Blanchard football is this week's winner of the Oklahoma Team of the Week, presented by the Oklahoma National Guard.
Courtesy photo
The target on the back of each
Blanchard High School football player is large and maroon. The Lions are the defending Oklahoma state 3A champion.
With all that attention and pressure, a fall might be in order.
To
the contrary, the Lions have put the hurt on four straight opponents to
start the season, including a 40-3 win at Little Axe as
Braden Stringer rushed for 219 yards and three touchdowns, linebacker
D.J. Williams had 15 tackles and
Brandon Montano added 11 tackles.
The
team selected Stringer Offensive Player of the Year, Montano the
Defensive Player of the Game and Williams the overall Player of the
Game.
Kegan Lawson, Blanchard
Courtesy photo
For the win and the fast start, MaxPreps has selected
Blanchard as the Oklahoma Team of the Week, presented by the Oklahoma
National Guard.
Stringer is the state's third-leading rusher
with 843 yards rushing on 88 carries (9.58) and 10 touchdowns. The
5-foot-8, 175-pound senior rushed for 1,377 yards last season and a team-high 21 touchdowns. He also contributed 86 tackles on defense during
the championship season.
"(Stringer) is the epitome of hard work and dedication," said head coach Jeff Craig. "He has elevated all of
the players around him to be more committed to doing things at a higher
level."
In the win over Little Axe (2-2), quarterback
Blake Owen had a superb game with 103 yards rushing and two scores, while completing 6 of 8 passes for 76 yards.
On defense,
Jalan Daniels also had double-digit tackles with 11 and leads the team with 33, followed by Williams (30), Mantano (26) and sophomore
Kegan Lawson (21).
Blanchard,
which has outscored opponents 162-30, plays at cross-town rival Bridge
Creek (0-3) on Friday. This is coach Craig's seventh season with
Blanchard and he's compiled a record of 46-27 and 2012 was the first
time the Lions had at least 10 wins in a season, going 13-0.
"We have one goal and that is to get better each week and take care of
ourselves," said Craig. "If we do that, we feel we can defend our state championship."
Do you know a team that deserves
consideration for Oklahoma Team of the Week? Email us with your
nominations at OKteamoftheweek@maxpreps.com.
