Former Northwest football coach gives Bearcats first loss of season as Central Oklahoma upsets Northwest | Sports

EDMOND, Ok. — Adam Dorrel acquired a number of Gatorade baths all through his six years as the coach of Northwest football, along with his most up-to-date coming after this system’s sixth — and newest — nationwide title towards North Alabama Dec. 17, 2016.

For the first time in his profession, the two-time American Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year acquired a Gatorade bathtub after defeating the Bearcats, fairly than profitable with them.

“Yeah, this is mostly Gatorade,” Dorrel mentioned, pointing to the drops on his arms.

Dorrel, inside Central Oklahoma’s Sports Performance Center on the north facet of Chad Richison Stadium, adopted his assertion with laughter. He stood inside this system’s weight room, however on the opposite facet of the room’s east partitions got here one other noise to match his laughter: cheering.

The Central Oklahoma gamers cheered and yelled within the workforce’s locker room. The purpose for the commotion got here only a few moments earlier than, after the Bronchos upset No. 2 Northwest football 23-14 Sept. 24.

For coach Rich Wright and the remainder of the Bearcats, there was no Gatorade bathtub, and there was no cheering. Instead, the workforce quietly met within the center of the sphere, as Wright talked to the workforce about enchancment.

“The penalties and turnovers killed us all day long,” Wright mentioned within the aftermath of his second profession loss to Central. “We just didn’t play well. We played about as badly as I’ve watched us play.”

Northwest dedicated 5 turnovers — two fumbles and three interceptions. Three of the turnovers got here within the fourth quarter, whereas the Bearcats have been within the midst of making an attempt to beat a 23-14 deficit.

After Central redshirt freshman Jaylen Cottrell took the Bronchos’ first play of the second half 83 yards for the rating, the Bearcats discovered themselves down 20-7.

The Northwest sideline remained seemingly silent for half of the third quarter, till its third drive of the half. On a first-and-10 from the Bearcats’ 43-yard line, senior quarterback Braden Wright, who was making his second-half debut on the drive, snapped the ball and almost instantly mounted his gaze downfield.

The Elkhorn, Nebraska, native scanned the sphere and, finally, launched a ball to junior wideout Trevon Alexander. Just as the ball was about to zip previous Alexander’s head, the junior jumped as much as make the catch over the Central defender. The 36-yard completion set the offense up on the Bronchos’ 21 and helped lead it to its first landing of the half with 5:40 remaining within the third quarter.

“We were looking for a man matchup on that,” Alexander mentioned. “The best man got the ball, and that’s what happened.”

While Alexander’s catch switched his sideline from being quiet to creating the identical sort of commotion Central did later, it was shortly reversed after the Bronchos made a 43-yard subject aim on the next drive to go up 23-14 with simply 1:48 left within the third.

Dorrel mentioned he’s proud of how his workforce responded after it appeared as although Northwest was gaining momentum.

“I thought our guys didn’t panic, and we went out and got a little more aggressive,” Dorrel mentioned.

Keeping calm helped the Bronchos maintain the Bearcats scoreless for the ultimate 20 minutes and 46 seconds of play — with assist from three Northwest turnovers. The subject aim by Central was in the end the ultimate rating of the sport, and the Bronchos upset Northwest 23-14.

Wright mentioned his workforce’s efficiency was not superb, however he additionally credited the Bronchos with being ready whereas the Bearcats weren’t.

“We’re not a good enough football team to overcome all the mistakes that we made on the field today,” Wright mentioned.

“It’s a big win for our program,” Dorrel mentioned. “It’s not about me, it’s about our team, and I’m just really proud of them.”

Northwest was given its first loss of the season by its former coach, who guided the Bearcats to a few undefeated seasons throughout his six-year tenure. With the win, Dorrel has received towards all MIAA groups.

The win for Dorrel is greater than only a milestone for him, although. With the loss, and Pittsburg State’s win over Emporia State, the Gorillas are actually No. 1 within the MIAA as the one remaining undefeated workforce.

According to Alexander, the loss is nothing greater than a mistake.

“We beat ourselves, and that’s the only team that could ever beat us,” Alexander mentioned. “So, as far as I’m concerned, as long as we focus on ourselves from now — I mean, that’s all we can do — because there’s nothing that the other team did, in my opinion, that could ever beat us. I think we are our greatest opponent, and it showed.”