Holland Hall, Metro Celebrate Championships

Holland Hall won its first ever state championship in football as it beat Lincoln Christian, 35-7, in the Class 3A final Dec. 11. 
Eight days later, Metro Christian repeated as champions with a 48-37 win against Washington in the Class 2A state championship game. Both games were played at Wantland Stadium at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. 

By Mike Moguin
GTR Sports Writer

Total Domination
Holland Hall won as it did in every game in 2020, by a rout. But it didn’t start that way. The Dutchmen had the ball first and were forced to three and out. Lincoln Christian, the 2019 3A champion, moved to the Holland Hall 36-yard line, but as it went for it on fourth down, Nunu Campbell intercepted a pass to set up the Dutchmen’s first TD.
Quarterback and University of Oklahoma baseball signee Wallace Clark threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Marc Gouldsby to make it 7-0, where it stood at the close of the first quarter. 
Holland Hall led 21-7 at halftime. 
“It was a great feeling just knowing that we were the first group to do it at Holland Hall, and just winning in general,” Clark said.“It was the goal from the beginning of the year and we put that in our minds, and when we finally accomplished it, it was just super satisfying to achieve what we were striving for.”
Clark had a phenomenal night, throwing three touchdown passes (17, 32 and 30 yards) and running for two others (three and five yards). He was 15-of-23 attempts for 268 yards and 15 carries for 130 yards. Gouldsby caught five passes for 130 yards. On defense, Army signee Owen Ostroski overcame being double-and-triple teamed, making eight tackles with three for losses. Zane Woodham and Matt Doyle recorded 18 and 11 tackles, respectively. Doyle also had 1 ½ sacks.  
 “It was super lively and exciting just because in every single game of the season, we didn’t know if it was going to be the last game of the season based on what was happening with the whole COVID protocols and everything,” Clark said. “So just being able to go out there and play for a state championship, let alone winning it, was very special.”
Clark said he sees a bright future for Holland Hall football. 

Back-to-Back 2A Champs
Metro Christian got behind Washington early by a field goal, but dominated the rest of the game, which was not as close as the score suggests. 
The Patriots (11-2) got the go-ahead touchdown at the end of the first quarter with a seven-yard TD pass from sophomore quarterback Kirk Francis to Breck Nauman.
Metro raced to a 28-10 advantage at halftime and was up 34-10 in the third quarter before the Warriors put up some points in the last two quarters. 
Metro was able to celebrate winning a gold ball for the second straight year. 
“It was great (to win state for a second straight year),” senior linebacker Cade Gibson said. “Not knowing if we were going to play this year and be able to make it all the way, this was about as good as it can get. So it was wonderful.”
“We were in control pretty much the whole game, except the first two drives,” Gibson said. “We made a few mistakes and had a couple of penalties late in the game, but other than that, we had pretty much won. We played an almost-perfect game.”
Gibson was the key defensive player of the game with 24 tackles, with 10 solo, 7 ½ for loss of yardage. 
“I couldn’t have done it without everybody else,” Gibson said. “I came in there knowing it was my last high school game and I was going to try to take advantage of every opportunity I got. With the help of great play calling, it set me up for the right places to be successful.”
Francis and teammate wide receiver Junior Sampson impacted the offense with incredible numbers. Francis threw for five touchdowns and 367 yards on 29-of-44 attempts. Sampson caught eight passes for 144 yards and two TDs.
“They were quite the duo on offense,” Gibson said. “It felt like they couldn’t miss. Kirk was on the money with every pass he threw and Junior was hauling in huge plays, one after another. I’m really proud of them.”
Gibson is also excited about the future of Metro football.
“They’re going to be really good,” Gibson said. “I’m going to be excited to come watch them play these next couple of years. We have a great team and a lot of talent that can do great things.”