Glenpool Football Forgetting Championship Past

By Kyle Dierking, NewsOn6.com

GLENPOOL, OK -- Glenpool coach Steve Edwards wants to make one thing clear.

"The best thing you can do about the past is forget about it - even if it's good," Edwards said. "My dad used to tell me, ‘don't be easily blown by any wind - good or bad.'"

It's easy to be blown away considering how much Glenpool blew out opponents during its state championship run last season. The defense had eight shut-outs, while outscoring opponents 509-50.

"Replacing that is impossible but making a new identity is what we have to do," Edwards said. "As a coaching staff, we have to make an identity with those guys and kind of let them not so much fill the shoes, but really make their own shoes to run in."

The Warriors wind of change begins with rebuilding a bruising line that was the crux of their success last season.  

"Last year we had a good line," said senior running back Marco Nelson. "Most of them started since they were sophomores. We have a young line this year and we just get them rotating in and getting used to the action."

"We just have to step up our game a little bit," said senior quarterback Derek Allen. "It's their first year of playing on the line, so they still don't know what they're doing. So we just have to step up our game a little bit and do better than usual."

Nelson, who rushed for more than 1,400 yards and 18 touchdowns last season returns, while Allen has stepped into the signal-caller position. He's a pocket passer and a downfield threat that the Warriors didn't have last season.

"I think he's a weapon that people haven't seen from us," Edwards said. "(Allen's) got a great arm; he's about 6-foot-3, 195 pounds and can run. He's a guy that can make some things happen for us that we didn't have last year."

Click here to follow Kyle on Twitter.