Rivalry week for Claremore Football and what a week it was. Pryor came to town and left without any hardware, and took home five L's. The big one was the varsity game last Friday, and if you were not there, you missed a great game.
It started with the Zebras jumping out in front 20-0, but if you follow sports at all, you know rivalry games are never one sided. There is always a ton of adversity in the form of injuries, turnovers, fake punts, big plays, momentum changes, and many more. There is all out effort from the players, passion from the fans, heart wrenching moments for the coaches and pure joy for the winning side. Rivalries are special, records are thrown out and the game is played as if it is the last game of the year. The only goal is when the clock hits zero, your team has 1 more point than your opponent. Friday night had everything that I mentioned above in it, including the final score being a 1 point victory and a 7-0 record.
After the game I spoke with a few of the coaches and it felt different. Their voices were gone, their faces looked tired, but they all smiled as the weight of the game fell off their shoulders. I know most of you reading this article know your Zebra coaching staff, and some will agree and some wont, but this group of men are as good as they get. It is a great mixture of old and new, veteran and rookie, short and tall, round and thin, and they all have a few things in common. They all want to win, none of them are afraid of work as they spend 7 days a week at the office, they all take it home with them even when they don't want to, and lastly they all have wonderful families that understand the craziness of being a coach. Congrats coaches.
I also want to congratulate Micah Teel, Rex Clark, Eli rogers, Josh bump, and Luke Roberts on being named week 6 players of the week. All of these young men played significant roles in the win on Friday night. Luke is working hard in practice each week and showing out in JV games. Eli returned a punt for a touchdown in the first quarter to jump start the Zebras. Micah surpassed 100 yards carrying the ball, again. Bump had his first touch down catch of the season on 4th and goal. And rex owned his side of the ball on defense with his last play being an interception to seal the victory. What a night for the boys.
The young Zebras carried the flamed into their games as well. The JV team was next and came back from a 14 point deficit to beat Pryor on Monday night. The very next night the 7th, 8th and 9th grade put the final stamp on the week with three wins. Coach hurt said "I do not ever remember a year when we were 5-0 against Pryor, and boy does it feel good. "