By JOE CLAXTON
For The Ada News
ADA — Noble Stadium in Ardmore, also known as the hottest place on earth around 7:30 in the p.m. in September, will host another round of Ada vs. Ardmore this Friday.
Hottest. At least that is how rival fans swear (sweat?) to it in the sticky hot aluminum stands with the driving Sooner sun bearing down in their faces from the west.
Though the current battle cry is just a youngster going into the meeting Friday night, 'Ardmore No More' fits quite nicely.
Though Ada leads the series by a 48-41-2 count, the gap has closed in recent years.
Though the schools had met many times before, 1986 was the beginning of the series as the opening game. As it has been since 1986, it is 'Ardmore No More' time again.
This renewal since the first meeting in 1922 is the closest of the three longest series for Ada. The longest, McAlester, was cut short two years ago due to scheduling errors at 60-31-1. Durant was renewed in 2012 only to increase Ada's lead to 57-11-2.
Another series highlight includes Ardmore and Ada inaugurating the new turf at East Central's Norris Field by playing the first game last year on the surface. Ardmore won, 36-19.
Ada did the same for Ardmore when the Tigers opened Noble Stadium in 1997. Ardmore won, 28-7.
Another twist came in the first-ever game. Coach Raymond Cox's crew took a beating in 1922 only to be awarded the game on a forfeit since Ardmore played an ineligible player.
The seven-year career at Ada for head coach Matt Weber has featured several twists.
Shortly after he took the reins in 2008, the new Ardmore coach was named. To everyone's surprise, it was none other than Ada coaching icon Larry McBroom, back from a second tour of Texas.
A capacity crowd at Noble Stadium watched McBroom's Tigers edge Weber's Cougars 14-7. McBroom got his 200th Oklahoma victory with the Cougars on the field, but they were on the wrong side of the field.
Weber defended home grass at Norris Field in 2009, 21-18. McBroom won the rubber match the following year at Ardmore, 28-7. before departing for another Texas tour.
Weber's Cougars are 2-4 in the Ardmore series and 1-2 with Doug Wendel as head coach.
New familiar face
Followers of football in the preps may do a doubletake of the Ardmore coaching staff.
The son of an Ardmore coach, and a 1968 grad of Ardmore where he played center and linebacker, new Ardmore assistant coach Jim Holloway also started his coaching career there in 1973 as an assistant.
From there, his career was highlighted by three state titles at Wynnewood in the James Allen-Tony Levy eras and bigger school stops at Altus and Duncan.
The Holloways had planned on moving back home to Ardmore for several years.
A chain of events made it sooner than expected.
"When things went south in Duncan (he declined reassignment there) things just really fell into place," he said.
"I've coached 42 years, 38 as a head coach and I couldn't work for just anyone and this worked out great moving home and working with a man like Doug Wendel. Doug is a fine man and we share a lot of the same philosophies on and off the field as far as building character and the like."
Holloway coached the Demons for nine seasons, compiling a 54-43 overall record. In his 38 years as a head coach, he won 259 games. He was inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2012.
Outake
When Holloway left the Wynnewood helm prior to the 1992 season, James Allen was a senior. In the press conference announcing leaving for Altus a sports guy asked the pointed question: "What does it feel like leaving a team with the best back you will ever coach with one more year of eligibility?'
Back then Holloway hemmed a bit, hawed a bit, something about a good one at Altus. Now, almost a quarter century of teams later, he does not hem, much less haw, when asked the same question.
"If there is another one like him out there, I never saw him."
Footnotes: Fellow Ardmore grad, the late Tom Downing, took over Allen's Wynnewood franchise and repeated as state champs. Allen went on to a career with OU and the Chicago Bears.
Weber's Ada and Holloway's Duncan met in the Class 5A 2011 playoffs and preseason scrimmages. Duncan won that first round playoff game, 42-13. Ada dropped to 4A the next year and mounted a 12-1 semifinal campaign.
The Recent Series
Ada vs. Ardmore
MATT WEBER ERA
2008 (5-6)
Ardmore 14, Ada 7
2009 (7-4)
Ada 21 Ardmore 18
2010 (5-6)
Ardmore 28, Ada 7
2011 (6-5)
Ardmore 28, Ada 0
2012 (12-1)
Ada 35 Ardmore 14
2013 (7-4)
Ardmore 36, Ada 19
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