B2 - THE JOURNAL, Thursday, September 8, 2011
Sports
Oklahoma State tailback Joseph Randle scores the first of two touchdowns during first
quarter action of the Cowboys' 62-34 romp over the Louisiana-Lafayette Rajun' Cajuns
Saturday night at Boone Pickens Stadium. Randle topped the century mark for the first time
as a Cowboy with 129 yards on 22 carries.
Journal photo by Kyle Lomenick
Despite loss, Pioneer
outlook shows promise
The losing streak grew
to seven straight games,
but Stillwater High's 2011
Pioneer football team did
show some signs of life in
last week's 27-21 loss at
Tulsa East Central.
East Central, the top
ranked team in Class 5A,
capitalized on a barrage
of turnovers by SHS to
enjoy a 27-0 advantage at
half time.
The Cardinals picked off
three Pioneer passes and
recovered a fumble in the
first two quarters, return-
mg one of the pass thefts
for a touchdown. The other
turnovers gave East Central
excellent field position.
But, the second half
belonged to the Pioneers
with the SHS defense taking
the spotlight.
SHS limited the Cardi-
nal offense to less than 100
yards in the second half
while the offense began t.o
OSU gra(y)teful of 61-34 win
+ j
STILLWATER - One
of the biggest mysteries
headingstate,s season-openerint° Oklahomasat_ il
urday against Louisiana i.d
was answered well before ............................... , .................................. ...........................
the fifth best in program ing all the kicking chores.
history too. Sharp, who was one o the
It was also a game where top punters in the nation last
several familiar players year, punted only twice for
an average of 50 yards. His
longest was 52 yards. His
placekicking could cause
the OSU faithful to start for-
getting about orange shoes
who had provided support-
ing roles last season, had
breakout games. Tailback
Joseph Randle notched
his first 100-yard rushing
game. He finished with of Dan Bailey. Sharp split
the uprights every time he
was called upon with four
field goals and seven extra
points for 19 points.
The Cowboys were
clicking on all cylinders
in the second quarter as the
defense got the stops and
the offense turned them
into points. Quarterback
Brandon Weeden threw
two touchdown passes
while Randle notched his
second rushing TD. Sharp
capped the quarter with a
22-yard field goal as time
expired in addition to three
PATs that lifted OSU to a
34-10 lead.
Louisiana's lone TD
was a cheap one as a pass
intended for receiver Josh
Cooper slipped out of
his hands and rolled over
the back of his head into
the hands of a Louisiana
defender and returned 38
yards for a score.
A total of 51 points were
scored in the second half
with Sharp's 23-yard field
goal with 5:36 remaining
giving the Cowboys a 27-
24 advantage. And combine
all the scoring with the
numerous timeouts - both
team and media - extended
the game to just shy of four
hours.
Weeden finished the
game hitting 24-of-39
passes for 388 yards and
three touchdowns. He did
have three interceptions
two of which were returned
for Louisiana scores. But
Weeden's efforts enabled
him to move into fourth
See COWBOYS Page BX
the opening kickoff; what
uniform combination the
Cowboys would wear.
In the event you didn't
know, the team wore the
new gray jerseys with
orange numbers with their
names in black. The pants
were white with orange and
black stripes down the side
with the one-eyed Pete. The
helmets were the familiar
white with accompanying
logo.
Oh yeah, the Pokes
finished with a 61-34 win
tOO.
A record season-open-
ing game crowd of 55,382
saw the Pokes hold a 10-3
lead after the end of the first
quarter. But it was a 24-7
second quarter blitz that
allowed the Cowboys to
keep the Ragin' Cajuns a
comfortable distance away.
That crowd total was also
129 yards on 22 carries
and scored two first half
touchdowns.
Wide receiver Tracy
Moore wasn't the leading
receiver for the Cowboys,
but he still had a career
night catching 7 passes for
112 yards and one touch-
down. His performance
showed how much oppo-
nents will most likely be
keying on standout receiver
Justin Blackmon.
And finally, kicker
Quinn Sharp didn't appear
to have any troubles assum-
Trey, Luke, and Jace Myem;i;v
Monda
8:3ffa,m.-1
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I !:!By Ron noR:
click and made things inter-
esting down the end.
The inspired play of the
defense has to be encour-
aging for the coaches and
players. And, the offense
out-gained East Central
despite the miscues. No
doubt, SHS will work hard
this week to diminish the
mistakes.
The Pioneers will make
their first home appear-
ance Friday when Edmond
Memorial's Bulldogs visit
Pioneer Stadium. Kickoff is
set for 7:30 p.m. The game
will be aired over Stillwater
Radio, FM-101.1.
Edmond Memorial,
which beat SHS 38-15 a
year ago, also will be look-
ing for its first win. The
Bulldogs fell to Edmond
Santa Fe, 31-6, last week.
XXX
It was a successful
debut for the University of
Texas-San Antonio as the
Roadrunners played their
first-ever football game
last Saturday afternoon in
the Alamodome.
UTSA defeated North-
eastern State of Tahlequah,
31-3, in the program's first
game. Even though the
win was over a Division
II school, the excitement
for the game couldn't have
been greater.
Two years ago, Texas-
San Antonio hired Larry
Coker as the head coach.
He had the responsibil-
ity of building a Division
I football program from
nothing. Coker was a
former assistant coach at
Oklahoma State. He won
a national championship as
the head coach of the Miami
Hurricanes.
One of Coker's first
hires was the naming of
Neal Neathery as defensive
coordinator. Neathery was a
standout football player at
Stillwater High, graduating
in 1989.
The program spent last
year finding and recruit-
ing players and putting the
program together. That hard
work culminated with the
first game Saturday.
A recent television pro-
gram on Fox Sports noted
the enthusiasm created by
the program within the uni-
versity and the city of San
Antonio. It was evident Sat-
urday as a crowd of 56,743
attended the game, the larg-
est crowd to ever watch an
inaugural college game.
That had to be a thrill
of an athletic lifetime for
Northeastern' s team, which
normally plays in front of
3,000 to 6,000 fans. It also
left the UTSA players and
coaches in awe.
After this season, UTSA
will join the Western Ath-
letic Conference.
JH Demons split
games at Bethel
ran for another to complete
the tally.
Bledsoe first hit Thunder
Sharp on a 12-yard scoring
pass. Later, he hit Jacob
Peyton on a 32-yard strike.
Peyton would complete the
task with the two-point con-
version. Bledsoe plunged in
from three yards out with
Peyton adding his second
two-point conversion to
complete the scoring.
In the seventh grade
game, the contest was
scoreless until the host
Wildcats scored twice in
the second quarter for a
14-0 halftime lead. Bethel
added another score in the
fourth quarter.
BETHEL - Perkins-
Tryon's junior high
Demons split their games
with Bethel last Thursday
night on the road.
The eighth and ninth
graders combined for a
28-6 win while the seventh
graders dropped a 22-0
verdict.
The eighth and ninth
grade offenses both notched
points euroute to the win.
Eighth grader Brady Davis
scored on a three-yard run.
The score was set up by
a pass completion from
Dillon Longbrake to Cade
Richards. The two-point
conversion failed.
Freshman Zac Bledsoe
threw for two scores and
Harris 66
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