EDMOND — Norman running back Joe Willie cut through the middle of the defense as he eyed the end zone.

Willie made one defender miss, then another, as the Tigers' running back scampered 34 yards for a touchdown in Norman's 21-3 win over Edmond Memorial.

“He ran hard, he ran physical and I felt the offensive line played really good,” Norman coach Rocky Martin said.

Willie ran for 169 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.

It was a sloppy game, one in which Norman had 11 penalties for 108 yards, but the Tigers' defense came to play.

Memorial fumbled the ball four times, turning it over twice, and struggled all night offensively. The Bulldogs gained 150 yards the whole game compared to the Tigers' 336.

“Edmond Memorial played tough and they gave us everything we could handle,” Martin said.

In the first half, Norman and Edmond Memorial had trouble finding the end zone.

The first points of the game didn't come until several minutes into the second quarter. Norman's penalties kept them from putting together successful drives.

Norman's lone score of the first half came on their only drive where the team wasn't penalized. Facing third-and-12 at Memorial's 15-yard line, Tigers' quarterback Ryan Haley found Gabe Ferguson across the middle for Norman's first score.

Memorial had multiple chances in the red zone in the first half, but failed to convert. Toward the end of the second quarter, the Bulldogs had the ball on Norman's one-yard line.

But Memorial was called for a false start and couldn't gain the yardage back, resulting in a 21-yard field goal.
