The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

Sports

October 27, 2009

Harmon: History means nothing

Don’t tell Garber coach Mark Harmon history is on the Wolverines’ side when No. 1-ranked GHS hosts No. 2-ranked Canton in a battle of unbeatens for the District B-1 championship at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The Wolverines are 10-0 against the Tigers since 1974, including two wins a year ago — 34-8 for the district title and 26-14 in the state semifinals.

“That doesn’t mean anything,’’ Harmon said.

Both teams are 8-0 overall. Garber is 7-0 in district play while Canton is 6-0. The winner is the B-1 champion and would be in position to host two playoff games.

Garber, riding a 22-game winning streak, hasn’t been challenged this season. The closest game was a 26-point win over Covington-Douglas (40-14) the first week of the season.

Canton had to rally to beat Geary 22-20 last week. All of the Tigers’ wins before that had been by 27 or more points. Harmon speculated Canton could have been thinking ahead to the Wolverines.

“I think we match up fairly well,’’ Harmon said. “They play good defense and they spread you out all over the place. They will come and strike you.’’

Canton is led by quarterback Colby Haigler, who had a 75-yard touchdown run in the semifinal game. He threw a 28-yard TD pass to Mondy Cruz in the first game.

Haigler, Cruz and fullback Kolby Hysell, Harmon said, have big-play capability. The Tigers were held under 34 points for the first time against Geary.

“We’re going to have to contain their speed,’’ Harmon said. “They got a lot of speed on their defensive line.’’

Garber quarterback Dylan Postier threw for 329 yards in the semifinal meeting, including TD passes of 32 and 60 yards to Tyler Miller and 75 yards to the now-graduated Colby Collins. He threw for two scores the first meeting.

“A lot is going to depend on how well you execute on offense,’’ Harmon said. “Turnovers are always going to be an issue.’’

Garber is riding the momentum of an impressive 48-14 rout of Laverne. The Wolverines forced three turnovers — one interception and two fumbles.

“Coach (Ryan) Cin-namon did a good job preparing our defense,’’ Harmon said “We played real aggressive.’’

Broncs host Wildcats

Kremlin-Hillsdale, which won three straight games against teams with a combined record of 3-21, returns to the real world Friday when it hosts No. 3-ranked Seiling.

The Wildcats are 7-1 overall and 5-1 in District C-1, with their lone loss being to No. 2 Timberlake, 52-6. The Broncs are 5-3 and 4-2.

Kremlin-Hillsdale hosts Covington-Douglas next week in a game that should determine the Broncs’ playoff fate.

“We’ll get to see if we made some strides or it was the opponents we were playing,’’ said Kremlin-Hillsdale coach Brent Hendrix.

“I want to see how our team reacts against a top- five team.’’

Kremlin-Hillsdale, after a 48-0 win over Braman Friday, has scored 387 points this season.

Seiling has allowed 185 points, much of that coming in the Timberlake loss.

The Wildcats have rushed for 300 or more yards five times this season. Seiling has a solid 1-2 punch in quarterback Zach McDonald and running back Eddy Pittman.

“This is going to help us against Covington-Douglas, win or lose,’’ Hendrix said.

Freshman Tanner Rogers had 118 yards rushing against the Pirates.

Injured end Dan Copage isn’t expected to play against the Wildcats but may return against Covington-Douglas.

C-D on the road

Covington-Douglas (3-3, 4-4) will need a win at Bartlesville Wesleyan Christian (1-5, 1-7) to set up a playoff showdown with Kremlin-Hillsdale next week.

Wildcats coach Brian Smith isn’t concerned about his team’s focus for the long trip to Bartlesville.

“We always play well on road trips,’’ he said.

“We tend to leave early enough to eat and get stretched out. I don’t see that changing. We want to get better every week.’’

The Wildcats threw for more than 200 yards (209) for the second straight week in a 62-30 rout of Medford last week.

Quarterback Brett Stopp had touchdown passes of 15 yards to Gage Smith, 36 yards to Justin Venard and 75 yards to A.J. Phillips.

“There were four or five passes that were dropped that should have been caught,’’ said Smith.

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