TUPATALK: Sports glory in the past, present; hopes fill its future
Hope all the NCAA tourney fans enjoy the annual grand opening Thursday.
Following are some past local sports tidbits.
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BLASTS FROM THE PAST
September 1969
Sooner High School's football team displayed plenty of class against visiting Oklahoma City Classen.
The host Spartans utilized plenty of polish to demolish Classen, 27-6, at Custer Stadium.
Sooner defensive back Travis Wilkey pulled down two interceptions, while Bob Thomas added another oskie to the Spartan cause.
On the front end of the Sooner defense, Danny Korner and Craig Lewis helped shut down Classen's vaunted running attack.
Sooner's offense, meanwhile, proved to be an almost unstoppable force.
Sooner capped its second possession with a touchdown pass from Thomas to Richard Spurgeon.
A bit later, Wilkey hauled in a pass from Thomas and sped to the end zone to complete a 70-yard scoring play.
With less than a minute remaining in the half, Thomas connected with Wilkey on an 11-yard touchdown aerial to put Sooner on top, 20-0, following the extra point kick.
Don Patterson and Kevin Coutant proved to be reliable battering rams in the second half for Sooner's ground attack.
Patterson finished off a drive by muscling two yards for a touchdown. The PAT upped Sooner's lead to 27-0.
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January 1999
Ten games into the varsity boys basketball season, David Gay and Chad Miller were pumping in 14.0 and 11.9 points, respectively for Dewey High School, followed by Adam Michno (9.4 ppg), Jared Patton (8.9 ppg) and Jeremy Foster (8.3 ppg).
True, Mark Fox had registered 17 ppg -- but he had appeared in only two games.
Michno had pumped in 11-of-24 from behind the three-point arc.
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November 1950
College High School's 32-man football team -- half of which were seniors -- eyed a trip to Vinita for its season finale.
Col-Hi head coach Burl Stidham expected to enjoy the services of speedy halftime Watie Bell, who had wrenched his leg the previous week.
The Col-Hi seniors included Kenny McCullogh, Larry Hunt, Jim Raines, Don Parrett, Gerald Swope, Bill Mason, Bill Van Meter, Don Endacott, Larry Ballard, Harry Sauer, Gene Sroufe, Bill Quintana, Bell, John Minden, Don Lehman and Richard Teague.
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September 1969
Bartlesville College High School's football team headed across the Missouri border and decided to adopt that state's motto.
In the best tradition of "Show-Me" fireworks, the Wildcats crushed the host Springfield (Mo.) Hillcrest Hornets, 26-0.
The Hornets found the thick-skinned Wildcats too tough to sting.
Col-Hi surged to a 20-0 halftime lead, sparked by the potent pair of field general Bill Berryhill and his favorite receiver Kent Martindale.
Col-Hi registered its lone second quarter score on a 26-yard scoring strike from Berryhill to Martindale.
Berryhill sliced the heavens with 244 yards passing on the night, including touchdown throws of 38, 40 and 26 yards to Martindale.
But, Berryhill proved he could damage Hillcrest with more than just his arm.
Forced to scramble early in the game, he slithered, hammered and spurted 33 yards on a touchdown run.
Of course, Col-Hi's success depended on more than the Bill & Kent Show.
In addition to superior pass protection by the Wildcat offensive line, the Cats also enjoyed swarming defensive and special teams play.
In the first half, Bartlesville's David Dodge blocked a punt, scooped up the loose ball and returned it to the Hornet 15-yard line.
That set up Col-Hi's second score.
A Hornet turnover -- caused by a jarring tackle by Kirk Martindale -- set the stage for Col-Hi's final score.—
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Autumn 1997
Barnsdall High school's playoff-bound football team boasted three 600-yard runners.
Michael McGill galloped for 712 yards, on 120 carries, followed by Timmy Turman (93-640) and Will McCauley (100-605).
McCauley also rushed for 12 touchdowns.
Proving where there's a Will there's a way, McCauley also sparkled in the passing game.
He completed 46 passes for 783 yards and nine touchdowns, and only six interceptions.
Jimmy Shaw also completed seven passes for 250 yards and Turman hit 3-of-4 passes fro 75 yards.
Jimmy Shaw proved to be McCauley's favorite target -- by far.
Shaw hauled in 33 aerials for 535 yards and three scores.
The rest of the receiving corps combined for 29 receptions for 524 yards.
Seth Miller proved to be a pass-catching touchdown machine. Of his nine receptions, six went for six-points.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: TupaTalk column
