Central Oregonian

CCHS, Redmond renew old rivalry

Cowboys host undefeated Panthers in IMC showdown

Lon Austin

October 04, 2012

When the Crook County Cowboys take on the Redmond Panthers at 7 p.m. tonight at Ward Rhoden Stadium, it will be the renewal of a fierce old rivalry.

For years, the matchup was the highlight of the football season. When the OSAA?moved to six school classifications three years ago, the two schools stopped playing each other.

Redmond moved up to Class 6A while Crook County dropped to Class 4A. Now that there are two high schools in the Redmond School District, Redmond has dropped to Class 5A and the two schools are once again playing each other.

Tonight’s matchup has the potential to be a real barnburner.

The Panthers are a perfect 5-0 while Crook County (4-1) is off to their best start in 20 years.

Redmond is averaging more than 42 points a game, while holding their opponents to less than 10 points a contest.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys are scoring more than 37 points a game while giving up 25 points a contest.

In addition, the Crook County offense has rolled into high gear the last three weeks as the team has scored more than 50 points a game during that span.

So far, Redmond and Crook County have played two common opponents. The Panthers knocked off Madras 41-14, and whipped Henley 47-7. The Cowboys stopped Henley 20-12 on the opening weekend of the season, then got past Madras 60-52 in a shootout two weeks ago.

Although Redmond has the advantage when it comes to a head-to-head comparisons, that may not tell the whole story.

The Panthers are a senior-laden team that has only a handful of juniors on the roster. The Cowboys, however, are a young and improving team. Although the squad relies on seniors at most of the skill positions, much of the rest of the team is still underclassmen.

The Cowboys could have easily blown Henley out. However, penalties killed several drives during the contest. Since then, the Cowboys have done a better job of limiting mistakes and their offense has looked sharper each week.

In addition, against Madison, the Cowboy defense looked strong until late in the contest after Crook County had an insurmountable lead.

Both teams rely on potent ground attacks for the majority of their firepower, although they have also shown the ability to pass when necessary.

The Cowboys rely on the one-two punch of Marcus Greaves and Brandon Zemp who are both averaging more than 100 yards a game on the ground. In addition, quarterback Joe Saenz is becoming increasingly more comfortable in his new role directing the offense.

Neither Redmond nor Crook County have played a particularly strong schedule so far this season. In fact, the Cowboys have faced just one opponent that has a winning record while the Panthers have played just two squads with winning marks.

Given the similarities in the two teams, the game is likely to come down to which team can get on top early.

Regardless of who wins, the game promises to be one of the most interesting contests to be held at Ward Rhoden Stadium in several years.

Because of the weak schedules, both teams still have questions that remain to be answered. When the dust finally clears tonight, we should know a lot more about both teams. Either way, one team is going to leave with a big win and a lot of momentum going into the second half of the season.