Published: December 03, 2008 11:22 am      

Titans go for another title

Carl Albert plows over MacArthur; gets rematch with No. 1 Tulsa Washington

NORMAN — Top-rated Tulsa Washington rolled up No. 2 Carl Albert 40-7 in week one of the season taking advantage of four Titan turnovers in a 1 1/2 minute span.

But Carl Albert (12-1) has oiled up the machine since the opening day hiccup and despite losing a pair of fumbles Saturday afternoon in a Class 5A state semifinal at Norman High School, the Titans toppled Lawton MacArthur 47-14 to earn a rematch with Tulsa Washington this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Sand Springs High School for the state championship.

The Hornets, 12-1 with their lone loss coming to 6A’s Broken Arrow, jumped out to a 21-0 lead on El Reno en route to a 28-7 victory over the Indians in their semifinal tilt. Eric Bennett and Michael Doctor each rushed into the end zone twice. It was Bennett who tossed four touchdown passes against Carl Albert in the September meeting.

Against Lawton MacArthur, the Titans actually trailed 7-6 after the first quarter due to an unsuccessful point-after-touchdown attempt.

The Highlanders (9-4) grabbed a 7-0 lead on a Ryan John four-yard run but Carl Albert standout David Oku fired back with a 29-yard jaunt into paydirt to get within 7-6. Oku was on fire Saturday, ripping away from MacArthur defenders to end the contest with a whopping 326 yards rushing and four scores.

He gave the Titans the lead for good with eight minutes to play before halftime on an unbelievable run. The 5-10, 184-pound Oku took the handoff left off tackle and smacked into a defender. After contact, he did a 360 spin and outran the remainder of the defense 43 yards to the left flag for a 13-7 advantage. Every play on the drive consisted of an Oku run.

On the ensuing offensive series, Carl Albert really got the momentum flowing. Oku went in motion right as quarterback JT Realmuto faked the handoff. The Mac defense gravitated to Oku as Realmuto took the keeper back left. After picking up a great seal block from Kyle Croak, the QB tucked the ball under and darted 57 yards with a final dive over the goal line to expand the leading margin to 20-7. Realmuto added 91 yards to the Titan rushing attack and a pair of TDs on the ground. Carl Albert outrushed the Highlanders, 418-127.

With 2:12 left before intermission, Titan defensive back Daytawion Lowe picked off a John pass at the Carl Albert 38 and ran it back six yards to the 44-yard line. Prior to the interception, Lowe also closed ground on a Lawton Mac receiver and batted away a pass.

Lowe then capped off the offensive drive by hauling in a Realmuto pass over the middle before turning upfield hard for a 35-yard TD reception and a 27-7 halftime cushion.

Carl Albert made it 33-7 nearly midway through the third on a Realmuto three-yard run. The score was set up when Oku shook off a would-be tackler and rumbled 21 yards to the Highlander 23.

Mac got within 33-14 on a three-yard TD pass from John to Norris Wren that was set up by some big Javon Harris runs. Harris, who will attend the University of Oklahoma, was really kept in check by the Titan defense with the exception of the final MacArthur scoring drive. Harris wound up with 109 yards rushing getting dwarfed by Oku. He picked up less than 30 yards in the opening half.

Oku had a 25-yard touchdown run whistled back due to a penalty but he later scored regardless on a 10-yard pitch right to expand the lead to 40-14. He made the 47-14 final by stutter-stepping through a hole and was long gone 62 yards later.

Teammate Trevante Porter had a 72-yard kickoff return for a TD also called back due to a yellow flag.

Defensively, defensive end Christian Smith sacked John and forced a fumble though the Highlanders retained possession while fellow Titans Morgan Christy (-9) and David Lambeth (-11) each chalked up a sack.

Carl Albert freshman Darrain Winston ended the contest with an interception.

NOTE: The Titans defeated Lawton MacArthur 14-10 in 2006 for the ninth state championship in school history and the seventh under current head coach Gary Rose. Under the guidance of Rose, Carl Albert went on a five-year straight state title winning streak from 1997-2001. Prior to defeating Lawton Mac in ‘06, the Titans won a gold ball over Tulsa Washington in ‘04 by a 35-22 count.