Published: September 03, 2008 06:29 pm            

Waiting game is almost over for Ada team

Now that the Ada Cougars have their two preseason scrimmages out of the way, the wait is finally over.

In five short days, new Ada head coach Matt Weber will take his team to Ardmore to officially kick off the 2008 season.

Weber said his team is chomping at the bit to get things started.

“This time of the year is kind of the same every season. They’ve been practicing for three weeks and that’s usually the longest three weeks of the year, getting ready for that first game,” he said.

But the preseason must have seemed even a little longer this year, if not for the players and coaches, for fans. After all, it’s almost time to see the Ada Cougars take on former Ada golden boy turned coaching legend Larry McBroom.

Ardmore already wants to beat Ada worse than any other team on the planet. Now it’s a rivalry squared contest.

“Obviously with us playing Ardmore and Larry being over there adds to the whole rivalry,” Weber said.

The Cougars went toe-to-toe against Guthrie (ranked as high as No. 2 in one preseason poll) Thursday night at the Craig McBroom Football Complex.

Starters didn’t play much more than a series, but the Bluejays managed to score on Ada and the Cougars then returned the favor. Highlighting the Ada scoring drive was a nifty 46-yard scamper by tailback Keeslar Stover and quarterback Qumain Black’s 15-yard TD keeper.

“They scored on our first team, and we responded with a score. That was good for our kids to do that against good competition,” Weber said. “We got better from last week’s scrimmage to this one, and that’s what you always hope to do.”

And again, the Cougars escaped with just normal bumps and bruises.

Ada will hit the practice field at 10 a.m. Monday — “We want them to enjoy part of their Labor Day” — before resuming its normal 2 p.m. practices Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. As usual, Monday is defense day and Tuesday is set aside for the offense.

The Cougars' final practice of the week will be a scripted practice where they’ll work on various game situations.

“We’ll work on everything, including two-point plays, the kicking game and things like that,” Weber said.

And then, it’s off to Ardmore.

———o———

2008 Football Special

Don’t forget to check out the 2008 Ada Evening News Football Special (High School Edition) inserted in today’s paper.

It features previews of our six football playing schools in the area — Ada , Allen, Coalgate, Konawa, Stratford and Sulphur — and much more. It’s a good way to get ready for some football.

And in case you missed it, the College/Pro edition of the AEN Football Speical appeared in last Wednesday's paper.

        

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