Class A notebook: Tonkawa’s defense vs. offense -- which is better?

By Justin Harper Comments 0
Published: November 9, 2009

Tonkawa’s defense vs. offense: Which is better?

It’s hard to say which side of the ball has been stronger this season for Tonkawa. The offense has piled up points at a record rate and the defense has held seven opponents to one touchdown or less and never given up more than two TDs in a game.

Coach Brad O’Steen’s Wynnewood Savages will face unbeaten Talihina in the first round of the playoffs Friday. Photo By John Clanton, The Oklahoman

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11/09/2009 Class A picks →Justin Harper: Tonkawa. Perennial state title contender is due. →Matt Patterson: Ringling. A dominant offense and defense...

The Bucs have scored 419 points, second in Class A only to Stroud. On the other side of the ball, only five teams in Class A have allowed less points than Tonkawa’s 69. That’s an average score of 42-7.

The team doubled up on record-setting performances on offense and defense in a rout of Yale. The Bucs posted a staggering 564 yards of total offense and 484 yards rushing. Individually, tailback Jake Love ran for 304 yards on just 17 carries. Not to be outdone, the defense set a record for tackles for loss (13) and also held Yale to zero or negative yards on 20 carries.

Scoring drought

Not only has no team beaten Talihina this season, foes have barely even sniffed the end zone.

Class A’s top defensive unit has posted eight shutouts and allowed a combined 27 points. Gore managed 19 against Talihina, which means nine opponents combined to score seven points.

James Briggance leads the suffocating defense with 110 tackles. Tanner Trowbridge is just behind at 97. Ball-hawking standout Jordan Eagleroad has three interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Austin Lawson has also logged three fumble recoveries.

Wayne hoping for streak

There’s not a better team in Class A than Wayne at bouncing back. Only twice all season did the Bulldogs follow a win with another victory. From Week 3 through Week 9, Wayne alternated wins and losses in every game. The up-and-down trend meant the Bulldogs never had a winning streak of more than two games. Of course, they also never lost two games in a row.

That was a drastic improvement from the previous season, when the Dogs had losing streaks of three and five games and never won two consecutive games.

Still, heading into the postseason, where it will meet Central Sallisaw in the first round, Wayne is in position to win three straight games for the first time in five years.

The would-be streak will likely hinge on seniors Josh Barrett, who has run for 1,521 yards and 21 touchdowns, and Ryan Worley, who has caught 44 passes for 560 yards and seven scores.

By Justin Harper