The Norman High Tigers and Norman North Timberwolves typically circle the Crosstown Clash on their schedule each season, but this year’s edition takes on different meanings for both teams.
The contest at 7 p.m. Thursday at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is a chance for both teams to prove something. For Norman North, it’s about proving they’re still the best team in Norman. For Norman High, it’s about proving they belong in the upper echelon.
The Timberwolves are coming off an 8-4 season featuring a playoff appearance and their third straight victory over the Tigers. Norman North finished 6-1 in district play, with its lone loss coming to renowned powerhouse Bixby.
Putting together its third consecutive winning season, coach Justin Jones has built a program that consistently contends for a playoff spot after five years at the helm.
“It’ll be an uphill battle, but these are games we should win,” Norman North junior quarterback Owen Eshelman said. “We just have to balance all the energy that comes with these games and not let distractions get to us.”
Eshelman is the Timberwolves’ new starting quarterback after the departure of Kamden Sixkiller. While Jones will rely heavily on his signal caller, he hopes Norman North won’t have to depend on one player to win.
Instead, Jones wants to win as a unit.
Instead of emphasizing a traditional run-first or pass-first gameplan, Jones hopes to be operational against the Tigers and match the intensity he and his players expect Norman High to bring. Even though it’s Norman North’s season opener, he wants to see as little rust as possible from his team.
“During season openers, there’s a tendency to worry about little things,” Jones said. “But, we have to stick to the operation. You have to be able to navigate the weird things that happen in game one and get into a routine as quickly as possible. We just have to be able to operate.”
If there’s a message Jones has for the Timberwolves, it’s to stick to the operation. That’s why Jones has told his players to memorize Norman North’s playbook to near perfection, visualize potential in-game adjustments and study the Tigers’ weaknesses.
Jones wants to see a well-oiled machine on Thursday, as you’d expect to see from any other winning program.
“We just have to make sure we’re focused, locked in and understanding every possible thing we could be in,” Jones said. “We need to understand different situations, play clocks, adjustments, potential counters and all the other little things we need to worry about. If we do that, we’ll follow our plan to win.”
Jones’ messages seem to have worked.
“I’m going really hard with the studying this week. I want to be up for anything and everything that could happen,” Timberwolves junior running back Will Lundquist said. “If we just operate how we're supposed to and just do everything we need, we’ll be fine.
“We definitely should win.”
Players return to the field after a time out. Norman North played Norman High Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016 in the first game played in the newly renovated stadium.
‘Underrated’ Norman High hopes to cause upset
On the other side of town, Norman High is embracing an underdog mentality after a disappointing 3-8 season in 2022. Despite their struggles, the Tigers were close to beating the Timberwolves last season, losing a 40-36 shootout.
If you talk to Norman High, you’ll hear terms like “underrated” used to describe the Tigers. That’s because, in their minds, they aren’t being talked about enough, having been left out of several preseason rankings including one from The Oklahoman on Sunday.
“I definitely think, as a team, we’re underrated by many people,” senior safety Dax Noles said. “But, the only thing that’s going to fix it is if we go out and win, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Coach Rocky Martin feels it too. He may understand why since the Tigers haven’t had a winning season since 2019. However, as he enters his seventh year at the helm, Martin hopes the Tigers’ performance on Thursday puts his team on notice.
Even if Norman High falls on Thursday, Martin hopes people see what he sees every day in practice: a physical, yet disciplined football team that always brings intensity.
“I just want to see great effort from us,” Martin said. “I want to see a lot of passion, excitement and pure joy about what we’re doing, regardless of what (Norman North) is doing. That’s what I want people to see when they see us in-person or watch our film.”
The Tigers believe they can “compete with anyone,” in the words of senior running back Devin Alexander. Martin is emphasizing the run game heading into Thursday, meaning he’ll hope to lean on Alexander to kickstart Norman High’s offense.
Noles describes the Tigers’ rush offense as their “bread and butter” and a sound strategy to beat the Timberwolves. That doesn’t mean the Tigers won’t pass, but Martin hopes to set it up with a quality run game.
“I think we’ll mix it up, but we’ve got to be able to run the ball first and foremost,” Martin said. “It’s typical for us, and we’ve got to hammer that down Thursday.”
For Alexander, he’s ready to take on the challenge.
“I think (the run game) is going to be very strong,” Alexander said. “For me, I just have to get down and get running and everything else will take care of itself. That’s a big thing for us this week.”
On defense, Martin wants to see the fundamentals while Noles hopes to “punish people” with the Tigers’ physicality.
“They’re not gonna want to get back up after we hit them,” Noles said. “We’re known to hit people, and we have to show that Thursday.”
When the Tigers talk about strategies and gameplans, things tend to slide back to their perception as an underrated team. To them, they haven’t gotten enough respect and will show up Thursday with a collective chip on their shoulder.
Norman High doesn’t want to be too outspoken with it but wants to prove others wrong against the Timberwolves.
“Everyone wants to be the best, but we also want more people talking about us,” Noles said. “I think after Thursday, everybody’s going to be talking about us as the team to beat.”
Norman High and Norman North are approaching the Crosstown Clash differently but share similarities as well. Both want to keep the distractions that come with playing at OU’s stadium at bay.
Both know the stakes of a city-wide rivalry, with some wanting to gain an upper hand over friends on the other team. Most importantly, both are expecting a “dogfight,” a term used by both sets of players to describe the game.
And on Thursday, both hope to leave the stadium being the talk of the town.
“There's a lot of distractions in a rivalry game,” Eshelman said. “It's a bigger venue. There's a lot of people in the stands. It's easy to get caught up. The way we prepare; it's got to be just business. We can’t lose sight of the main goal, which is to be the best in Norman.”
