Week 7 of the high school football season is here which means fall break for many across the state. That leads us into another district tilt for the Boomers as John Marshall rolls into town for Pink Out night at Boomer Stadium. Both teams are searching for and in desperate need of their first district wins of the season. Let’s take a deeper look at what the Bears are bringing into Boomer Stadium tonight:
Record & Rank: 1-5 (0-2). John Marshall is not ranked by the AP or the Oklahoman. Last season John Marshall went 3-7 and missed the playoffs.
Meet The Coach: Chris Berus is in his 11th season as a head coach and his first at John Marshall. Berus spent six seasons at Plainview and four seasons at Ada. In his time as a head coach Berus has missed the playoffs just once and has compiled a career record of 78-45.
Team Preview (Offense) : John Marshall is a team that is still trying to find it’s footing offensively. Senior quarterback Dorien Middleton (5’9″ 165LBS) is a former reciever who made the switch to quarterback coming into the season. Middleton may not have the arm for the deep ball, but he is a good athlete that is a threat to take off from the pocket. John Marshall’s spread attack allows Middleton along with athletes Shaz Guliford, Makel Jackson, Kylin Drennon, and Terrance Caldwell to get out in space. Up front the Bears offensive line brings good size and expierence. Center Aalijah Kirby, left guard Alanate Benford, and left tackle Crayden Sanderfield can really move a defense off the line well along with creating good running lanes up the middle. Overall the Bears quick strike offense looks to move the ball in burst by hitting short passes where recievers have room to run after the catch. In the run game they want multiple playmakers getting their hands on the ball.
Team Preview (Defense): John Marshall’s defense runs a traditional three man front led by athletic ends Crayden Sandersfield and Alanate Benford. Tre’Quan Johnson brings size (6’1″ 290LBS) and a mean streak to the nosetackle position in a similar fashion to how he plays at center offensively. Senior linebackers Shaz Guliford and Dorien Middleton use their athleticism to either bring pressure on the blitz or act as another solid defender in their pass defense. In the secondary Kylin Drennon watches the middle of the field at the safety spot and is used in a wide array of looks. Overall the John Marshall defense can give you a decent amount of different looks pre-snap and have the athletes to match the opposing offense’s top threats.
Keys To The Game: Sophomore Ryan Douglas has the full confidence of the coaching staff to properly run the offense with no restrictions while filling in for the injured Sam Cheap. The young duo of Douglas and Ace Long will need to take advantage of what the John Marshall defense gives them. Defensively if the Boomers can repeat the strong effort they showed against an extremely potent Chickasha offense last week, then John Marshall will not have a weapon near the caliber of Ma’lek Murphy to answer the pressure Woodward can put on them.
Don’t forget to join us on Z92 for the radio broadcast with pre-game coverage at 6:30. Clint Shelton, Eric Scott, and myself will be on the call for all the action. You can also find the video stream of the game on BoomerTV by going to boomertv.net or going to z92online.com and finding the link to the channel there.