Bombers have returned to postseason

By Scott Wanish, sports editor
Football Preview 2007

August 27, 2007 12:56 pm

— The Bombers got back to the postseason after a a four-year drought and second-year head coach Steve Huff feels his Midwest City troops will ride that momentum from last year.
“There’s no doubt. I think gettin’ back into the playoffs last year was the key,” he said. “The senior class wanted to get us back into it.
“I think our kids’ expectations are elevated a little bit because of that. With the kids (starters) we’ve got coming back, there are also a lot of them (non-starters) that played.”
Surprising everybody last year was the breakaway running of sophomore running back Tim Flanders. Tim is a junior this season and will be in the backfield along with senior brother John.
“He (Tim) was a darkhorse for us last year,” said Huff. “We were all new and it definitely was a surprise for us.
“He’s such an intelligent young man and he will be helping to fill the void of Andrew Thigpen (at defensive back) which is a real plus. Maybe we protected (keeping Tim Flanders off of defense) him a little bit last year.”
Thigpen was a key cog in the Bombers’ machine in the secondary and at quarterback. Tim Flanders will also play some strong safety along with his running back duties and Dominique Barnes-Carne returns as a starter in the secondary as does John Flanders and senior Eric Jackson. Jackson will also play receiver on offense.
Despite being injured at the end of last season, 5-11, 265-pound Russell Brown comes back for his senior campaign as a four-year starter. Also on the defensive line coming back is De’Auntray Smith and 6-1, 265-pound senior Willie Moore. Jordan Tyner will be backing the line.
“There’s a bunch of those kids returning that are upperclassmen giving us more depth,” Huff said. “Last year we struggled because of depth as we had tons of injuries. At the Lawton playoff game, we had one of the running backs (Smith, 6-1, 195) starting at nose tackle.”
Replacing Thigpen at quarterback will be senior Vershon Moore as junior signal-caller Jase Chilcoat broke his ankle at team camp and will eventually get back into the flow of things.
“There’s no doubt that Thigpen being a three-year starter and the leadership that he carried will be hard to replace,” Huff said. “But, we’ve got three kids that have been stepping up in John Flanders, Jess Eddy and Jordan Tyner.”
Eddy is a 5-11, 225-pound senior offensive lineman and fellow senior Nate Truman (5-11, 220) will accompany Eddy as a returning starter in the trenches.
Other returning starters include track speedsters Hezekiah Robinson (DB/WR) and Antonio Brown (RB/DB).
Huff listed sophomore linebacker Emmanuel Maxwell as a newcomer to watch and senior defensive end Maurice Bryant could see significant playing time.
As for the district, Huff sees Westmoore reloading and Lawton Eisenhower being tough with star running back Harrison Jeffers.
“We have a good core group of starters returning from ‘06,” Huff added. “We have a strong junior class that should provide depth and as always staying healthy will be a key factor to our success.
“The players have worked hard this past offseason and summer and are anxious to get on the field.”
Midwest City ended the season 6-5 last year with a 27-20 loss at Lawton in the first round of the playoffs.

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