Wolves to launch season

Shawnee’s Wolves and seven other Tri-County football squads will launch their 2008 seasons tonight.
Six of those squads, including Shawnee, will be on the road.
Two Tri-County squads, Tecumseh and Seminole, will open the season at home.
Shawnee, 8-4 last season, will open up play tonight (7:30) at Chickasha in a non-district encounter. Chickasha was 6-4 last season, including a 3-4 district record.
Shawnee was very impressive in its preseason scrimmages, shutting out Tecumseh and McAlester while posting seven touchdowns.
The Wolves also boast one of the state’s top players in Brett Davis, a multi-talented performer who will start at wide receiver and free safety. Davis has committed collegiately to Tulsa.
Tecumseh will not only open the season but will inaugurate its new stadium against Noble. Tecumseh is a Class 4A entrant while Noble is a 5A representative.
Seminole, which has moved from Class 3A to 4A, will also have a rugged opening-day opponent when it entertains 5A Duncan. The Chieftains of head coach Mike Snyder will be without one of its expected standouts in Levi Davis. The sophomore tailback tore his ACL in preseason workouts.
Other games slated for tonight involving Tri-County teams are Bethel at Lone Grove, Macomb at Sasakwa, Maud at Bowlegs, McLoud at Harrah, Meeker at Maysville and Prague at Jones.
Macomb will be playing its first-ever high school varsity contest when it treks to Sasakwa. First-year head coach Justin Ellis has 22 players — seven seniors, three juniors, five sophomores and seven freshmen. The Hornets are without a home stadium and will utilize Farris Willingham Field — located at Tecumseh — for their slated home games.
One of the better opening-season games will involve Prague and Jones in a non-district battle. Prague, with highly-touted senior quarterback Dakota Harris, is coming off a 10-4 season that included three playoff victories.
Jones was also a state playoff qualifier last season, losing to Perkins in the first round. The Longhorns posted a 6-5 mark in 2007.
McLoud, coming off a 7-4 mark in 2007, is expected to make another Class 4A playoff run this season. The Redskins of Eric Cardin will be battling a 5A Harrah team that was 3-7 overall, including a 2-5 district mark, in 2007. Harrah will face a tough road — in terms of advancing to the playoffs — because it is in a very competitive District 5A-2 that includes top 10 selections Carl Albert, Shawnee and Guthrie.
Bethel’s Wildcats will be breaking in a new coach in Heath Claborn. Claborn, who served as an assistant coach at Ardmore for the past four years, also served a five-year assistant stint at El Reno.
Back at Meeker is head coach Mike Hedge. Hedge was the main man in 2005 and 2006, then took a one-year football leave to serve as the Meeker High School Principal. In his absence, Meeker recorded a 1-9 record after going a combined 8-12 in the previous two seasons.
Note: All of tonight’s games involving Tri-County squads have a 7:30 kickoff.