Football Player of the Week: Chris Golden, Bridge Creek

In early June of last year, Golden was a passenger in a car accident, which left him with a pair of ruptured discs.

“I was really sad when it first happened and I knew my year was over,” Golden said. “I started my sophomore year and was really ready to come back and make a run.”

Last week, Golden scored three touchdowns as Bridge Creek, the No. 4 seed out of District 3A-1, stunned 3A-2 district champion Purcell 46-14.

His performance earned him The Oklahoman's Player of the Week honors.

“In the last three or four weeks, he's really come on strong,” Bridge Creek coach Jerry Wallis said. “It's been a gradual progression for him all season. He's become more vocal and more of a team leader for us. I know he's the smallest middle linebacker I've ever played, but he's got good instincts for the ball and he's relentless, so he makes up for it.”

This week, Golden and the Bobcats, despite losing all of their offensive and nine defensive starters from last season, have a chance to surpass last year's team with a second-round playoff win.

Bridge Creek (5-6) hosts Bethany on Friday.

“It's kind of amazing,” Wallis said. “Our kids are really playing hard right now.”

They're also playing with a bit of a chip on their shoulder after battling back from a tough start to the season.

Disrespect gets thrown out as a motivator by a lot of teams. But Golden said it went further than that with Purcell.

“I think they kind of embarrassed us by not taking us seriously,” Golden said. “They thought this team was 4-6 and they were going to have a cupcake. It really bothered a lot of the team. They were out there messing around before the game, and it really felt like they overlooked us. We wanted it more than they did.”