Del City shuts out Shawnee in playoff opener
Del City’s Josiah Chester (15) makes a catch and runs Friday night against Shawnee. Photo by Jacob Sturm
By Jacob Sturm
Midwest City Beacon
The Del City Eagles welcomed Shawnee to Robert Kalsu Stadium on Friday evening to open the playoffs, and that welcome quickly shifted to intensity from the opening kickoff forward.
In a 31-0 shutout victory, the Eagles struck early with a touchdown run from Ricklan Holmes II on the opening offensive series and quickly followed that up with a pick-six from Kedarrius Palmer to boost the Eagles into a multi-score lead before the second quarter had even begun.
“We watched film all week on this, so I know the corner was going to come,” Palmer said. “So, I just sat between both of them, then I made eye-contact with the quarterback. He threw it and I just sat on it and I went and scored.”
The play defined the rest of the half, which was predicated on good defense from both teams to keep the game intensity high.
Palmer stressed the importance of coming out of halftime treating the situation as if it was 0-0 unlike the 14-0 score line favoring the Eagles at that stage.
Palmer rushed for 32 yards on his lone carry, caught a pass for 12 yards and returned the interception for a touchdown. Holmes II rushed for 85 yards, including the early score to help set the tone.
Del City also utilized both Cash Koertner and Syncere Overton at quarterback. Overton tallied 78 rushing yards and two touchdown runs, both of which came in the third quarter, while Koertner had four completions for 32 yards.
While the score didn’t show it, there were also plenty of things to clean up as the playoffs progress. The Eagles had a fumble near the goal line, and had a few penalties that frustrated the coaches.
Del City coach Robert Jones stressed that the group focus will be a talking point over the course of the week as they look to clean up those mistakes ahead of next week’s Round 2 matchup.
“I’m happy we got the win,” Jones said. “A win is a win, but just sloppy football. Turnovers, penalties, the fumble on the 1-yard line. Just sloppy football. We’ve got to be honest with ourselves, we’re not going to go where we want to go if we don’t change those things… We have a high standard, and so we’ve got to make those changes so we can go to the state championship again.”
The Eagles will host Bishop McGuinness Friday night in the second around.
The Irish defeated Lawton 42-7 in their playoff opener. Earlier this year, they lost to Midwest City 14-11, but have won four of the five games they have played since then.
