Guthrie football makes its way to UCO’s Chad Richison Stadium on Saturday to battle Carl Albert for all the marbles.
After a 35-30 state semifinal victory over Newcastle a week ago, coach Kelly Beebe and the Bluejays will face the back-toback defending champion Titans in the 2024 Class 5A state championship, Saturday, Dec. 14. It’ll be the program’s first state title appearance since the 2012 season, in which they won the whole thing.
These two teams squared off against each other in the regular season back on Nov. 1, with Carl Albert picking up the 29-0 road win. The Titans lead the all-time series, 30-21, dating back to 1968 and have won the last eight matchups against the Jays. Carl Albert comes into the title matchup with a perfect 13-0 overall record this season with playoff wins over Midwest City, Claremore and Del City. They defeated Del City, 28-7, in last week’s semifinal at Putnam City North High School and are currently riding a 38-game winning streak dating back to 2022.
Under fourth-year head coach Mike Dunn, the Titans have won the state championship in all but one season (2021) while continuing to be the dominating force in Class 5A. They’ve been elite on both sides of the ball this season, averaging 51.3 points per game on offense and giving up only 3.6 points per game on defense. In fact, the Carl Albert defense didn’t give up a single point through their first five games of the year and have forced eight total shutouts.
Offensively, Carl Albert is chock full of playmakers and D1 prospects at almost every position.
Starting with quarterback Devin Woodring, who’s tossed for over 2,200 yards with 29 touchdowns to just three interceptions. Along with receivers Tristan Haynes and Trynae Washington, who are both OU signees, the Titans’ passing game is one of the deadliest in the state and will be a tall task for the Guthrie defense to contain.
Running the football for Carl Albert is 1,000-yard rusher Terry Simmons Jr., who is averaging over nine yards per carry in his senior year behind a stout offensive line. Delijah Matthews and Caden Davis are two more eightplus yards per rush backs that will get some carries.
Last week’s win over Del City was only the second game all year that the Carl Albert offense has been held to under 30 points, the other being their 29-0 win over Guthrie.
Although Guthrie will still be without power running back Blake Doles, the Bluejays’ ground-based offense is capable of moving the ball on anyone they face as showcased last week against Newcastle. Do-it-all athlete Kolten Carlock and running back Elijah Smith will feature heavily in this matchup, as well as quarterback Daelon Rice, who broke off a 51-yard touchdown run against the Racers in the semifinals.
Carl Albert will likely focus on stopping the Jays’ run game and force Rice to beat them with his arm, in which case receivers like Amare Watson, Eli Plagg and Jace Rainwater will need to step up big.
Guthrie takes on Carl Albert this Saturday, Dec. 14, from Chad Richison Stadium in Edmond at 7 P.M.