Ryan Breeze was still eight years away from being born the last time Lawton High was the only city team to make the playoffs.
It’s been that long. Forty-four years to exact.
And that was only one of several accomplishments for the first-year coach this season.
Under Breeze’s watchful eye, the Wolverines became the first team in Oklahoma history to reach 800 wins. LHS also won a second-straight city championship, receiving national attention from the Great American Rivalry Series in the process.
Despite those accolades, it was a fairly rocky first three months at the helm for Breeze.
The Wolverines tallied its worst record since 2012, finishing only one game above .500 at 6-5. One of the main reasons for that was a lack of balance between offense and defense.
LHS had one of the best offenses in Class 6A-II, averaging about 37.4 points per game. The defense, however, gave up an average of 34.8 points.
Just looking at those numbers, it appears the Wolverines belong in the Big 12.
In its five losses, LHS surrendered 49.8 points per game. That’s just more than seven touchdowns on average.
The worst of those losses came in the first round of the playoffs against No. 2 Bixby. The Spartans never let up, racking up 551 yards on the way to a 70-14 win.
According to IWasAtTheGame.com records, which stores results for every LHS season since 1944, the 56-point margin was the worst in program history.
Furthermore, 70 was the most points the Wolverines have given up since a 68-28 loss to Edmond Santa Fe in 2012.
“It kind of snowballed on us in the second quarter,” Breeze said. “Bixby is obviously the best team we’ve seen, and we didn’t put our best foot forward or play our best game in any facet. Having seen everybody else, unless something crazy happens, I don’t see anybody knocking those guys off. They don’t have a weakness, and they’re good at every level on both sides of the ball.”
Even with the disappointments, though, Breeze and LHS have plenty to look forward to.
Starting quarterback Eric Wiley returns for his senior season, as well as his top three targets at receiver — Chateau Reed, Demarcus Andrews and Caelab Fuller.
The Wolverines are losing star running back Miles Davis, who rushed for more than 4,300 yards and 52 touchdowns the past two seasons, but the likes of Drelin Simpson and Jaketrian Nolan have shown the ability to run the ball well.
Defensively, LHS returns its top three leaders in tackles, sacks and interceptions, so expect the Wolverines to show significant growth on the defensive side.
Along with Reed, Andrews and Fuller, Kaden Henley, Jeremiah Magee, Elijah Reyes and Micah Avendano are some notable defensive returners for next season. That group combined for more than 400 tackles, seven interceptions and nine sacks in 2018.
Breeze acknowledged that things didn’t go as expected this season, but even in the face of adversity, his coaching staff kept the players positive and playing at a high level.
“We didn’t win it all, so I can’t give myself an A for this season,” Breeze said. “We didn’t hang a banner, and we didn’t win the last game, so it’s obviously not an A. I’d say a low B. I thought we did a really good job of taking what we had and getting to the playoffs. We felt we should’ve been higher, but we didn’t take care of business against Midwest City and Stillwater. The staff did a phenomenal job, though.”