Sports

For the second time in three seasons, El Reno High School’s girls softball team is back in the Elite Eight after punching its ticket to state with a sweep of Duncan to win the Class 5A Region 2 Championships.

El Reno went 3-0 in day two of the regional, eliminating Ardmore 10-0, before beating Duncan 9-4 in the first championship game.

The Demons, undefeated in the playoffs to that point, were then handed a 5-0 shutout by the Indians.

After the first few weeks of District 5A-1 play, the race for the postseason has already begun to take shape.

El Reno High School is looking to make it four straight trips to the playoffs, and in order for that to happen, the Indians face for all practical purposes a “must-win” ball game Thursday night when the Duncan Demons visit Memorial Stadium.

“All the games are important if you want to get in (playoffs),” said El Reno head coach Chuck Atchison.

Etta Dale Junior High’s seventh- and eighth-grade football teams combined last week to overcome a rash of penalties en route to a 30-12 road win over Western Heights.

Seventh-grader Kaleb Blackwolf scored all four touchdowns for El Reno, each over 30 yards. The Indians logged three 2-point conversions, with eighth-grade quarterback Deacon Tillery throwing one to seventh-grader Antawan Grayson and another to eighth-grader Kolby Belt.

Eighth-grader Ephriam Littlecreek ran in the third conversion.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Snapping a six-game losing streak dating back to last season's playoff loss, El Reno High School's football team scored touchdowns on eight of nine possessions en route to a 56-0 shutout of Capitol Hill.

The Indians improved to 1-5 on the season but more importantly, 1-2 in the District 5A-1 race, climbing out of a three-way tie for last place with both Duncan and the Red Wolves.

DUNCAN – El Reno High School’s softball team will have to take the long road back through the consolation bracket to make the state tournament after dropping a 2-1 game to host Duncan in the Class 5A Region 2 Championships.

El Reno went 1-1 on the first day of the regional, defeating Ardmore 13-5 in the first round before losing to the Demons on the championships side.

The Indians took a 16-15 overall record into a day two elimination game against Ardmore, which knocked out Western Heights.

The winner of that game must defeat Duncan twice in order to make state.

In a top 15 Class 5A battle, seventh-ranked Piedmont played the spoiler role with a 3-0 win over El Reno High School’s volleyball team on senior night.

The 25-20/25-10/25-18 loss to the Wildcats ended a three-game win streak for 11th-ranked El Reno, which closed out the regular season with a 20-12 record.

The Indians finished Suburban Conference play with a 2-3 record with the setback.

El Reno had an off serving night against the Wildcats, going 40-of-49 from the line for 81.6 percent. The team logged an ace each from Qyra Jones, Avery Peffer and Bri Barksdale.

After snapping a 15-match on-field losing streak, Redlands Community College’s soccer team suffered its second double-digit loss to Rose State College for the 2021 season.

The Cougars fell to the Raiders 18-0 at Memorial Stadium as Rose State outscored Redlands 37-1 in the two meetings this fall.

The setback dropped RCC to 2-5 in NJCAA Region 2 action.

Redlands was limited to only two shots, one each from sisters Yalexy and Yesenia Rodriguez.

Cougars goalie Kalie Winstead faced 35 shots on goal, allowing all 18 of the Raiders scores but logging 17 saves.

While El Reno did not have a female runner at the recent Edmond Pre-State Cross Country Meet, the Indians did field a full team for the boys Class 5A Division.

The Indians placed 16th overall in the final team standings, completing the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) course with a total time of one hour and 43.60 minutes. The top five runners, who set each school’s overall score, had an average time of 20:47.92 for El Reno.

The youth deer gun season is a perfect time to get youngsters into the woods for a great hunting experience when the weather is a bit warmer than during regular deer gun season.

The season’s young participants will also be the first hunters in Oklahoma to get the chance to harvest a deer with a firearm this fall. The season will be Oct. 15-17.

Sitting at 0-5 on the season and coming off back to back District 5A-1 setbacks, El Reno High School’s football team is in desperate need of a mark in the win column.

And it doesn’t matter who its against said head coach Chuck Atchison.

“We want a win period. That’s it, it doesn’t matter who we are playing.”

El Reno will get a good shot at that elusive first win of 2021 Thursday when the Indians travel to Oklahoma City’s Speegle Stadium to take on Capitol Hill. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

“Winning a game will solve a lot of our problems,” said Atchison.