July 19, 2008 12:49 pm
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TERRELL LESTER Column
Scouting around ... Baseball, the big-league variety, has barely hit the halfway mark. Summer, the July-August variety, has barely hit its stride. And football, the high school variety, is just ready to hit, period.
The VYPE Oklahoma Football Preview has just broken the huddle and taken the field for its very first play.
It could go for a big gain.
Indeed, it has the size. At 304 pages, it qualifies as a heavyweight.
It has the speed. Capsulized and handsomely formatted, it is an easy read and a quick reference.
And, it passes the eye test. It’s a slick magazine, flush with color and sleek in design.
High School Sports Magazine, the freebie monthly that debuted a couple of years ago, has teamed up with the veteran Oklahoma Kickoff publication and the result is a nice-looking effort, published in Tulsa, with a $7.99 price tag.
There were a couple of nuggets, of a local nature, to be gleaned from first perusal.
• In the rankings of the 32 teams in Class 6A, Claremore was placed at No. 30. The Zebras were tabbed for last place in District 6A-3 (where Jenks, who else, was penciled in as champion). ...
• Union was labeled the pre-season favorite in Class 6A. ...
• Midwest City Albert is the betting favorite to win its eighth Class 5A state championship in 12 seasons. ...
• Oologah (No. 14) and Catoosa (No. 22) are in the also-ran category among the Class 4A teams chasing defending champion and favorite Oklahoma City McGuinness. Oologah is predicted to finish fourth (behind Grove) and Catoosa is tabbed at sixth in District 4A-3. ...
• Claremore Sequoyah is a Top 10 pick — No. 9 — in Class 3A (where Clinton and Cascia Hall are 1-2). Inola is No. 28 among the 32 teams. ...
• In District 3A-3, there’s Cascia Hall, Berryhill and Sequoyah at the top, with Inola at No. 7. ...
• Kingfisher, last year’s runnerup to Clinton in 3A, has dropped to 2A and is the favorite among that classification’s 64 teams. Verdigris is 16th in the rankings, Chelsea is No. 20. ...
• Newcomer to the OSSAA Lincoln Christian of Tulsa is predicted to win District 2A-7, but Verdigris and Chelsea are voted in at No. 2 and No. 3. ...
• The magazine did not attempt to rank the three smallest classifications, A, B and C. In Class A, Foyil has moved from District A-7 to District A-8 and will compete against the likes of Afton, Commerce, Fairland and Salina. ...
• Claremore Christian will be making its first appearance as an OSSAA member institution this year. The Warriors are in the eight-man District C-4 with such teams as White Oak, Webbers Falls, Maud and Bokoshe. The Warriors might be faced with the most wide-spread district schedule of all nine Rogers County teams. ...
There is nothing official, but the buzz has it that Claremore High School’s attendance numbers might be falling just enough to drop the Zebras one classification for sports other than football.
When last the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association compiled average daily attendance numbers to determine athletic classification, in September, Claremore was the 32nd largest school in the state. That placed Claremore at the bottom of the largest classification, 6A. Tahlequah was listed at No. 33.
It does not take much of a shift in attendance numbers to affect a school’s rank. The opening this fall of Southmoore in Moore is expected to cause a ripple throughout the top two classifications, the top 64 schools by enrollment.
If Claremore would, indeed, drop a notch or two, the Zebras athletics teams would be affected this school year. With the exception, of course, of the football Zebras. Football district alignments are set up on a two-year basis. The football Zebras will be playing in 6A this season and next season.
The new attendance numbers are being compiled by the OSSAA and should be available within a couple of weeks or so. Attendance figures from the previous school year, in this case, 2007-08, are used to establish classifications for the upcoming school year.
In the past, the new classifications are released sometime around the Oklahoma Coaches Association’s annual clinic and All-State games. The clinic kicks off July 27 in Oklahoma City. ...
Dates of interest for the high school football season:
• Aug. 12, limited practice begins.
• Aug. 15, full practice begins.
• Sept. 4, season opens.
• Nov. 14, first-round playoffs, all classifications. ...
When the football season does begin, one familiar face will be missing. Butch Peters went to the sidelines earlier this year, ending 35 years as a football coach at Norman High School. He spent all but the last 13 years at Norman as an assistant coach.
“I loved Norman. I loved my job,” he said recently.
He is Old School. Traditional. Tough. Caring.
His father was a coach. He has a daughter coaching.
At 60, Butch Peters decided it was time to leave education. To leave football. He leaves a lasting legacy. Yet not necessarily in terms of a record.
“It’s not about the wins and losses. It’s about the influence you have on your players’ lives. The ones who come back to see you after 20 years. The ones that email you. The ones that come by to say, ‘Hi.’
“That’s the gratifying part,” he said. ...
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