Del City makes statement with resounding 5A quarterfinal win
DEL CITY, OKLAHOMA - Despite having gone through the regular season undefeated, Del City had somehow remained out of the spotlight in Class 5A.
Much of the shine had been put on defending champion Midwest City Carl Albert and Guthrie.
The Eagles had a chance to change that when they took on Guthrie in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A playoffs. The Bluejays had been picked by many to upset Del City and make it to the championship for a rematch with Carl Albert.
However, Del City had other plans on their itinerary as they rolled to a 47-14 victory Friday night at Robert Kalsu Stadium.
“We're only human and we can listen to the critics,” Del City coach Robert Jones said. “So, we've been hearing that Del City can't play in the cold or is Del City ready for big boy football? And we heard about this (Guthrie) defense all year, but nobody's really talking about our defense. We knew what we had.
"Our defense has been playing great all year and we wanted to come out here and kind of show against one of the toughest teams in the state and one of the more physical teams in the state that we're a physical team. And I think we showed that (Friday).”
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The Eagles didn’t waste any time getting to work on the Bluejays. On their opening possession, they drove down the field and took 5:30 off the clock before Braelon Adamah scored on a 1-yard plunge.
After their defense forced Guthrie to punt on the ensuing possession, River Warren connected with LaDainian Fields for a touchdown pass to go up 14-0 with 2:21 left in the first quarter.
The Jays had the ball twice in the first quarter and weren’t able to do anything with it. Quarterback Hayden Calvert was hammered by the Eagles' defensive front and had a slight limp after being hit by Aaron Carter on a pass attempt.
“We were going to make (Calvert) feel it,” said Carter. “Him and (tailback Jaylen Harper), we wanted to make them feel it for sure.”
Trailing 21-0, Guthrie had a little sign of life when they forced the Eagles into a turnover. Unfortunately for the Bluejays, their offense was once again unable to move the ball and had to punt.
That led to a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown from Adamah as he sprinted down the Guthrie sideline and into the end zone.
Along with three touchdowns, Adamah finished the game with 52 yards on seven carries. He had only 67 yards rushing in the Eagles' previous 10 games.
Warren put a cap on the first half with an 11-yard touchdown run to push Del City’s lead 34-0 at halftime.
Guthrie ran a total of 18 offensive plays for a total of 22 yards and only one first down in the first half.
“We showed that we could be really explosive as well. We can really run the ball and we could throw it, then we could play great defense now in the back end and on the front,” Jones said. “So, we're a tough team to beat.”
Del City’s RJ Fields started the second half by picking off Calvert at the 35-yard line. Two plays later, Shayden Green bolted up the middle for a 65-yard touchdown to extend the Eagles' advantage to 41-0.
Guthrie had one last gasp when they drove the ball deep into Eagles territory and were on the verge of getting on the scoreboard.
But Calvert’s pass was underthrown, and LaDainian Fields picked it off in the end zone. He then proceeded to maneuver his way back up the field for a 101-yard return for a touchdown to officially shut off the lights on the Jays at 47-0.
Guthrie scored twice in the fourth quarter after the game was out of reach.
“That's one of our main things. Being physical and being tough,” RJ Fields said. “We came out ever since the first play and did that.”
Del City will move on to face Claremore in the 5A semifinals. The Eagles want more of the same, but also clean a few things up.
“We need to cut out the penalties,” Warren said. “Way too many penalties and then just keep that physicality. I think we're good if we can stay physical.”
-- Michael Kinney | @SBLiveOK
