Focused Midwest City Carl Albert finishes the job, repeats as Class 5A state champions
EDMOND, OKLAHOMA - Brock Johnson wasn’t sure what happened.
The Midwest City Carl Albert senior was rushing the quarterback one second and the next, he was being mobbed by teammates.
“I had a stunt call, so I was going inside, and I saw that it was a pass,” Johnson said. “I just went as fast as I could and I didn't know he dropped the ball. I thought he threw it.”
What Johnson didn’t know at the time was that his hit on Del City’s River Warren not only turned into a sack, but also a fumble early in the second quarter of the Class 5A state championship game. The loose ball was recovered by AJ Mason and led to a Titans' touchdown on the very next play for a 14-7 lead.
“We knew we had hit him hard,” said Johnson. “Take him out of the game, try our best to and that's pretty much it.”
Johnson’s total focus on the play at hand was indicative of the Titans (14-0) not only during the 35-14 victory over the Eagles (12-1) Saturday, but their entire year as they looked to repeat as 5A state champions.
Carl Albert defeats Del City: 5A Oklahoma high school championship live updates recap
“The key has been consistency,” Carl Albert coach Mike Dunn said. “We know we're going to get everybody's best shot every week, and our guys, they just take it in stride. They don't care. They know it. They keep working.
"This week, you wouldn't even know when we were playing in a state championship. Our practices were just like, they were week one.”
Along with drilling the Xs and Os and learning schemes and tendencies, Dunn and his coaching prepared the Titans to be able to withstand any change in momentum or their own negative plays.
“We weren't too high, never too low, just went out and did our work,’ Dunn said. “So everyone sees the tip of the iceberg, they see the success, they don't see all the work that gets put in. And these kids, they put the work in.”
The Titans' ability to stay focused was put to the test early on Saturday when Warren began throwing bombs down the field to wide receiver LaDainian Fields. The TCU commit seemed like he was making it his mission to make Carl Albert tap out in the first quarter after he made one spectacular catch after another.
Yet, Carl Albert withstood that early barrage of big plays and began to take that part of Del City’s game away.
“We fought hard,” said Carl Albert’s Tryna Washington, who had two interceptions and is committed to Oklahoma. “We had to overcome some adversities; a couple of missed plays. They made some plays, you know what I'm saying? We had to come back and make plays ourselves.
"I feel like we played solid in general, though. We had a solid game. We came through with the win.”
The Titans' offense had to show the same fortitude and focus after turning the ball over three times. That includes two interceptions from quarterback Kevin Sperry and a fumble by Xavier Robinson.
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However, both Oklahoma commits came back after the turnovers and continually found ways to help their team win. Robinson finished with 197 total yards and three touchdowns in his final game at Carl Albert.
Sperry - an offseason transfer from Texas - completed 9-of-12 passes for 131 yards and ran for another 106 to go along with three total TDs as he won his first championship with Carl Albert, which now has 18 overall championships.
“The key was just making sure we're there for each other throughout the whole game,” Sperry said. “We’re just there for each other throughout the whole week of practice, too. We're just a team. We're a true team.”
-- Michael Kinney | @SBLiveOK
