Tigers look to celebrate Homecoming by upsetting No. 1 Talihina
The Central Tigers will be trying to accomplish three things when they entertain Class A, Division II’s top-ranked Talihina Golden Tigers at 7 p.m. today at Tiger Stadium.
The first thing the Tigers (3-2 overall, 0-2 in District AII-3 play) will try to do is get their first district victory of the year. After opening the season 3-0, the Tigers have lost both of their first two district games — 18-6 on Sept. 26 at home to the Wewoka Tigers and last week’s 28-18 road loss to the Tulsa Regent Prep Rams after the Tigers led 18-6.
“It was disappointing when you lose one like that,” Central coach Jeremy Thompson said about last week’s loss to the Rams. “The thing about it is you have to bounce back. It’s a long season. This is Week 6. You’re at the midway point. We still have playoff opportunities ahead. That’s our goal, and it was our goal from the beginning of the season. It’s not over. We have to get up for the next opponent. We’ve gotten after it since Monday. We need to continue to get better. That’s what the boys have done. I’m proud of them. They came in this week fired up. We’ve had good practices these last couple of days. They’re tough kids. I’m excited about (tonight) and seeing them go out and watch them perform at the highest level they can against a good football team.”
The second thing the Tigers will try to accomplish tonight will be to do something that hasn’t been done so far this season, defeat the No. 1 Talihina Golden Tigers.
“It would be huge,” Thompson said about upsetting the Golden Tigers, coached by his good friend Kelly Gravitt. “It would be big. The No. 1 ranking and them coming in (to Tiger Stadium), I think our kids are thinking a whole lot about it because it’s always a big game with them over the years. They’re typically very good, so it’s another really good Talihina team coming to town. I think that’s a positive knowing all this. Our kids are used to it (the hype). For many years, it’s been a big game, and it will continue to be that way in the future as well.”
The third thing a win tonight would accomplish will be to make it a happy homecoming at “The Palace in the Pasture.” Thompson is fairly certain his players won’t get caught up in the pregame homecoming festivities and forget about the task at hand — upsetting Class A, Division II’s No. 1 team in the state.
“I think when the game is big enough as it is, there’s not that distraction that you would there there would be because of homecoming,” he said. “Homecoming is supposed to be one the biggest weeks in football. Just having a good opponent to go along with it just adds to the excitement. I think everything will be fine. The guys will be ready to play.”
The Golden Tigers (5-0, 2-0) have outscored their opponents 262-37, including winning both of their first two district games — 54-17 over Allen on Sept. 26 and 61-7 last Friday night at home over Gore.
“Their quarterback Landon Griffith is a very good player,” Thompson said. “He gets rid of the ball as quick as any kid I’ve ever played. He runs the offense extremely well. He has weapons (receivers) he can throw it across the board. A lot of times, football teams you play may have two receivers. He (Griffith) has four receivers, and he can run. They’re able to spread the ball out. You have to be sound everywhere (on defense). That’s the thing defensively. It will be the biggest challenge for our secondary with the weapons (receivers) they have to throw the ball to. They have some good athletes out there. That right there is what concerns us the most, and that’s what we’ve been working on this week.”
Thompson said the Tigers will need to take advantage of every opportunity and play mistake-free football to not only knock off No. 1 Talihina, but make it a happy homecoming.
“I know they’re good offensively and defensively,” he said. “We need to create some big plays. We can’t have turnovers on offense. We need to finish drives. We need to have more third-down conversions (than last week against Tulsa Regent Prep). If we do those things on both sides of the ball, it will be a good game.”
The Tigers will be entering tonight’s big District AII-3 game as healthy as they have been in quite some time.
“I feel like we’re a little better,” Thompson said. “We’ve seen a lot of improvement over the last couple of weeks as far as getting healthy. I think coming into this one, we’re healthier, so I’m excited about that. Hopefully, we can get on the right track this week and finish out the second half of the season strong.”
