THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Van Buren High School Athletics

With a commanding performance on both sides of the ball, the Coweta Tigers celebrated homecoming with a thundering 48-19 District 5A-3 win over the Noble Bears at Tiger Field. Making a complete reversal the past two weeks, the Tigers dominated. On the opening play of the game, the Tigers pulled off an exciting triple reverse pass from quarterback J.D. Geneva to Thomas Ivy for 66 yards and a score. Gabe Reed nailed the extra point and the rout was on for the Tigers. Coweta’s second possession was set up by the first of two Thomas Ivy interceptions. Spencer Harrington scored from 17 yards out for a 13-0 lead after the extra point kick was blocked. Ivy scored from 56 yards out for a 20-0 lead before Noble scored on a 12-yard run to trail 20-6 at halftime. Returning to the field, Noble received and mimicked the Tigers’ opener with a 54-yard touchdown pass on the Bears’ first play from scrimmage to narrow the deficit to 20-13. The rest of the second half belonged to the Tigers. Blake Lair scored on a 20-yard pass from Geneva, Logan Haught scored from the one and the five before Noble got one final ding on the scoreboard with a 6-yard pass. Killing the clock, Harrington found another opening up the middle of the field and raced 62 yards for the touchdown, with Reed adding his fifth extra point kick. Harrington dominated the Bears defense with 21 carries for 190 yards and two touchdowns. Ivy added 80 yards on seven carries and a touchdown and Haught had three carries for 10 yards and two touchdowns. Geneva completed 12 of 20 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns with Ivy catching five for 128 yards and a touchdown. Harrington caught three for 27 yards, Ty Decker recorded two for 31 yards and Lair had one for his 20-yard touchdown. Coweta may have lost two-way, hardworking starter Corbyn Edwards after he suffered a left knee injury and was attended to by the medical staff. Following the big win, Head Coach Tim Holt Jr. had high praise for his team. “Wow, see what can happen when you play four full quarters?” Holt asked. “We did a great job executing and we overcame penalties, turnovers and mental mistakes. That is the difference tonight.” “If you want a district title, got to do the same thing next week at Shawnee. There is no next week, every week we are 1-0 with something to prove. You are a scary football team to prepare for by an opponent,” he added. When asked what made the difference the past two weeks, Holt replied, “We are young and we had to get their attention. We have had hard practices with lots of reps so we could close the gap and eliminate the things that were destroying our chances.” Sideline action was special for Tiger statistician Roy Bradshaw as his class (1977) was celebrating its 40-year reunion and Bradshaw is still on the sideline. In other district play on Friday, Shawnee defeat McAlester 31-0, Tulsa Edison defeated Tulsa East Central 16-7 and Glenpool defeated Durant 37-16. The Tigers will travel to face the Shawnee Wolves on Friday, Oct. 6. The Wolves are 3-1 with non-district wins over Guthrie (27-13) and Duncan (7-6) before running into 6A powerhouse Tulsa’s Booker T. Washington, where they were defeated 63-0. In district action the Wolves defeated Tulsa East Central, 35-10. The Wolves were pre-season third place finishers in voting by district coaches after finishing a 6-5 season in 2016. Top returning performer is junior running back Tre Shaw (5-10, 162) who rushed for 795 yards as a sophomore. Other returning top players include Scout Cawvey (5-9, 165 so.) wide receiver; Parker Greenwood (6-4, 285 sr.) tackle; Heath Hunter (6-2, 175 jr.) quarterback; Kaidem Johnson (5-9, 165 jr.) defensive back; Brayden McGinnis (6-2, 235 jr.) linebacker; Trenton Skinner (6-0, 175 jr.) wide receiver and D.J. Storie (6-2, 265 sr.) center. After a solid performance on the road in Durant, the Tigers seem to be correcting mistakes and weaknesses that cost them big losses against 4A Wagoner and Catoosa, after coming from behind to defeat Tulsa Metro in their opener. Senior defensive back Micah Thomas had 14 tackles and two interceptions to pace a more solid Tiger defense, returning one of those pickoffs 85 yards for a touchdown.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Van Buren High School Athletics

COWETA TIGERS DOMINATE NOBLE BEARS IN 48-19 HOMECOMING WIN

CLAY ALLEN

American Tribune | 9/30/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Clay Allen