Bishop McGuinness ready for archrival Tulsa Bishop Kelley

Bishop McGuinness will travel to face its rival, Tulsa Bishop Kelley, on Friday. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN

Bishop McGuinness, No. 5 in Class 4A, opened the season against Shawnee’s junior varsity squad after Douglass backed out of their scheduled Week 1 game to play DeSoto (Texas) at Cowboys Stadium.

The Irish beat Shawnee’s JV team 42-0, and the McGuinness players said it was a great way to start the season.

“It was a great morale booster for the beginning of the season,” senior lineman Charlie Evenson said. “Going out and shutting out a team is great, regardless of who they are.”

Senior linebacker Brandon Nguyen agreed, adding that it was good to have a season opener to get ready for this week’s game at Class 5A No. 10 Tulsa Bishop Kelley.

“We really just needed to figure out who we are, with a new coach (Justin Jones) and a new team,” Nguyen said. “We don’t have a ton of returning starters. We needed to show everyone in the state what kind of team we are.