For several reasons, the Guthrie BlueJays are hoping history will repeat itself beginning on Friday evening when they host the Fightin’ Chicks of Chickasha High School. The battle of the birds will kick off the first round of the Class 5A football playoffs.
The BlueJays will enter the game with a perfect 10-0 regular season record. The unscathed season marks the third time in program history to do so. The other two seasons were 2007 and 2011 in which Guthrie went on to win state titles.
Along with that piece of history, the Jays have won 26 straight games inside Jelsma Stadium that dates back to the 2009 season. In addition, the Jays have won 10 straight playoff games at home.
Just as impressive, Guthrie has won eight straight first-round playoff games in superior fashion by outscoring those opponents (303-45). Overall, the Jays are 9-2 under head coach Rafe Watkins in first round games.
The Friday evening match-up will be the third meeting between the two programs with both coming in the playoffs. The Jays won 23-20 in the 2002 state semifinals en route to their first gold ball and met again in the first round of the 2006 playoffs with Guthrie having no problems with a 48-7 win.
Chickasha (5-5) needed the final moments of last week’s game to secure their playoff spot with a 20-14 win over Duncan. The six-point margin was exactly what the Chicks needed to clinch the fourth spot in district 5A-1.
With the win, Chickasha is in the playoffs for the first time since 2006. The past six seasons, including this season, the program has managed a 21-38 overall record.
Although, Chickasha allows more points per game than they score, a lot of credit of the resurrection of the program has gone to third year head coach Tom Cobble. This past summer, Cobble was inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame and a present record of 269-178 scattered over 40 years.
Cobble is familiar with the Guthrie program with coaching stints at El Reno and Enid. His club is highlighted by quarterback Cade Morris.
Morris, a senior, has improved his ability to run the ball this season by collecting 450 more yards to go with 16 touchdowns scores compared to just one last season. However, the passing game has not been as strong as it was in 2012 when Morris threw for nearly 1,300 yards.
Morris is complimented by senior running back Josh Latham, who scored all three touchdowns in last week’s playoff clinching game. Latham has rushed for over 400 yards on the year.
As a team, Chickasha is averaging 208 yards running the ball, but will tested by a BlueJay defense that allowed a total of 206 yards all season on the ground.
The Chicks defense presents a 4-3 scheme with Cobble being able to add more speed in hopes of shutting down the Guthrie 1-2 punch running game with senior Kai Callins and Idae Alexander.
Both runners average triple digits per game, including Callins’ 125 per game. The duo has added 44 scores with Callins collecting 24 and Alexander 20. Callins often shares this is the best offensive line he has run behind.
Chickasha hopes to counter that with their leading tacklers in Oron Bowman and TJ Flier. Each reported with 39 tackles.
With the running game giving the Jays an average of 284 yards, quarterback Reed Roberts has not been called upon as often throwing the ball, but when he has thrown the ball he has completed 70 percent of those passes and is just 9 yards away from reaching 1,000 yards.
Kick off is set for 7 p.m. with the radio pregame show beginning at 6:30 on Triple Play Sports Radio 105.1 FM. The game can also be heard on Guthrie Sports Page and Guthrie News Page world-wide.
Go Jays. Play hard. You are the champions for 2013 as long as you play the game one play at a time. GO BLUEJAYS!