2011 season ends with a bow on top

For the second time in school history the Guthrie Football program went through a season untouched in the loss column.

Guthrie claimed their third state championship with a 24-7 win over Lawton MacArthur inside Oklahoma State’s Boone Pickens Stadium. The Jays have claimed the 2002, 2007 and 2011 titles in Oklahoma’s second largest class.

The 2011 state season came with its ups and downs, with a good part, if not all, of those downs coming off the practice and playing fields. It has been well documented with the OSSAA findings and the OSSAA Board of Directors giving the team their season back.

Rafe Watkins took a big part of the penalty handed down, but if you were to talk with Watkins it was worth the 8-game suspension even without the championship trophy because the kids got to play and prove themselves on the field. The gold ball in hand does make the scenario easier to take.

Watkins is now 109-28 (.795) in his 11 seasons on the Guthrie sideline to go along with the three state championships and now three district titles (2007, 2010 and 2011). The ball coach had sent the program to 10 playoff appearances in 11 seasons with a record of 20-7.

With the win over MacArthur, Watkins only holds a losing record to two schools in Douglass (2-3) and Booker T. Washington (1-2).

For the seniors, they will finish their three-year career with a record of 33-7, including a 19-2 district record to go with two district titles. No other senior class can claim two district titles.

The seniors won their last 14 games inside Jelsma Stadium and finished their 3-year career’s with an overall home record of 17-2. Just as impressive, the senior class was 8-2 in playoff games (4-0 at home) while reaching the state semis in all three years.

Black and Blue

Guthrie played in three-day games this season after playing just one in the previous 10 years. In each game, the Jays wore their silver helmet, black jersey tops and silver pants. About certain that was not by accident. The players are asked what they would like to wear, but were strongly urged to go with the winning day game combination.

MacArthur curse eliminated

Prior to the state championship game, Guthrie was 0-3 against the MacArthur Highlanders with losses coming in 2006 (14-12), 1990 (21-20) and 1989 (17-14 OT).

Defense wins championships

The Dream Team of 2007 finished with eight shut-outs that season. The 2011 team held six of their opponents to zero points while the defense held seven of their opponents out of the end zone.

Ultimate State Champions

Did you see the teams Guthrie went through to win the title? Seven of the 14 teams were ranked in the top 10 sometime throughout the season and generally when they played the Jays.

MacArthur, McAlester, East Central and Carl Albert spent a majority of the season in the top five while Duncan, Deer Creek and Ada spent a good part of the season in the top 10.