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Toss out the records and roll up the sleeves.
It’s Tecumseh-McLoud game time.
The annual rivalry between the Pottawatomie County neighbors kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Friday at McLoud.
From their little league days through their middle school days — and now their high school athletic experiences — players from the two squads are very familiar with each other.
“It has been a special football game,” said McLoud head coach Eric Cardin. “I am proud of both of the staffs because I think both teams respect each other.
“And Tecumseh coach (Greg) George is a good friend of mine. If you have to lose to someone, you would rather lose to a friend.”
McLoud, after dropping its first seven games, broke into the win column last Thursday night with a 42-26 decision over Santa Fe South. The Redskins, 1-4 in District 4A-2, torched Santa Fe South for 315 rushing yards as quarterback Corey Wiley led the assault with 95 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries.
Wiley has missed six games this season because of a knee sprain.
Wide receiver Travis Carroll caught eight passes against South, including two touchdowns. Carroll, a 6-foot, 3-inch target, missed seven games last season with a dislocated kneecap but has rebounded to claim 60 receptions for 578 yards and nine touchdowns in 2010.
“He’s been as good a receiver as anyone in Class 4A and as good as any receiver we’ve played against,” Cardin said.
“Wiley and Carroll are good athletes,” George said. “They will run Carroll short, deep or over the middle of the field. They just try to get him one-on-one on defenders. He does a good job of going up and getting the ball. He is a talent who is as good as anyone we’ve played.”
Tecumseh, 3-5 overall, is coming off a lackluster 21-19 triumph over Cushing that kept the Savages’ playoff hopes pumping.
Tecumseh is in sole possession of fifth place in District 4A-2 at 2-3, one game behind fourth-place Cleveland at 3-2. Glenpool and Douglass are atop the district at 5-0 with Harrah in third place at 4-1.
Tecumseh, with a win over McLoud and a victory over Santa Fe South on Nov. 5, would finish at 4-3 and likely earn one of the four 4A-2 playoff slots because of a victory over Cleveland.
“We didn’t play very well against Cushing. It was ugly but it was a win,” George said.
Although Tecumseh quarterback Kyle Fowler went just 10-of-32 through the air against Cushing, he tossed a 70-yard scoring pass to Ryan Craighead and a 22-yard TD pass to Francisco Hukill.
“We weren’t nearly as crisp passing as we needed to be but the ones we completed were big plays,” George said.
Craighead, who had two catches against Cushing for 127 yards, has topped the 100-yard receiving mark three straight games. Hukill added four catches for 66 yards.
On the season, Fowler has connected on 99 of 142 passes for 1,560 yards and 14 touchdowns. He has been intercepted 11 times.
Hukill has caught 25 passes for 322 yards and eight touchdowns.
“Tecumseh is a big, strong team and their quarterback is their main weapon. He has really improved both running and passing,” Cardin said. “We’re just so small that we don’t match up with a lot of people up front.
“Offensively, Tecumseh is pretty balanced. Defensively, they really swarm to the ball. Coach George and his staff do a good job. We’ve got to keep the ball away from their offense and hopefully shorten the game. We just haven’t done a very good job this season of stopping the run.”
Cardin and George pronounced their squads as healthy as they have been the entire season.
Both squads are still alive for playoff berths.
“Our district always comes down to the last weekend as far as who gets in the playoffs,” George said.
Cushing and Santa Fe South are the only 4A-2 squads mathematically eliminated from the postseason.
In his eighth year at the Redskins’ helm, Cardin is 5-2 against Tecumseh but the Savages registered a 36-33 victory last season.
In other 4A-2 action scheduled Friday night, Glenpool (7-1, 5-0) is at Douglass (6-2, 5-0), Harrah (7-1, 4-1) is at Cleveland (6-2, 3-2) and Santa Fe South (2-6, 0-5) is at Cushing (1-7, 0-5).
In two other 4A-2 games from last Thursday, Douglass blanked Harrah (47-0) and Glenpool upended Cleveland (54-27).
Toss out the records and roll up the sleeves.
It’s Tecumseh-McLoud game time.
The annual rivalry between the Pottawatomie County neighbors kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Friday at McLoud.
From their little league days through their middle school days — and now their high school athletic experiences — players from the two squads are very familiar with each other.
“It has been a special football game,” said McLoud head coach Eric Cardin. “I am proud of both of the staffs because I think both teams respect each other.
“And Tecumseh coach (Greg) George is a good friend of mine. If you have to lose to someone, you would rather lose to a friend.”
McLoud, after dropping its first seven games, broke into the win column last Thursday night with a 42-26 decision over Santa Fe South. The Redskins, 1-4 in District 4A-2, torched Santa Fe South for 315 rushing yards as quarterback Corey Wiley led the assault with 95 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries.
Wiley has missed six games this season because of a knee sprain.
Wide receiver Travis Carroll caught eight passes against South, including two touchdowns. Carroll, a 6-foot, 3-inch target, missed seven games last season with a dislocated kneecap but has rebounded to claim 60 receptions for 578 yards and nine touchdowns in 2010.
“He’s been as good a receiver as anyone in Class 4A and as good as any receiver we’ve played against,” Cardin said.
“Wiley and Carroll are good athletes,” George said. “They will run Carroll short, deep or over the middle of the field. They just try to get him one-on-one on defenders. He does a good job of going up and getting the ball. He is a talent who is as good as anyone we’ve played.”
Tecumseh, 3-5 overall, is coming off a lackluster 21-19 triumph over Cushing that kept the Savages’ playoff hopes pumping.
Tecumseh is in sole possession of fifth place in District 4A-2 at 2-3, one game behind fourth-place Cleveland at 3-2. Glenpool and Douglass are atop the district at 5-0 with Harrah in third place at 4-1.
Tecumseh, with a win over McLoud and a victory over Santa Fe South on Nov. 5, would finish at 4-3 and likely earn one of the four 4A-2 playoff slots because of a victory over Cleveland.
“We didn’t play very well against Cushing. It was ugly but it was a win,” George said.
Although Tecumseh quarterback Kyle Fowler went just 10-of-32 through the air against Cushing, he tossed a 70-yard scoring pass to Ryan Craighead and a 22-yard TD pass to Francisco Hukill.
“We weren’t nearly as crisp passing as we needed to be but the ones we completed were big plays,” George said.
Craighead, who had two catches against Cushing for 127 yards, has topped the 100-yard receiving mark three straight games. Hukill added four catches for 66 yards.
On the season, Fowler has connected on 99 of 142 passes for 1,560 yards and 14 touchdowns. He has been intercepted 11 times.
Hukill has caught 25 passes for 322 yards and eight touchdowns.
“Tecumseh is a big, strong team and their quarterback is their main weapon. He has really improved both running and passing,” Cardin said. “We’re just so small that we don’t match up with a lot of people up front.
“Offensively, Tecumseh is pretty balanced. Defensively, they really swarm to the ball. Coach George and his staff do a good job. We’ve got to keep the ball away from their offense and hopefully shorten the game. We just haven’t done a very good job this season of stopping the run.”
Cardin and George pronounced their squads as healthy as they have been the entire season.
Both squads are still alive for playoff berths.
“Our district always comes down to the last weekend as far as who gets in the playoffs,” George said.
Cushing and Santa Fe South are the only 4A-2 squads mathematically eliminated from the postseason.
In his eighth year at the Redskins’ helm, Cardin is 5-2 against Tecumseh but the Savages registered a 36-33 victory last season.
In other 4A-2 action scheduled Friday night, Glenpool (7-1, 5-0) is at Douglass (6-2, 5-0), Harrah (7-1, 4-1) is at Cleveland (6-2, 3-2) and Santa Fe South (2-6, 0-5) is at Cushing (1-7, 0-5).
In two other 4A-2 games from last Thursday, Douglass blanked Harrah (47-0) and Glenpool upended Cleveland (54-27).
