Mitchell, Richard will take Edmond rivalry to national level

On Wednesday, Hunter Richard and Brendan Mitchell signed their long-awaited National Letters of Intent to play football collegiately. While they’ll get to experience all the new happenings that comes with being a collegiate student-athlete, one familiar thing will tide the two over: Edlam. Richard and Mitchell have competed as rivals for the better part of the last four years, as the two have been members of rival Edmond schools. Now, after similar trajectories, the two will take their rivalry to the Army-Navy game. Richard, from Edmond North, signed with the United States Military Academy, in West Point, after a solid season from the Huskies defensive line. Richard was a big part of a good North defensive unit — composed of arguably the best front-seven in Edmond — when he registered 53 tackles. Included in the tackles was 7 sacks and 3 tackles-for-loss. Mitchell, from Edmond Memorial, inked his intent to attend the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis on Wednesday afternoon, after being the sole-bright spot on a struggling, two-win Bulldog team. Mitchell did what he could despite having the only quarterback-core in Edmond to throw for more interceptions than touchdowns, grabbing 5 touchdowns on 58 receptions for a grand-total of 692 receiving yards — 530 more than Memorial’s second-best receiver. Mitchell’s Memorial Bulldogs won the first three contests against Richard’s Huskies by a combined score of 90-38, but Richard got the last-laugh after North’s defense held the Bulldogs to only two touchdowns during a 25-17 North win this season. Now, the two will take their rivalry to the final game of the Commander in Chief’s Trophy Series. And, much like their high school rivalry, the athletes’ selected-schools have been following similar trends. After the schools’ first meeting in 1890, the series-record was well-balanced at 49-46-7, favoring the Black Knights. After 2002, though, the Midshipmen rattled off fourteen-consecutive wins to take a 60-49-7 advantage. Then, Jeff Monken took over Army head-coaching duties in 2014, and now that his recruits are starting to take hold of his system the Black Knights have won consecutive contests for the first time since the 1995-1996 seasons. Despite the two teams both having winning-records only four times in the last 50 years, the game has always been nationally televised. Two of the winning-season contests have been the most recent, though, with the teams combining for a 30-15 record in the 2016 and 2017 collegiate seasons. The game has been and will be consistently held in Philadelphia, due largely in-part to the massive attendance records of the contest. Neither academy has facilities able to fill the attendance requirement, as the game routinely draws near-70,000 non-media attendees, normally including the sitting President of the United States. Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles, will host three of the next four contests, with only 2021’s contest coming outside the City of Brotherly Love when the Giant’s MetLife Stadium will play host.

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Edmond North High School Athletics

MITCHELL, RICHARD WILL TAKE EDMOND RIVALRY TO NATIONAL LEVEL

AARON ALBERTSON

Edmond Sun | 12/27/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Edmond Sun