now Concentrate,
on
By Rick Lomenick
JOUrnal Sports Editor
Bruce Williams will
still be at McIlvain Field
during Friday night football
games, but his location
won’t be where it has been
for the past seven seasons.
Williams formally
resigned his head football
coaching position to con-
centrate on his administra—
tive duties at Perkins-Tryon
as athletic director and
assistant high school prin-
cipal. His resignation was
acknowledged at Monday
night’s board of education
meeting to pave the way for
the position to be posted
and applications received.
Sport-s
-ALENDAR
Thursday, Dec. 10
- P-THS basketball
. at Bethel tournament
through Saturday.
- P-T wrestling hosts
Chandler dual, 6 pm.
- P-TMS basketball with
Chandler, 5 p.m.: girls,
there; boys, here.
- Agra HS basketball
hosts Agra tournament
through Saturday.
' Carney HS basket-
ball at Agra tournament
through Saturday.
- Coyle HS basketball
at Cimarron tournament
through Saturday.
- Ripley HS basketball
at Garber tournament
through Saturday.
- Stillwater HS girls’
basketball at Cleveland
tournament through
Saturday.
- Stillwater HS boys’
basketball at Harrah tour-
nament through Saturday.
Friday, Dec. 11
- P-THS wrestling at
Newkirk Dual Tournament
through Saturday.
- Stillwater HS wrestling
at Perry tournament.
Monday, Dec. 14
P-TMS basketball
- hosts Mannford, 5 pm.
- Agra HS basketball
hosts Oilton, 6:30 pm.
- Carney 5‘“-8"‘ basket-
ball at Davenport, 4:30
pm.
' Coyle 5‘“-8"‘ basketball
hosts Ripley, 4:30 pm.
Tuesday, Dec. 15
P-THS basketball at
Mannford: JV, 4 pm;
varsity, 6:30 pm. Varsity
games broadcast on
KGFY 105.5 FM with pre-
game show at 6:15 pm.
- P-T wrestling at
Tecumseh dual, 6 pm.
- Agra 5"‘-8m basketball
hosts Carney, 4:30 pm.
- Coyle HS basketball
hosts Davenport, 6:30
pm.
- Ripley HS basketball
hosts Morrison, 6:30 pm.
Stillwater HS basket-
. ball at Edmond Santa Fe,
6 pm.
f Stillwater HS wrestling
hosts Deer Creek, 7 pm.
Thursday, Dec. 17
- P-TMS basketball at
Cleveland, 5 pm.
- Agra HS basketball at
Davenport, 6:30 pm. j
- Coyle HS basketball at
b BRIEFS, Page A2
Perkins
He spent seven seasons
as the team’s skipper and
compiled a 50-29 record
to make him the third win-
ningest coach in program
history. His seven seasons
also makes him the third
longest tenure head coach
behind Ditz McIlvain (24
years) and Lloyd’Wertman
,(9 years).
“It went by in a flash,
didn’t it,” he said from his
coaching office desk a few
days after the Demons’
season ended at Kingston
last month. “I’ve enjoyed
every minute of it, I really .
have.”
Williams said Devine
Intervention was what led
he and his family to trans-
plant deep family roots from
the southeastern Oklahoma
community of Broken Bow
to Perkins back in 2014.
At the time, Williams said
there were changes taking
place in Broken Bow. And
while they weren’t bad, he
added they were enough to
follow God’s will in their
lives.
“We really felt like the
Lord was telling us, ‘It’s
time to extend those» roots
and let me help you grow.
There’s more for you out
there than what you’re cur-
rently experiencing and I
want you guys to step out
on faith and let me guide
you,”’ he said.
Williams was one of
numerous applicants for
the position. He said when
he first interviewed with '
then athletic director Jerry
Burnett and high school
principal Jeff Colclasure, he
told his wife Mandi this was
where they were supposed
to be and he hadn’t been
offered a job yet.
Williams was one of
three finalists that met with
the board of education and
he was joined by his wife
Mandi as he referred to
themselves as “a pack-- 1
age deal.” He was later
offered the position and
he accepted. It was also
his first head coaching gig
after serving as an assistant
coach for several years.
The first of seven straight
winning seasons started in
the fall of 2014. Williams
debuted as head coach at
Sequoyah-Claremore and
’ the Demons gained a 31-28
win. P—T trailed much of the
game before a field goal was
the difference—maker. Wil-
liams also inherited plenty
of talent that enabled P-T
to average nearly 38 points
a game that season. ‘
Williams said he was
told by Wertman that the
talent pool was far from dry.
Williams added he was also
anxious to' see if the talent
*
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Bruce Williams acknowledges the play of his team during the Demons’ 56-7
win over Pauls
mer
Valley in the first round of the Class 3A football playoffs last month.
Williams is stepping downs
as head football coach after seven seasons. He will concentrate on his
administrative duties
of athletic director and assistant high school principal. The search is
currently underway for
his successor. Journal photo by Kyle Lomenick '
pool would support his
up-tempo offensive philos—
ophy. “It took one practice
to realize we had those
guys,” Williams added.
“It was a great first year
to allow me to learn as a
head coach but it allowed
me to learn with some suc-
cess even to the point where
we got beat by Douglass in
the first round that year and
after the game I felt like that
was a missed opportunity
where we should have won
that game,” he said.
If there was a blemish
on Williams’ stint here, it
would be the inability to
reach a goal he set of win-
ning a state championship.
He felt there were a couple
of different years there were
several pieces of the puzzle
to make a run but couldn’t
quite get things put together
on both sides of the ballat
the same time.
“I feel like our program
is a very well—respected
program across the state
not that it wasn’t before I
took over,” Williams said.
“We moved up a class and
this preseason we were in
the top 10 and we finished
in the top 10 at the end of
the year.
“But at the end of the day
there are more important
things than just wins and
losses and I feel we made
a lot of good relationships
along the way and helped
some kids out along the
way,” he said.
The transition to his new
duties started about two
seasons ago when Wil-
liams took over as assistant
athletic director. This was
also during the Demons’
best season in recent years
WILLIAMS, Page A2
Matmen roll past Cleveland, 52—27
CLEVELAND Perkins—Tryon
opened the high school wrestling
season with a solid 52-27 dual win at
Cleveland last Thursday.
The home dual season opens
tonight as the Demons will host the
Chandler Lions’at the P-T Gymna-
sium. Middle school wrestling action
will start at 6 pm. High school action
will start around 7 pm.
P—T won six of its nine matches by
falls. Devon Devers got the Demons’
first pin at 120 pounds. Kavan Meyers
at 132 pounds also won by a fall.
_In the middle weights, Josh McFee
at 152 and Noah Perkins at 170
pounds won by falls. Gage Allen at
195 pounds and Josh Hoover at 220
pounds also won by falls.
Rich Hart at 160 pounds gained a
9-1 major decision. Cadyn Burns at
106 pounds and Kolby Brasher at 1 13
pounds won their matches by forfeit.
Kyle Durnal at 126 pounds and
Blake Davis at 138 pounds lost by
falls as did Ethan Dawson at 285
pounds. Stephen ,Johnson lost his
match 145 pounds by a 3-2 decision.
Cleveland also won a match by a weekend’s First United
ifOrfeit at'1'82 pounds.
SHS winter sports open seasons
With Stillwater’s foot-
ball season ending in a
state semifinal loss to Choc-
taw, the Pioneer and Lady
Pioneer basketball teams,
swimming teams and wres-
tling squad are preparing to
open their seasons despite
the coronavirus uncertainty.
There will be a new face
guiding the Pioneer bas-
ketball team. Scott Morris,
who started and coached
V Northern Oklahoma-Enid
Junior College’s wom-
en’s basketball team for 19
years, will being his first
season at SHS. He-takes
over for Michael Davis,
a longtime contributor to
Pioneer hoops.
Morris built NOC-,
Enid’s women’s program to
successful heights, leaving
the program after 456 wins
and five appearances in the
National Junior College
(NJCAA) Tournament.
The Lady Pioneer bas—
r;
830 N. Main Street - Perkins
(405) 547-1 1 99
ketball team returns a famil-
iar face on the sidelines as
Kendra Kilpatrick begins
her llm season as SHS’s
girls’ head basketball
coach. Kilpatrick continues
coaching despite battling
breast cancer. ’
Stillwater’s basketball
teams face challenges in
the 2020—21 openers.’Both
teams visited Edmond
North on Tuesday. In the
first Class 6A rankings,
Edmond North’s boys are
ranked second While. the
Lady Huskies were ranked
sixth. ,
Both teams visit Edmond
Santa Fe — another Central
Oklahoma Athletic Con-
ference rival on Tuesday,
Dec. 15. Santa Fe’s boys are
rankedNo..173andtthe'Santa
Fe girls are ranked No. 16.
In between the two
games with Edmond teams,
the Lady Pioneers compete
in the Cleveland Basket-
ball Tournament, Thursday
through Saturday. Stillwa-
ter’s first home game will
be Friday, Dec. 18, when
Yukon’s boys and girls visit
Pioneer Field House for a
COAC doubleheader.
There’s also a leadership
change in Stillwater’s wres-
tling program as Ethan Kyle
is taking over for longtime
Pioneer mat coach Doug
Chesbro. Kyle wrestled
at Oklahoma State, grad—
uating in 2007. He comes
to SHS from the Univer-
sity of Wyoming where he
was associate head coach
and recruiting coordinator
under head coach Mark
Branch, a Newkirk native
and another former OSU
wrestler.
The No. 4 Pioneers, who
return two defending state
champions, visited No. 1
Broken Arrow last Tuesday
in a feature early-season
dual. Stillwater visits No.
, 12 Sand Springs tonight.
Stillwater was sched-
uled to compete this week-
end in the Tournament of
Champions in Perry High’s
John Divine Hall, but Perry
announced last weekend
that the tournament, which
annually attracts compet-
itive teams from several
states, is being cancelled
because of virus concerns.
This would have been
Perry’s 45‘h Tournament of
Champions.
Stillwater’s only home
P SHS, Page A2
Member
.FIJhC
P-T opens
up at Bethel
tournament
BETHEL — If all remains
scheduled, Perkins-Tryon
hoopsters will finally get
a chance to begin their
respective seasons at this
Bank Classic at Bethel
High School. The touma—
ment continues through
1 Saturday.
The top-seeded Lady
Demons will have to for—
feit their first round game
against Bethel today as the
team will been its final
day of quarantine. P—T will
begin action in the conso-
' lation bracket at 12: 15 pm.
Friday and play the loser of
the Prague vs. Tecumseh
game.
A win in Friday’s game
will put the Lady Demons
in the consolation champi-
onship game at 12:15 pm.
Saturday.
Other first round games
today began with McLoud
playing Byng at 9 am.
followed by Bridge Creek
taking on Chandler at 12: 15
pm. Tecumseh played
Prague at 3:30 pm.
The rest of Saturday’s
girls bracket schedule start
with the seventh place game ‘
at 9 am. The third place
game will be atx3:30 p.m.
BETHEL, Page A2
Lobby Hours: . ' '
Monday~Thursday 8 am. to 4 p. m”.
Friday 8 am. to 4:30 pm.
Saturday 8 am. to Neon
Drive-thru Hours:
Monday-Thursday 7:30 am. to 5 pm.
, Friday 7:30 am. to 6 pm. ‘
Saturday 7:30 am. toNoon
Q.
m“
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