FRIDRICH BRACES FOR REUNION CLASH WITH FORMER BOSS BILL BLANKENSHIP

In 16 seasons as a head football coach, Kirk Fridrich is 159-33 against all coaches who aren’t Bill Blankenship. Against Blankenship, Fridrich is 0-4. While at Stillwater High School, Fridrich was winless against the Blankenship-coached Union Redskins. When Blankenship’s undefeated and No.?2-ranked Owasso team visits Fridrich’s undefeated, top-ranked and defending Class 6AI champion Union team on Friday, a sellout crowd is expected. You can call it a pivotal District 6AI-2 clash or you can call it a reunion, as Fridrich was a Blankenship assistant at Union in 1993-2001. Blankenship will coach at Union-Tuttle Stadium for the first time since 2005, when he drove his final Redskins squad to a state title. When Fridrich walked to the stadium for practice Monday, he glanced in the direction of the ticket office at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center. “I saw a lot of people lined up to buy tickets for the Owasso game,” Fridrich said. “The line stretched out to the parking lot.” When a high-stakes competition involves stars, tickets are in demand. Owasso has a 71 percent passer (Will Kuehne), an Ohio State commitment (defensive back Josh Proctor), a Kansas State commitment (linebacker Wayne Jones) and a running back (Bryce Cabrera) who averages nearly 8 yards per carry. Union has a 68 percent passer (Peyton Thompson), an impact linebacker (Braden Spicer) who averages 11 tackles per game, the most dynamic wide receiver in the state (Oklahoma State commitment CJ Moore), two dangerous running backs (Darius Boone and Keviyon Cooper), and a punt-return specialist (Landon Wood) who can change a game in a matter of seconds. Thompson’s primary targets are Moore, AK Wilson and Avery Alverson, who already have a total of nearly 1,000 receiving yards. The 6-foot-5, 180-pound Moore averages 18.2 yards per catch. On 16 receptions, he has scored seven touchdowns. “We need to get the ball to him more, don’t we?” Fridrich said. “When CJ gets tackled for a 15-yard gain, his average goes down. He brings it every day. Even on Mondays. When he knows it’s a game week, he competes every day.” What a phenomenal matchup and what an opportunity for Owasso. Last year, Union won 59-3 on the Rams’ home field. In advance of the rematch, Owasso-Union appears to be a toss-up. If anything, with Blankenship having made a massive impact during his first season as the head man, the Rams have been the best team in the state so far. It all started with an opening-night shocker: Owasso 48, Jenks 10. At Jenks. Through four games last season, Owasso had scored 113 points. Through Blankenship’s four Owasso games this season, the Rams have doubled their scoreboard production (216 points). But is Owasso really ready to rally from a 56-point home setback in 2016 to a road conquest of Union? During a Wednesday radio interview, Blankenship summarized Owasso’s Friday challenge this way: “We’ve got to make sure that the moment’s not too big for us.” If the memory of 59-3 is a motivator for Owasso, it should be forgotten by Union. Nothing about the Friday rematch will be easy for the Redskins. “When we played them last year, it would have been a different game if they hadn’t been so beaten up with injuries,” Fridrich recalled. “When I saw Owasso in the first passing league after spring practice, I knew they had talent. “You knew coach Blankenship would have a solid plan, and then you add that to the talent they had coming back.” Fridrich admits to being “really excited” about his team’s involvement in a huge midseason game. In regular-season Game 5’s at Union, he is 10-0. Average score: 52-16. Three of those Game 5 wins were recorded against Owasso, by the combined score of 156-17. Friday’s Game 5 is a completely different type of exercise, rife with instant-classic potential, and Fridrich is counting the minutes until kickoff.

FRIDRICH BRACES FOR REUNION CLASH WITH FORMER BOSS BILL BLANKENSHIP

Photo Credit: Ian Maulet

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