Carl Albert rolls Western Heights in district opener
Carl Albert’s Kathan Pierucci (59) smothers the ball carrier Friday night. Photo by Stephen Toney Photography
By Jacob Sturm
Midwest City Beacon
Six.
That’s the amount of offensive snaps Carl Albert ended the first half within its matchup with Western Heights this past Friday.
While that may sound concerning without context, it was the efficiency that stood out. The Titans (4-0, 1-0) scored four touchdowns in those six plays and had two additional touchdowns on special teams before the break in a 64-0 rout of the Jets.
Mike Dunn, Carl Albert coach, was proud of the effort.
“We talked a lot about just having no let down, no drop off,” Dunn said. “Whoever was in the game, we feel like we’ve got a really good group of kids. That’s from top to bottom… We always feel good about any of our guys that are in the game.”
Devin Woodring was 3 of 3 passing for 95 yards and three touchdowns in a quick outing. Carl Albert heavily rotated their lineup in the second half. Trystan Haynes, Maddox Wilkerson and Trynae Washington were on the receiving end of those passes.
LT Simmons also scored a 25-yard touchdown.
Carl Albert’s special teams took the spotlight. A blocked punt was recovered by LeBron Royal in the end zone for a score, Christian Oku returned a kickoff for a 66-yard touchdown and Delijah Matthews produced a 26-yard punt return for a touchdown.
“Anytime we get a chance to go return a kick or return a punt it’s always fun,” Dunn said. “Then getting a blocked punt and getting a touchdown out of that, our guys and our coaches and our players work really hard to make sure that we’re really good on special teams each week.”
The Titans’ defense also continued its stellar play. The unit forced Western Heights (1-3, 0-1) backward on a consistent basis, and that dominant work had the Jets punting from their own end zone on multiple occasions.
That also makes four weeks without a point conceded.
Dunn credited Western Heights for continuing to play hard despite only having 24 players suit up.
“Those Western Heights kids are out there working hard, and they’re choosing to do something that is really hard,” Dunn said. “So, I’m proud of the way our kids recognized that and they treated the week with respect. They treated our week of preparation with respect for their opponent, then when they went out and the way our kids played, they played hard the way we always expect them to play, but they didn’t try to make that a bad experience for those kids… I feel like we played the game with a lot of respect, and I’m really proud of our kids for that, and I’m also (having) a lot of respect for Western Heights for going out and choosing to do something that’s hard.”
Carl Albert is back at home Friday night against El Reno (2-2, 0-1) for homecoming.
