Thursday night scrimmage notebook

Published: August 17, 2007

In Edmond Santa Fe's quadrangular with Westmoore, Lawton Eisenhower and Tulsa Union, the host Wolves stepped up and competed.

And that's exactly what head coach Dan Cocannouer was looking for on Thursday night.

"We wanted to compete, and that's what we did,” Cocannouer said. "Last year, Union got off the bus and it was like... ‘There's Union.' Today, we competed, and I was pleased with that.”

Santa Fe played well at times and struggled at other times but consistently showed flashes of the type of team it could be. The Wolves have good speed on defense and a strong core of running backs led by Randy Ponder and Steve Sumpter.

•Ike passing game looks good: Lawton Eisenhower quarterback Brayden Stringer looked good in Thursday night's scrimmage with Edmond Santa Fe. A 6-foot-5, 190-pound senior, Stringer threw several touchdown passes, hooking up with Jared Wyatt twice and Jonathan Copeland once.

"I was proud of Brayden,” Lawton Ike coach Bill Whiteley said. "He settled down, got more comfortable and made some plays.”

Stringer is looking to replace Chris Stutzriem, who passed for nearly 2,300 yards last year. He'll be counted on to help lessen the load on standout running back Harrison Jeffers, who has committed to Texas Tech.

•Hook up: Edmond Memorial receiver Kendric Green caught two touchdown passes from quarterback Pete Towne during the Bulldogs' scrimmage with Putnam City North. The first went for about 70 yards while the second came on a laser over the middle from Towne during a red-zone drill. Green caught just seven passes last season, starting Memorial's final three games, but the senior could be poised for more.

"Pete and I have developed some pretty good chemistry in practice, and when we're not practicing, we go and play catch to get that down, so we're looking forward to seeing if it pays off,” Green said.

•McGuinness "average”: Bishop McGuinness coach Kenny Young described his team's performance Thursday night as "average.”

The defending Class 4A state champion managed just one touchdown against Guthrie and Jones combined. The score came when fullback Joey DeGuisti broke free against Jones for 35 yards.

"I think other teams get more fired up than we do for scrimmages,” Young said. "We don't do a lot of rah-rahing for scrimmages. But I think we looked about like this at this time last year, so that's a good sign.”

Young described his entirely new offensive line as average.

"We had some nice plays,” Young said. "But we also had some that weren't. But that's the product of an inexperienced group.”

Young said he thought his defense played well. It allowed two touchdowns to Guthrie and one to Jones.

•Washington, Purcell in similar boat: Washington and Purcell have a lot more in common than locale and uniforms this year. The Warriors and Dragons are both coming off one-loss seasons where the lone defeat came in the playoffs, ending realistic state championship hopes for both teams.

Thursday, Purcell made the five-minute trip over to Washington where both teams looked to answer how much, if any, drop off from 2006 could be expected. Both have plenty of returning starters — Purcell has 12, Washington 16 — but each lost major weapons in quarterback Chase Page (Purcell) and running back Tyler Simmons (Washington).

At the end of the night, both teams knew answers would have to come further into preseason practice as neither first-team offense scored.

"It was a typical first scrimmage,” Washington coach Dennis McCray said. "There were some good things, but there were a lot of things that need to be worked on.”

Purcell running back Stanley Brown had a few nice runs, and Washington receiver James Winchester was impressive.

Washington's Zimmer feels no pressure, no shadow: Replacing someone who ran for more than 2,583 yards can be daunting. So how is it that Josh Zimmer is so laid back about the prospect of taking Tyler Simmons' spot in the backfield?

"I just do my thing,” the junior said Thursday after a scrimmage with Purcell. "I don't really think about replacing anyone. Tyler was Tyler. I'm a different guy.”

And a different type of runner. The 6-0, 205-pound Zimmer has some moves but rarely relies on them.

"I run and hit,” he said. "One juke maybe, that's about it.”

Coach McCray said there's no mystery to how Zimmer will perform.

"We're really pleased with Josh, but that wasn't unexpected,” McCray said. "He's been a running back his whole life. He started at tight end for us last year because we thought he was too good to not be on the field. And tonight, he ran tough up inside.”

•Hancock even more comfortable: Washington quarterback Tyler Hancock, one of the top athletes in Class A, is coming off a season in which he threw for 1,923 yards and 19 TDs, ran for 678 yards and 13 scores and intercepted nine passes on defense.

Nonetheless, the senior said he feels more in charge and relaxed than he did during last year's one-loss season.

"Personally, I feel a lot more prepared,” Hancock said Thursday. "The game has kind of slowed down for me.”

That could be bad news for defenses. However, aside from a few hook-ups with wideout James Winchester, the Warriors' offense wasn't running real smooth. Of course, Hancock was working with two new offensive linemen, a new receiver and a new running back.

"They're all very capable,” Hancock said. "We just have to keep working.”

Washington coach Dennis McCray agreed.

"We all know what Tyler can do,” McCray said. "And the new guys have all been in the system. It's just getting used to the speed of the game again.”

•Guthrie has depth: Guthrie coach Rafe Watkins enjoys good depth at a couple key positions, and it showed at Thursday night's scrimmage against McGuinness and Cushing. At quarterback, Guthrie has blue-chip recruit Kye Staley, who scored touchdowns passing, rushing and receiving. But when Staley is playing in other positions, the Blue Jays feel good about Keaton Collins. He threw for a touchdown and had another dropped.

"Keaton Collins would be the starter for most teams,” Watkins said. "He gives us the ability to use Kye in other places, and that makes it tough on other defenses.”

At running back, Guthrie can use Staley, Clayton Smith or Josh King.

Smith had 39 yards and a score on Thursday, and King had 50 yards.

•Balancing act: Putnam City North running back Josh Booker scored the Panthers' only offensive touchdown on a short run, and that came during a red-zone drill late in the scrimmage. While Booker wasn't as effective as he would have liked, he's worked hard in the offseason to improve his strength, speed and balance.

"I was reading Eastbay magazine, and they had this thing LaDainian Tomlinson does to work on his balance, so I started doing it too,” Booker said. "You stand on one leg, and you hold the ball in front of you for three minutes. It makes my legs tired, but it's helped. I've been doing it for two or three months, and my balance has gotten a whole lot better.”

Booker, who rushed for 576 yards last season, has set some big goals for himself.

"I expect 2,000 rushing yards and 3,000 all-purpose yards,” Booker said. "I think we have that ability.”

•Panther moving vans: Booker and quarterback Matt Veazey should have plenty of blocking this season. Putnam City North is huge up front. Thursday, the Panthers had Brett Coppenbager (6-foot-2, 276 pounds); Joe King (6-7, 290); Ryan Savage (6-6, 280); David Lamb (6-5, 295); Alex Mueller (6-5, 275) and Josh Cotter (6-3, 270) rotating on the offensive line. Some of the mammoths played defensive, too.

•Play of the night: Edmond Memorial wide receiver Matt Greenwood caught a deep touchdown pass — not from his quarterback — but off a deflection. The catch came when a ball bounced off a teammate's back and right into Greenwood's hands as he was trailing behind in the Bulldogs' scrimmage against Putnam City North.

•Sumpter impresses: Edmond Santa Fe running back Steve Sumpter was outstanding in the Wolves' scrimmage with Lawton Eisenhower. The 6-0, 185-pound running back showed good quickness and excellent balance during several nice runs. Sumpter even took a couple of snaps from the quarterback position, allowing Santa Fe to utilize its deep running back core.

"Stevie can run as well as anyone,” Santa Fe coach Dan Cocannouer said. "He's been one of our most improved players. He's really come on.”

•Jeffers prepared to have target on his back: Lawton Eisenhower lost two of its top three playmakers to graduation.

Former Ike receiver De'Von Bailey is at SMU, and quarterback Chris Stutzreim is at Wyoming, but standout tailback Harrison Jeffers is back.

Jeffers, who rushed for 1,812 yards and 16 touchdowns last year, faces the prospect of being the focus of every opposing defense.

"I feel a lot of pressure,” said Jeffers, a Texas Tech commitment. "I'm just going to work hard and do the best to help the team.”

With his production last season, Jeffers knows he'll be able to play decoy at times and open up the field.

"It makes the team better,” Jeffers said. "I'll be able to open things up for my teammates.”

By Brandon Chatmon, Justin Harper, Jason Kersey, Matt Patterson and Scott Munn

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