Edmond Memorial Looks to Upset Jenks

Originally Published: Nov 17, 2009 10:45 PM CDT

Jessica Coody
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

EDMOND, Oklahoma -- Playing the underdog, it’s a familiar role for Edmond Memorial. For the second week in a row, the Bulldogs are not a favorite to advance, as they face top ranked Jenks in the state quarterfinals.

“We’re an underdog to everybody else but ourselves. We believe in ourselves and that is the way we are going to approach it,” Bulldog Head Coach Justin Merideth said.

“Those outside people telling us we can’t just motivates us more,” Bulldog senior Blake Umberham said.

Even so, playing Jenks at home will not be an easy task. The Trojans have not lost a playoff game at home since 2005. The Bulldogs have not been in the playoffs since 1994, let alone face a heavy favorite Jenks team on the road.

“Playing a different environment is tough to do when you are the away team. Coming from the City and going up to Tulsa, that’s not what a lot of teams like to do, but it’s the playoffs and it’s something you got to do. So we’re going to go up there and do what we do best.” Bulldog running back D’Juan Brooks said.

Edmond Memorial will once again look to their defense to keep them in the game. Coming off a huge performance against Mustang, the Bulldog defense held the high-powered Mustang offense to just one score. A pretty impressive feat given the fact that many people considered Mustang one of the top offenses on the west side of the state.

Edmond Memorial’s offense is coming off one of its most impressive performances of the season, scoring 38 points against Mustang. Before last Friday’s game, the offense had struggled in the red zone. But the Bulldogs feel they are hitting their stride at just the right time.

“We’re peaking right now offensively and that’s a good thing coming into the second round of the playoffs,” said Umberham.

“That’s the one area we were lacking. We’d moved the ball pretty well but we’d have a penalty or turnover in the red zone and it slowed us down a little bit. Last week we didn’t do that and it showed our guys if we execute and we don’t make those mistakes we’re pretty good,” Merideth said.

The Bulldogs will look to upset the Trojans Friday night at 7:30 at Hunter-Dwelley Stadium in Tulsa. Be sure to log on to Oklahoma Sports for all of your playoff scores and highlights.