White Deer vs Strawn

By Bobbie Brown

When I arrived in Guthrie, Texas, it was 109 degrees. It was around 5:00PM. Game time? 6:30! If you haven't attended a sporting event in Guthrie and gone to their concession stand, you are completely missing out! Just look at those nachos! Do you know many concession stands that make nachos like that? They are so good, Texas Country Reporter did a story on them (link at end). Another great thing about the host to White Deer and Strawn... everyone was incredibly nice and the field looked amazing! So green and pretty. I understand Coach Shipman carefully tends to the field. He does an outstanding job!

As most of you have heard, Guthrie lost a Jaguar last week. #56 Rue McNiel. Many teams have chosen to honor Rue this year by displaying his number on their helmets. Teams have also contributed to help Rue's family. White Deer and Strawn did the same. My heart breaks for the loss of Rue. Of any person. I hope that the 1A community remembering him this season helps if only a tiny bit. 

Coach Shipman's green grass beckoned after conversing with the folks in the fabulous concession stand. The Bucks and the Greyhounds were warming up. It was game time.

The Bucks are big and fast. They bring back a whole slew of great players from last year. Hunter Warminski. Mason Mooney. William Sirmans. Graysen Freeman. Just to name a few. Several others caught my attention. Keep your eye on Kaydon Johnson and Karson Ketchum. Johnson is freaky fast! When the Bucks settle down and all get going in the same direction at the same time, WATCH OUT! I expect for that to happen way sooner than later.

Oh you greyhounds! You jump up and surprise me every year. I don't know why! Coach Lee churns out fundamentally sound players and cohesive teams year after year. Several players stood out. #2 Lorenzo Garcia has a low center of gravity and uses that to muscle his way past defenders. #3 Evan Williams looks unassuming. Always remember that looks are deceiving. He's quick and does an excellent job under center. I'd be remiss not to mention #55 Max Hopkins. Max blocked like it was the last block of his life. I noticed he focused in on his block and stayed with it - I finally got a good picture of his focus doing his job on the field. It literally looks like he's staring a hole in his opponent. Strawn is no joke. Greyhounds, keep it up. You'll get there quickly if you keep playing like that!

One thing is for certain about White Deer and Strawn. Both teams are extremely hard hitters. Helmets flew off, sweat sprayed, loud crashing sounds slammed into the sidelines and right into my ears. Many times during the game, I found myself cringing when a player ran into what seemed to be a brick wall. Some of the hits, I swear I felt! Week 1 and those hard hits? Sheesh! What will these two teams be like in the playoffs? Yep, guess I just let it leak... White Deer. Strawn. Playoffs. Pretty sure that's going to happen after watching both the Bucks and Greyhounds. Each team is chalk full of heart with a large helping of never give up. And they will hit and hit hard.

So until next week, go forward and do GOOD!

Guthrie Concession Stand featured on Texas Country Reporter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z6L8QSI3Jk&feature=youtu.be