquee players a few downs and they were held pretty much in check by Ada’s Ones.
“Other than that, it was a plain old boring scrimmage as most scrimmages are,” Weber said, adding that little or no attention is given to the scoreboard in scrimmages. “But Duncan has a good football team and everybody is back so they are very advanced for this point in the year.”
“It is hard to do much with a young team, hard to jump out there and play. We competed very hard and after the film we saw just how hard.
As young as the team is, it is even younger with a sophomore at quarterback.
“Our sophomore quarterback (Wyatt Robson) made very few mistakes, protected the ball well. For his first time he executed really well. We didn’t get real fancy, pure vanilla, basic runs and passes and a bootleg thrown in. We had one long running play on the ground,” Weber said.
Weber added that pure vanilla passes from Robson were on the mark, but some were dropped.
“But we caught some, too. Nick Anderson had a good night at one wide out and caught everything thrown at him. He made some nice catches, one a 20-yard catch and run. On the other side, Christian Johnson, did not have many thrown his way,” Weber said of his twin 6-3 jumpers. Johnson is a three-year starter. Anderson is back after concentrating on basketball the past two years.
As far as Dismuke, a 6-7, 300-pounder headed for the University of Oklahoma ... “Heck you know he’s good with OU and the rest of the country after him,” Weber said, but added, “Our defensive linemen (Randy Armstrong, Payton Patton and Tanner Dyer) didn’t have any particular problem with him, though. Our tight ends blocked him pretty well, too, when he was on defense.”
Petties showed why he is referred by ATH instead of position.
“He is more known for defense, but he is a heckuva ball carrier. He broke loose once and Travis Cowan caught him from behind,” Weber said.
As far as the Tecumseh visit Thursday evening, do not expect to see much of the local heroes.
Not many starters will see a lot of action as the coaching staff looks at candidates to get ready for rotations at Ardmore. Ada will not be playing Tecumseh, but getting ready for arch-rival Ardmore and legendary Ada coach Larry McBroom at Noble Stadium
“Maybe Wyatt will see a few more snaps as he works on execution,” Weber said.
The freshmen will start it off at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity and JV taking over an hour or so later at the Craig McBroom Football Complex.
Tecumseh likes to spread it out and see what happens.
“They’ll use a one back attack and spread it out and run their quarterback, typical of what we have seen a lot over the past few years,” Weber said.
Senior QB Kyle Fowler is back for more after a 1,000 yards passing, 800 rushing year in an 8-3 season.
Most receivers are back including Chance Tiffin, Chandler Martinez and Jackson Ryan.
Fowler’s high-flying act is backed by a solid defense hubbed by tackle Hunter Montgomery, a 5-10, 265-pounder.
Tecumseh is picked by district coaches to finish third to Glenpool and Douglass with Harrah getting the fourth playoff slot in Class 4A-2.
Ada goes to a normal practice schedule this week after spending most evenings on the field to beat the heat. The Cougars will hit the field at approximately 2:35-2:40 p.m. daily. | | More >> |
| Cougar Football |  08/24/10 - Ada Cougar Season Football Tickets On Sale Now! 2010 Season Football tickets are on sale now! Anyone interested in purchasing season tickets can do so by contacting Dorcas Sandy at 580-310-7245. | | More >> |
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