Sports

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Defense preserves win with pair of late fourth-down stops, INT

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MIDWEST CITY – When Michael Pruitt wore his alma mater colors on the field, he was part of a unit that carried and embodied the moniker “Blue Crush.”

Now as El Reno’s defensive coordinator, he’s working to bring back that smothering mindset.

“We know, we hear it every day,” said Daylin and Lathen Pruitt, his nephews.

The younger Pruitts and teammates may have rekindled that dominating moniker after snuffing out Midwest City’s high-powered offense on its final three possessions last week to help seal the Indians 27-14 win over the Bombers.

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Redlands beats Connors State to end slide

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Redlands Community College women’s soccer team snapped a seven-match losing streak last week with a 1-0 road win over Connors State College.

The Cougars improved to 2-12 for the season and 2-11 in the NJCAA Region 2 standings after outshooting the Cowboys by a 33-11 margin.

The lone goal of the game came from Gaby Figueroa off an assist by Amya Lindsay.

Lindsay led Redlands shooters with nine shots, followed by Figueroa with five and four shots from Avery Thomas.

Miya Ingram, Jaidyn Gonzalez and Kyla Thompson closed with three shots each.

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El Reno splits regional bids

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ELGIN - It was a feast and famine effort at the plate for El Reno High School’s fast-pitch softball team during the opening day of the Class 5A West Region 2 Championships.

With artillery shells booming in the distance from nearby Fort Sill, El Reno cranked out 22 hits, including 10 extra base swings, en route to a 24-1 win over Lawton MacArthur in the first round.

However, the hits dried up in the second round as El Reno dropped a 10-0 contest to the Elgin Owls. The split left the Indians with a 16-16 season record.

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Calumet rides winning streak into state tourney

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Calumet High School will take a 13-game win streak into the first round of the 2023 Class B Fall State High School Baseball Championships after breezing through the regional round.

The second-ranked Chieftains clinched the Region 2 Championships with wins over No.15 Big Pasture (25-3) and No.10 Asher (11-3) to improve to 27-1 on the season.

Calumet was slated to take on ninth-ranked Mulhall-Orlando in the state quarterfinals. The first two rounds of state are being played at Edmond Santa Fe High School before the finals move to the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

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El Reno spikers close out regular season with road win over Eagles

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El Reno High School’s volleyball team snapped a two-match losing streak and closed out the regular season with a 3-1 road win over Hennessey.

The 28-26/22-25/25-18/25-5 win over the Class 3A Eagles left El Reno with a 5-15 overall record heading into Monday’s Class 5A regional playoffs.

The Indians will be headed to Sapulpa for the one-day postseason event with the winner punching a ticket to state.

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Conference champs

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Pictured are members of El Reno’s eighth-grade volleyball team crowned the 2023 Suburban Conference Champions after going through the league tourney undefeated and without dropping a game, said coach Bill Reeves.

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RCC road trip starts with losses

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Redlands Community College’s soccer team kicked off a four-match regional road swing last week with back-to-back losses by a combined five goals.

The Cougars dropped a close 4-3 match to the University of Arkansas Rich Mountain before being shut out by Rose State College (4-0).

The losses extended Redlands current losing streak to seven matches. The Cougars are 1-11 overall and 1-10 in the NJCAA Region 2 standings, which is eighth.

Redlands logged 21 shots for the two matches, three of those credited as team shots.

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From the sidelines: Record night

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El Reno High School tailback Malachi Nicholson was having a career night running the football in the Indians game with Noble last week – but he had no clue just how big.

After bursting through Noble’s line untouched en route to a 56-yard touchdown run, the senior was still breathing hard when he carried in the 2-point conversion to give El Reno a 68-61 lead with 3:26 to play.

Running off the field, he stopped to ask me a simple question.

“You wouldn’t know how many yards I have, do you,” said Nicholson.