Phoenix Murphy

Junior quarterback Phoenix Murphy during the game against Moore on Sept. 8.

 Peyton Martin/OU Daily

Norman High (0-3) fell to 6A-II Stillwater (1-2) 28-6 Thursday at Harve Collins Stadium.

Next, the Tigers begin district play at home against Edmond North (1-2) at 7 p.m. on Sept. 22.

Here are highlights and takeaways from Norman High's loss:

Takeaways

Norman High's flat start persists

Coming off a 42-point performance against Moore last week, Norman High coach Rocky Martin was hoping the Tigers would pick up where they left off.

Instead, in his words, Norman High started "flat." The Tigers lost 20 yards on their first drive of the game, with their third play being a 3rd and 13 sack for a loss of 17 yards.

That set the tone for the game as the Tigers failed to score a point on offense.

"We just weren't disciplined enough," Martin said. "We would move the ball here and there, and then we'd stall out. I feel like we got pushed around out there. They controlled the line of scrimmage and they controlled the game."

Martin's players attributed the offensive struggles to Stillwater's constant blitzes. 

"They brought a lot of blitzes and we just had to keep our eyes up," junior quarterback Phoenix Murphy said. "We just had to hit our assignments and play harder, and we didn't."

Tigers believe they didn't have right mentality

Despite its loss to Moore, Norman High took confidence from its offensive performance. But to the Tigers, that may have caused their third consecutive loss.

Senior wide receiver Port Hartsock believed Norman High was too complacent after the Moore game. After a 22-point loss, Hartsock thinks the Tigers have come back down to Earth.

"I think we got a big head after last week," Hartsock said. "We definitely came back down to Earth after this one. It was a huge mentality issue for us."

Martin also thinks Norman High lacked the right mentality, but for a different reason.

"The difference last week was we played with confidence. We didn't do that this week," Martin said. "We need to have the same amount of confidence every week, and we lacked what we did last week."

Martin ready to "throw out the losses" ahead of district play

Despite their 0-3 record, the Tigers can still make the playoffs with a good enough district record. Because of that, Norman High remains optimistic heading into district play. 

Martin says the Tigers aren't in "desperation mode" yet, but he wants more urgency in the coming weeks.

"We've got to clean some things up, and we have to do it quickly," Martin said. "With any mistakes we're making, we just have to put our guys in better situations. No matter how we did tonight, we just have to press forward."

Murphy echoed Martin's sentiments.

"We can't take much from tonight, but we have to put this behind us," Murphy said. "In district play, we're just gonna go out there like it's week one. It's a new season now."

Scoring plays

Stillwater 7, Norman High 0 (0:37 1st)

Running back Holden Thompson scored the game's first touchdown, a five-yard rush to give the Pioneers the lead.

Stillwater 14, Norman High 0 (6:31 2nd)

Thompson scored his second five-yard rushing touchdown of the game to extend Stillwater's lead.

Stillwater 14, Norman High 6 (3:24 2nd)

The Tigers scored their first touchdown with a 60-yard punt return from senior safety Dax Noles.

Stillwater 21, Norman High 6 (7:16 3rd)

Quarterback Chance Acord found wide receiver Heston Thompson wide open for a 30-yard passing touchdown. The score restored the Pioneers' two-score lead.

Stillwater 28, Norman High 6 (2:55 3rd)

Thompson scored his third touchdown of the game with a 70-yard rush. The Pioneers three-score lead would hold for the rest of the game.

Further Reading

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