Published: November 05, 2009 04:44 pm      

Ada-McAlester just got bigger

Home playoff game on the line Friday

ADA — If Ada were to meet McAlester in Tiddlywinks, there’s no doubt the action would be fast and furious.

Put the two schools together on the same field for some high school football, and in most cases during the storied rivalry, the game has been off the charts.

Now up the ante even more by putting a home playoff game on the line between two teams that have to be at least part of the conversation when talking about possible Class 5A contenders and you’re liable to get sheer pandemonium.

That’s exactly the scenario for the big District 5A-4 war scheduled for Friday night at Hook Eales Stadium in McAlester. The winner of that contest will play at home in Week 11 while the loser will likely slip all the way down to the No. 4 spot in the district standings and will be sent to Tulsa for a first-round matchup with No. 1 Tulsa Kelley.

“It’s not only a big game because it’s McAlester, but it’s a big game because of what we are playing for,” Ada head coach Matt Weber said. “It’s adds a little more to a game that’s already pretty exciting.”

The Buffaloes, ranked No. 7 in Class 5A, had district title aspirations until dropping a 22-6 decision to No. 5 Tulsa East Central last week. It was McAlester's first loss of the season. Ada hopes No. 2 comes Friday night.

“We’d love to have a home playoff game, but we’ve got a pretty tough challenge between us and that,” Weber said. “It’s Ada-McAlester. Both teams are going to be ready to play each other and they’re both playing for the same thing. It’s going to be a battle.”

The biggest battle within the battle will occur when Ada’s potent offense tries to move the ball against McAlester’s stingy defense. Ada enters the game averaging almost 30 points per game while McAlester gives up just a hair over eight points per outing — by far the best in Class 5A.

“Defensively is where they are really good. I would imagine they are leading most of the categories in our class defensively. Not too many people have scored points on them,” Weber said.

Senior defensive backs Tim Curry (75 tackles) and Tyler Crabtree (71 tackles) and senior linebacker Chance Carey (70) tackles are among the leaders of the Buffs talented defense.

Sophomore quarterback Tony Keifer guides the MHS offense.

“Offensively, they are a spread team. I haven’t seen them with a tight end, so they’ll have four receivers and sometimes five. (Keifer is) a good sophomore quarterback that’s a run threat and a throwing threat and he has a lot of good kids to throw it to,” Weber said.

Keifer sat out Week 8 with a high ankle sprain but returned to the field last Friday. He has rushed 149 times for 815 yards and an incredible 16 touchdowns and has completed 106-of-185 passes for 1,297 yards and 11 more TDs.

But Weber said even with Keifer out, the Buffs looked good with his replacement, Crabtree, in the lineup. In Keifer’s absence, Crabtree completed and efficient 16-of-21 passes for 155 yards and two scores.

“With Crabtree they don’t miss a beat. It’s not like you can have a sigh of relief because the Crabtree kid is an excellent athlete,” Weber said.

Crabtree is also among the team’s leading receivers with 38 catches for 289 yards and four TDs. Alvery Braxton has 21 catches for 376 yards and five scores while Cody Leflor add 27 catches for 311 yards and three more TDs.

Tahlequah tidbits

During Ada’s Week 9 38-20 win over Tahlequah last week, Weber had to put his starters back in late in the game so the Cougars could win the maximum 15 district points each team can get with a victory.

“Our defense played pretty good. Our first-team defense didn’t hardly budge. That group only gave up about 50 yards,” Weber said

Still, the Ada skipper said there is plenty of room of improvement for his defensive unit.

“It seemed like were a little flat early. We just need to be good tacklers in space. When we are, we’re a good defense. But when we aren’t, people move the ball against us,” he said.

Memory Lane

Last week, Weber was back on his old stomping grounds at Northeastern Oklahoma State University in Tahlequah. During his college days, Weber quarterbacked for NSU for two seasons and helped his the Redmen (now RiverHawks) win a NAIA national championship in 1994.

“The biggest difference between NAIA and NCAA was it was a lot easier to get kids in. There wasn’t nearly as many restrictions as far as grade point average, semesters played ... so we had some animals,” Weber recalled. “On that last team, I think we had seven kids sign to go play professional football. We got transfers in from a lot of big schools. I was a very small piece of the puzzle.”

Northeastern defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 13-12 in the 1994 title game. It was the year before East Central University had won it’s NAIA championship, defeating Glenville State 49-35 at Norris Field in 1993.

Welcome aboard

Weber said the 14 new players he added to the roster a few weeks ago have already been assets to the team.

“The freshmen had the option to go to another sport or come out with us and 14 decided to come with us,” Weber said. “They’ve been a great help during practice. It’s a really good class for us.”

Some have already been a great help during games. Dalton Thompson has taken the spot of injured special teams player Ryan Vick and has played well on the kickoff and punt teams. Weber said Thompson could play some fullback for the Cougars against McAlester.

Another freshman, Wyatt Robson, took some snaps at quarterback last week when regular backup Chase Bowker suffered an ankle injury.

“He definitely won’t be able to go this week, but we feel like he’ll be ready next week,” Weber said of Bowker’s status. “His injury is similar to the one the McAlester quarterback had and he only missed one game.”

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COUGAR NOTES: Ada leads the series with its arch nemesis 60-28-1 but the Buffaloes have won the last three. ... Weber said Bowker was the only new Cougar on the injury list. ... Ada football fans are again invited to attend this week’s Ada Football Booster Club luncheon, scheduled for Friday at noon at Polo’s Mexican Restaurant.