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Despite a shaky start, Prague’s Red Devils put up a valiant push through their baptism in the Class 3A ranks and are playoff bound with tonight’s road trip to Newcastle.
Kickoff is set for 7:30.
The Red Devils came away with a third-place standing in District 3A-4, and will tussle with 3A-3’s second-place Racers in an effort to move on to the second round of the postseason. Prague, 4-6 overall, topped Star Spencer by a score of 56-26 last week to conclude the regular run and notch a 4-2 finish in the district.
The Red Devils’ difficulties started early with a 14-7 season-opening loss to visiting Meeker. Head coach Chuck Atchison’s crew then lost three more contests to conclude the non-district portion of their schedule at 0-4, but they bounced back with a district-opening 41-24 romp of in-county rival Chandler.
The Devils then lost a Week 6 bout to Bristow, the district’s eventual second-place finisher, before upsetting soon-to-be district champion Perkins-Tryon, 32-27. Prague lost to district foe Bethel the following week and concluded the regular season with back-to-back 3A-4 wins over Little Axe and Star Spencer.
Bethel’s loss to Bristow in Week 10 bumped the Wildcats out of playoff contention.
On the flip side, Newcastle’s Racers went 7-3 overall and 5-1 in District 3A-3. The Racers were 2-2 opposite non-district competition, and their lone district loss was to unbeaten 3A-3 champ Heritage Hall.
“We’ve had a decent week of practice. We’re pretty excited, and the kids are ready to go,” said Atchison.
As a 2A representative last year, Prague’s Red Devils carried a 5-5 overall record into the postseason and were knocked off in the first round, 55-48, by Stigler. Prague went 7-5 in 2008, losing in the second round of the playoffs to Sequoyah.
This is Prague’s second stint in Class 3A over the years, and the Red Devils have reached the postseason in all five of Atchison’s years at the helm.
The Red Devils have been without standout quarterback Clint Simek, who was sidelined all season while recovering from an ACL injury that required surgery. Atchison opted to keep Simek, a junior, off the field in the hopes that he would be at 100 percent for his senior season.
As a sophomore, Simek led the Devils in rushing with 24 touchdowns and just over 1,000 yards on 164 carries. He threw for seven TDs and well over 1,200 yards.
In Simek’s place, the Devils have employed as many as four QBs in 2010, including Tyler Duncan and Blake Hill. Opposite Star Spencer, Duncan completed three of eight passes for 41 yards, but on the ground, he churned out 211 yards and three touchdowns on 19 rushes.
Running back Daelen McClendon, a sophomore, was the biggest producer in that contest with 240 rushing yards and four TDs on 23 carries. In total, the Red Devils garnered 465 rushing yards against the Bobcats.
Star Spencer managed 201 yards on 38 rushes.
Duncan served as Prague’s starting QB in eight match-ups this season, and he has thrown for close to 400 yards. He leads the Devils in rushing with 1,678 yards and 21 touchdowns.
McClendon, who missed the first two games with an ankle injury, has accumulated more than 1,000 yards and has scored nine rushing TDs.
Out of Newcastle’s backfield is Blake Riojas, a running threat that makes up about 85 percent of the Racers’ offense, Atchison said. Riojas has well over 1,700 rushing yards on the season.
“We’re going to have to stop him, or at least slow him down,” Atchison said. “We need to go play and see what happens.”
In other Class 3A playoff games tonight, Berryhill goes to Metro Christian, Bethany goes to Bristow, Blanchard goes to Plainview, Henryetta goes to Valliant, Inola goes to Cascia Hall, Kingfisher goes to Perkins-Tryon, Little Axe goes to Heritage Hall, Lone Grove goes to Anadarko, Nowata goes to Sequoyah-Tahlequah, Purcell goes to Bridge Creek, Seminole goes to Keys-Park Hill, Stigler goes to Beggs, Tuttle goes to Madill, Verdigris goes to Sperry and Victory Christian goes to Spiro.
Despite a shaky start, Prague’s Red Devils put up a valiant push through their baptism in the Class 3A ranks and are playoff bound with tonight’s road trip to Newcastle.
Kickoff is set for 7:30.
The Red Devils came away with a third-place standing in District 3A-4, and will tussle with 3A-3’s second-place Racers in an effort to move on to the second round of the postseason. Prague, 4-6 overall, topped Star Spencer by a score of 56-26 last week to conclude the regular run and notch a 4-2 finish in the district.
The Red Devils’ difficulties started early with a 14-7 season-opening loss to visiting Meeker. Head coach Chuck Atchison’s crew then lost three more contests to conclude the non-district portion of their schedule at 0-4, but they bounced back with a district-opening 41-24 romp of in-county rival Chandler.
The Devils then lost a Week 6 bout to Bristow, the district’s eventual second-place finisher, before upsetting soon-to-be district champion Perkins-Tryon, 32-27. Prague lost to district foe Bethel the following week and concluded the regular season with back-to-back 3A-4 wins over Little Axe and Star Spencer.
Bethel’s loss to Bristow in Week 10 bumped the Wildcats out of playoff contention.
On the flip side, Newcastle’s Racers went 7-3 overall and 5-1 in District 3A-3. The Racers were 2-2 opposite non-district competition, and their lone district loss was to unbeaten 3A-3 champ Heritage Hall.
“We’ve had a decent week of practice. We’re pretty excited, and the kids are ready to go,” said Atchison.
As a 2A representative last year, Prague’s Red Devils carried a 5-5 overall record into the postseason and were knocked off in the first round, 55-48, by Stigler. Prague went 7-5 in 2008, losing in the second round of the playoffs to Sequoyah.
This is Prague’s second stint in Class 3A over the years, and the Red Devils have reached the postseason in all five of Atchison’s years at the helm.
The Red Devils have been without standout quarterback Clint Simek, who was sidelined all season while recovering from an ACL injury that required surgery. Atchison opted to keep Simek, a junior, off the field in the hopes that he would be at 100 percent for his senior season.
As a sophomore, Simek led the Devils in rushing with 24 touchdowns and just over 1,000 yards on 164 carries. He threw for seven TDs and well over 1,200 yards.
In Simek’s place, the Devils have employed as many as four QBs in 2010, including Tyler Duncan and Blake Hill. Opposite Star Spencer, Duncan completed three of eight passes for 41 yards, but on the ground, he churned out 211 yards and three touchdowns on 19 rushes.
Running back Daelen McClendon, a sophomore, was the biggest producer in that contest with 240 rushing yards and four TDs on 23 carries. In total, the Red Devils garnered 465 rushing yards against the Bobcats.
Star Spencer managed 201 yards on 38 rushes.
Duncan served as Prague’s starting QB in eight match-ups this season, and he has thrown for close to 400 yards. He leads the Devils in rushing with 1,678 yards and 21 touchdowns.
McClendon, who missed the first two games with an ankle injury, has accumulated more than 1,000 yards and has scored nine rushing TDs.
Out of Newcastle’s backfield is Blake Riojas, a running threat that makes up about 85 percent of the Racers’ offense, Atchison said. Riojas has well over 1,700 rushing yards on the season.
“We’re going to have to stop him, or at least slow him down,” Atchison said. “We need to go play and see what happens.”
In other Class 3A playoff games tonight, Berryhill goes to Metro Christian, Bethany goes to Bristow, Blanchard goes to Plainview, Henryetta goes to Valliant, Inola goes to Cascia Hall, Kingfisher goes to Perkins-Tryon, Little Axe goes to Heritage Hall, Lone Grove goes to Anadarko, Nowata goes to Sequoyah-Tahlequah, Purcell goes to Bridge Creek, Seminole goes to Keys-Park Hill, Stigler goes to Beggs, Tuttle goes to Madill, Verdigris goes to Sperry and Victory Christian goes to Spiro.
