Ron Lancaster does not want the spotlight to be on him Friday night. But when his Broken Arrow Tigers take on Midwest City at Rose Field in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs, it will be impossible not to think about the possibility that it will be the final game in a long and highly successful coaching career.
Lancaster retired after stoking up the fires in Muskogee, leaving after the 2006 season. A year later he was at the helm in Broken Arrow – announcing at the time that he would serve there for three years and then – once and for all – retire. It’s difficult to take retirement announcements too seriously in today’s football world, what with stories like that of Brett Favre.
But Lancaster is 68 years old now. And he’s been coaching high school football most of his adult life – as a head coach since 1976, when he was 35. He’s long since announced that Steve Spavital will take over the head coaching position as soon as this 2009 campaign has ended.
Broken Arrow's Ron Lancaster nearing end of his coaching career (Photo by Kevin Bishop)
So will that career end at Midwest City, at a stadium named for another Oklahoma high school coaching legend (Jim Darnell), or will Lancaster and the Tigers get another crack at Union in the semifinals – if the Redskins take care of business Friday against Lawton?
Lancaster was a standout fullback at Tulsa Webster, graduating in 1959. He played college football at the University of Tulsa, journeyed west to California, where he was an assistant coach at Cordova Rancho. In 1976 he was elevated to head coach for a program which year after year competed for championships and cranked out Division I players. His teams won a state crown and were 62-3 in five years there.
Coming back to his home state, he took Enid to a state title in 1984, when the Plainsmen upset Booker T. Washington in a televised championship game. His Enid teams were 75-36 from 1981 through 1990. He won another gold ball at Jenks – before winning gold balls had become a habit for the Trojans – and was 54-8 in five years. Before coming to BA he led Sallisaw to the state finals two times and the Black Diamonds were 65-21 in seven years.
When Broken Arrow won at Claremore on Oct. 30, it gave Lancaster 300 career victories. He has 302 heading into Friday’s game at Midwest City.
Broken Arrow coach Ron Lancaster visits with the man who replaced him at Muskogee, Matt Hennesy, during a preseason scrimmage (Photo by Kevin Bishop)
(On a personal note, I was a year behind Ron in high school at Webster, and knew him to be an outstanding role model as a student, an athlete and a citizen. I’ve really enjoyed keeping tabs on his success over the years. As another Warrior grad who’s “retired,” I wish him the best.)…
A year ago when the football playoffs began, there were two unbeatens in 6A and none in 5A. Mustang and Midwest City were both 10-0 heading into the post season. This year Jenks was the lone unbeaten after 10 weeks in 6A, but El Reno, Shawnee and Bishop Kelley are all perfect in 5A after 11. If all of the home teams win Friday in 5A, there would be four semifinalists with a combined record of 47-1. But McAlester, Carl Albert, Bixby and Guthrie will have a lot to say about that.
Outstanding menu of high school football for Tulsa area
Hale's Chaz Dawson (5) tries to force Stephen Sherwood of the Comets out of bounds before he reaches the end zone. The unbeaten Comets host Carl Albert Friday. (Photo by Kevin Bishop)
High school football fans in the Tulsa area have quite a menu of playoff gems Friday night. Jenks and Union will both be at home (against Edmond Memorial and Lawton, respectively); Bishop Kelley hosts Carl Albert and East Central will put its 10-1 mark on the line against Guthrie in 5A; unbeaten Cascia Hall (10-0) continues defense of its 3A title with a home game against Purcell; and Lincoln Christian (No. 1 in 2A with a 10-1 record) is at home against Beggs (7-4). Drive just a few miles north of Tulsa to Sperry and you can watch one of the 2A upstarts, as the 7-4 Pirates knocked off unbeaten Tahlequah Sequoyah last week and host Stigler (9-2)….
One local team on the road and flying pretty much under the radar is Berryhill, which travels to Blanchard for a 3A quarterfinal.
Five years ago the Chiefs defeated Claremore Sequoyah (35-20) and Cascia Hall (21-6) to win District 3A-3 and took a 13-0 record into the state finals against Victory Christian, which was also 13-0 after winning 3A-4. Victory knocked off Claremore Sequoyah in its season opener, 27-0, and rocked Cascia Hall, 40-7, in Week No. 3 under then head coach Jim Cherry.
Gary Harper, who brought the Berryhill program back to life after leaving Broken Arrow, had seen his team fall to Kingfisher in the 2003 state semis, 45-27. Kingfisher went on to win the 3A title. Four times in the 1990s Harper took the Chiefs to the state semis, losing each time.
But in 2004 Berryhill upset No. 1 ranked Kingfisher, 35-25, to earn that spot in the finals against Victory Christian. Rowdy Palmer took a punt back 75 yards for an early TD, and the Chiefs led 7-6 when Justin Radebaugh scored just before the half for a 14-6 edge.
Berryhill wishbone played "keep-away"
Then came one of the most remarkable third quarters in playoff history. Victory went three-and-out on its first series and punted the ball away to Berryhill. They did not get the ball back again until the kickoff following a Chief touchdown on the first play of the final period! Joey Voss got the score from a yard out after Berryhill used a wishbone offense to drive 18 plays for the TD which proved to be the back-breaker. All 18 plays were on the ground.
Earlier in the game Harper had his offense switch from a spread set to the wishbone. It paid off with the state title – combined with some stellar defense. Daniel Dolan scored the final touchdown with 6:48 to play, from 26 yards out. He led the rushers with 136 yards.
Last Friday twins Adam and Aaron Dolan paced the Chiefs to a 26-0 win over Checotah to earn that shot at Blanchard. Berryhill’s only losses this season came against Glenpool and Cascia Hall – defending state kings in 4A and 3A. Aaron opened the scoring with a 15-yard TD catch and Adam added runs of 3 and 6 yards for two more. Checotah, which has had a high-octane offense all season, managed just 22 yards on 13 rushes and 80 yards on 35 passes – with 14 completions.
Berryhill, Cascia Hall, Claremore Sequoyah and Dewey are all in the quarterfinals this week. That district continues to be double tough, year after year. Last December Cascia beat the Eagles for the second time in the season to win the 3A crown. The year before the Commandos took the 2A title and Clinton won it in 3A after eliminating Berryhill in the quarters. In 2006 Sequoyah prevailed in 3A, and in 2005 Tuttle beat all three of the District 3A-3 teams to take the title – Berryhill (32-29), Sequoyah (28-23) and Cascia Hall (35-14).
That was also the year that Sapulpa stunned Jenks, 24-21, in the opening round of the 6A playoffs...
Ronnie Balfour of Union, who lost in the state finals to Broken Arrow’s Zach Skates last year, has signed a letter of intent to wrestle at Oklahoma. The Redskin won three of five matches against Skates, who is a junior this year. Also signing with the Sooners was Jenks two-time state king Justin DeAngelis, whose father was an All-American at Oklahoma. Quincy Mondaine of Muskogee, who lost in overtime in the finals match, was another OU signee this week…
Many of the smaller schools have already started their basketball seasons. Friday night Hale will open at Memorial and Rogers at Webster. Summit Christian of Broken Arrow also opens this next week, going on the road. The Eagles were 23-4 last year, and coach Roscoe Migliore has his son and leading scorer Channing (17 points) back, as well as guard Josh Moyer. The latter averaged eight rebounds, six assists and five steals a game last year. Summit, which plays its first home game Dec. 1 against Oktaha, should be even stronger this year with the additions of Sam Duininck and J.C. Burger. Jeff Farquhar is the new girls coach at Summit, where guard Ashlyn Gilbert is back after leading Class B in assists with 6.1 per game last winter. Deanna Few averaged 11 points for the Lady Eagles, who also have some transfers who should help in Jayme Goolsbay and Emily Higgenbotham…
Jenks hosts fundraiser scrimmages
There will be some top hoops talent on the floor at the Frank Herald Gym in Jenks Saturday as the annual “Trojan Hoops vs. Cancer” scrimmage is held. In the girls division (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.), Jenks will be joined by Booker T. Washington and Yukon. Then four of the top boys teams in the state will scrimmage from 1:30 p.m. to 5, with the host Trojans going against Union, Edison and East Central. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for students, with proceeds donated families of Colleen VanZee and Truman Hedrick. Ticket sales, concessions and also funds from the Cancer Treatment Centers of America will be donated.
VanZee died this year from cancer after working for Jenks West Elementary. Her husband Eric is a Jenks High School assistant principal. Hedrick, 9 years old, attends Jenks Southeast Elementary and recently had his right leg amputated. He suffers from the same cancer which recently led to the death of former Hornet and OU star Wayman Tisdale…
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