money 'I can sense it': Carl Albert shuts out Del City, advances to Class 5A semifinals
MIDWEST CITY — The Carl Albert football program has a history of getting hot at the right time.
The Titans often aren’t great at the beginning of seasons.
But when district play starts and then the postseason rolls around, they start to assert their dominance and make a statement.
This year is no exception, and the Titans proved that Friday.
Class 5A third-ranked Carl Albert defeated No. 2 Del City 19-0 in the quarterfinals at Gary Rose Stadium, advancing to a semifinal matchup against Grove at a neutral site that has yet to be determined.
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“The last two weeks, we’ve had the best weeks of practices we’ve had all year long,” Carl Albert coach Mike Dunn said. “This time of year, you got a lot of teams that are just happy to be here. But our kids, they know what we do around here. They know what the goal is every year, and I can sense it and feel it.”
Carl Albert’s defense stood out more than anything Friday.
The Titans (10-2), who started the season with a 1-2 record, allowed just 256 yards and recovered two fumbles against the Eagles (9-3), who were averaging 45.1 points per game heading into the quarterfinals.
“I think Coach (John) Herbert, our defensive coordinator, he came up with a great game plan," Dunn said. "And all week long, we just kept settling in. And tonight, he made some unreal calls at big moments.
"But at the end of the day, he told our kids right before we came out here, ‘In this kind of game, playmakers got to make plays.’ And he said, ‘There’s going to come a time when you’re going to have to do that.’ I think that’s what our kids did. They just made plays.”
Offensively, junior tailback Xavier Robinson and senior quarterback Reed DeQuasie led Carl Albert.
Robinson ran for 137 yards and two scores on 19 carries. DeQuasie had 11 rushing attempts for 63 yards and completed 4 of 5 passes for 40 yards and a touchdown.
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Both teams went scoreless before Robinson ran for a 2-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.
DeQuasie tossed a 15-yard touchdown to Caleb Cornell with 7:48 left in the third, and Robinson put the game away with a 27-yard rushing score with 7:42 left in the fourth.
“Our team felt like it was going to be a dog fight, which it was,” DeQuasie said. “But I feel like they did a good job of dealing with the adversity of the game and handling it very well.”
Leading Del City’s offense was senior quarterback Dkalen Godwin.
He completed 14 of 25 passes for 119 yards and finished with 17 carries for 31 yards. His top receiver was senior Jaylin Sweet, who had six catches for 61 yards.
Junior tailback Braelon Adamah led the Eagles’ rushing attack as he had 15 carries for 68 yards.
Reporter Nick Sardis covers high school sports across the Oklahoma City metro and state. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @nick_sardis. Support Nick’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at oklahoman.com/subscribe or by using the link at the top of this page.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma HS football: Carl Albert tops Del City in 5A quarterfinals
