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Tonkawa Will Travel To Hennessey On Thursday
TONKAWA — The Tonkawa football team will have its hands full this week when they travel to Hennessey today to take on the defending Class 2A state champion Eagles. Hennessey is currently unbeatean in district play at 4-0 and sits at 5-2 overall on the year after non-district losses to Class 3A power Kingfisher and this year’s Class 2A No. 1 Jones. Hennessey’s 5-2 mark also has them sitting at No. 5 in Class 2A in the latest Associated Press poll.
For Tonkawa head coach Mike Kirtley the mindset going into this week’s game is fairly simple.
“Like anybody else we are just preaching to our kids to get better. We need to stop the run because they are really good running the football and they are a very good defensive team. We just need to hope for some breaks and maybe force a few turnovers,” Kirtley said.
Kirtley did add that being the underdog changes your attitude a little.
“I think we kind of need to have that underdog mentality, maybe do things a little more off the cuff than you normally would,” Kirtley said.
Defensively for the Bucs it all comes down to stopping a Hennessey rushing attack that will put three backs in the backfield but still line up with two tight ends.
“It’s a little bit of a wildcat look because it’s almost four backs when you include the quarterback,” Kirtley said.
Thursday’s game also begins a three-game stretch to end the season for the Bucs in which they will face Hennessey, Perry and Oklahoma Christian School (OCS). Going into this week’s games the three teams have a combined record of 15-6.
Kirtley said that his team will focus on Hennessey this week and not worry about what games are lurking down the road, although he did point out that he
and the other Tonkawa coaches are aware of the importance of the final three games of the year. “We want to just take it a game at a time but we pretty much know we need to win two out of three. Right now we are focusing on Hennessey but the coaches all know we probably need to win two out of three,” Kirtley said. “We would like to win all three of them but it will be tough to win just one so we will just have to focus on each week as it comes along.”
Tonight’s game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
Buccaneers Improve To 4-3 On The Season
TONKAWA — The Tonkawa Buccaneers improved their record to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in district play with a 41-6 win over the Chisholm Longhorns Friday.
The win also helped the Bucs to move into third place in the district since Alva lost to Watonga on Friday.
Tonkawa kicked off the scoring Friday when Gage Martin picked off a pass from Chisholm quarterback Dakota Theilen and returned it down to the Chisholm 16 yard line. From there the Bucs mounted a four-play 16-yard drive capped off by a five-yard touchdown run by quarterback Trent Ellis. The Bucs tried a trick play on the extra point attempt but Ellis’ knee was ruled down at the time of the handoff leaving the score at 6-0 with 9:23 left in the first quarter.
Tonkawa Wins Homecoming
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| KATIE HURST and Dakota Ailey were named Tonkawa Homecoming Queen and King, respectively, at halftime ceremonies Friday at Buccaneer Field. Katie has participated in track, cheerleading and cross country for four years, is on the Superintendant's Honor Roll and has received academic, vocal and sports honors. She is the daughter of Drew and Robin Hurst. Dakota has participated in football, baseball, basketball and wrestling, been in FCA and vocal music, and has been a member of the student council and on the Principal's Honor Roll. He is the son of Danny and Paula Ailey. (News Photo by Kyle Kendrick) |
TONKAWA — The Tonkawa Buccaneers improved their record to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in district play with a 41-6 win over the Chisholm Longhorns Friday.
The win also helped the Bucs to move into third place in the district since Alva lost to Watonga on Friday.
Tonkawa kicked off the scoring Friday when Gage Martin picked off a pass from Chisholm quarterback Dakota Theilen and returned it down to the Chisholm 16 yard line. From there the Bucs mounted a four-play 16-yard drive capped off by a five-yard touchdown run by quarterback Trent Ellis. The Bucs tried a trick play on the extra point attempt but Ellis’ knee was ruled down at the time of the handoff leaving the score at 6-0 with 9:23 left in the first quarter.
On the ensuing possession the Longhorns answered the Tonkawa touchdown in a big way. On a third-and-six play from the 50 yard line Chisholm running back Bryce Stewart took a handoff and broke a 50-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 6-6. The Longhorns were unable to take the lead when Ellis broke through the line and blocked the extra point attempt.
THS Cross Country Teams Qualify For State
COWETA — The Tonkawa boys and girls cross country teams both qualified for the Class 2A state meet in Shawnee by taking second at the regional meet Saturday. The boys finished with 53 team points just two behind Haworth who won the meet. On the girls side of things the Tonkawa girls earned second with 47 points which was five behind Deer Creek-Lamont.
Manny Reyes led the boys team placing third overall with a time of 17:51.25. Brandon Hurst was next for the Bucs, just 29 seconds behind Reyes with a time of 18:20.15 good enough for seventh place overall. Next across the line for the Bucs was Anthony Jauregui. Jauregui finished in 20th place overall with a time of 19:09.11. Michael Caughlin and Caleb Reese rounded out the Tonkawa boys runners that were counted toward the overall team score. Caughlin finished in 22nd place with a time of 19:26.18 while Reese finished in 23rd with a time of 19:27.96.
Homecoming King, Queen For THS To Be Named Friday
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The 2011 Tonkawa High School Homecoming King and Queen will be named Friday night during the home football game. Pictured, front row from left, are Clint Ross, Dakota Ailey and Zac Pfluger, and back row, Haylee Wittmer, Katie Hurst, Megan Backward and Kenzie Cranford. Not pictured is Nate Franklin. |
The 2011 Tonkawa High School Homecoming Queen and King will be crowned Friday night during halftime of the THS football game.
Queen candidates are Megan Backward, McKenzie Cranford, Katie Hurst and Haylee Wittmer.
King candidates are Clint Ross, Dakota Ailey, Zac Pfluger and Nate Franklin.
This year’s crown bearer will be Nyle Franklin. Gracie Fiscus will be the flower girl.