LINGLE, DEFENSE LEAD NOBLE TO HOMECOMING VICTORY OVER GLENPOOL

Like almost every high school student in America, Hayden Lingle was anxious for the chance to get the keys and drive. In his case, though, the vehicle is the offense of the Noble Bears, guided quite successfully the last few years by the now graduated Baehler Buol. But Lingle's first year as the team's starting quarterback is working out pretty well. That was on display Friday night at Noble Stadium, as a strong first-half performance paired with a strong defensive effort to lead the Bears to a 28-6 Homecoming victory against Glenpool. "This was huge, it was a big bounce-back game for us," said Lingle, whose Bears lost a week ago at Coweta after a 4-0 start. "We're in a good spot, we've just got to go try to win out and see what happens." Lingle triggered all of Noble's first-half scores. delivering strikes of 6 and 16 yards to Isaiah Willhoite, as well as a 39-yard catch-and-run score by Bryan Henager. Those efforts staked the Bears to a 21-6 halftime advantage, and that was plenty for the Noble defense. After four straight strong outings on the defensive side of the ball, the Bears ran into trouble in week five at Coweta. In fact, the 48 points the Tigers scored were more than Noble had allowed in the first four games combined (44). So it was a big focus this week to get back to playing that sort of defense, and the mission was accomplished, with Noble holding the Warriors to a lone touchdown and just 214 total yards. Henager and Chance Felchlin added interceptions. "It just boosts my confidence having a defense out there like we have," Lingle said. "You know you don't have to go out there and get 60 every game with what they can do." That makes a big part of the quarterback's job about showing poise and doing the little things, like drawing Glenpool offside multiple times with a hard count and, most importantly in a close game, taking care of the football. Lingle finished with 12 of 26 for 197 yards and the three touchdowns, with no turnovers. As a first-year starter, he didn't even have the job for sure until just before the season after a quarterback battle during fall camp, one which has benefitted Lingle's play. "I wanted to be the quarterback here." he said. "And those guys have pushed me so hard. They have made me a lot better." Senior Danny Arebalo was his usual workhorse carrying the ball, particularly in the second half. He finished 129 yards on 28 carries, the last of which put the icing on the cake for a touchdown in the closing seconds as Noble was basically running out the clock. Now 5-1 overall, the Bears also have pushed back into the mix in the District 5A-3 race. Their 2-1 district record matches that of Glenpool and Shawnee, a game behind Coweta.

LINGLE, DEFENSE LEAD NOBLE TO HOMECOMING VICTORY OVER GLENPOOL

Photo Credit: Kyle Phillips

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