Ferguson, Owls still have ‘lot to accomplish’

It’s hard not to watch an Elgin football game on Oklahoma Sports Network and notice big No. 55 but to truly get a look at the imposing big man you need to see him play in person or just go to interview him.

At 6-3, 300 pounds, Keith Ferguson towered over me sitting on my scooter and it seemed he was 10-foot tall.

Turn on the recorder, though, and you get a totally different picture of a young man who loves the game of football and the town of Elgin and wants to do everything in his power to put it on the map.

“Yes, I have a lot of ties with Elgin, my brother played here, my entire family is here, this is home,” he said. “I played baseball early on but I got to the point where I found the most enjoyment came from football and I figured that was the best thing for me.”

It has helped that the Elgin administration has put together a good staff led by Head Coach Chalmer Wyatt, another native of Elgin.

“These coaches are just great, they are young and they have big aspirations for this program,” he said. “They have taken on the lives of these kids to form us into not just good players but good people. They are always coaching us up instead of breaking us down when we make mistakes.”

In the case of Ferguson and the offensive line the coach he works with most often is Offensive Coordinator/Line coach Adam Castro.

“We all love Coach Castro and know he is always trying to make us be our best,” the big senior said. “He always says, ‘it’s not what you say but what you do. Let your pads speak for you.’ He wants us to be technique based and wants us to be perfect.”

As one would expect, the offensive line is usually tight-knit and the Elgin group is no different.

“We are a close-knit group and we protect each other,” he said. “We talk with each other about how we can each do better.”

Friday the Owls are 8-0 and ranked No. 4 in Class 5A and will be hosting MacArthur which comes in at 7-1 and ranked No. 10.

“We talked a great deal about one game at a time and this wasn’t a game we set our sights because we set our goal to play on Dec. 2 and play for a state title,” he said. “This is one game in that process. But Mac is a big game to win and prove we can win in 5A as a smaller school.”

The Owls’ football program isn’t the only one enjoying success.

“We’ve drawn really good crowds and there is a great deal of excitement not just in football but in all sports,” he said. “They are building new stadiums for baseball and softball and this community just keeps growing. Many of the people

are friends and families who keep coming back here to live. They all part of this excitement.”

With his size and the success on the field it is obvious Ferguson will get his chance to play college football.

“I’m pretty good in the classroom with a 4.0 and a good ACT,” he said. “I learned a long time ago from my mom (Tonya Kirkpatrick Ferguson) that if I came home with anything but an A there was going to be trouble. An education is important in our family.”

This week the preparations are the same as they have been all season.

“We just have to be mentally strong and just do our jobs,” he said of the Mac game. “We want to follow our keys and techniques and see what happens. We haven’t worried about the other guys, just us. We aren’t doing anything special, just keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

While both teams will be pumped for the meeting, there was other motivation for the Owls after losing their last two games of 2022 to Midwest City and then Guthrie in the playoffs.

“When we came in for the first summer pride we were reminded that we were 0-2,” Ferguson said. “We haven’t done anything yet. We were on a two-game losing streak. Those two losses were hard on us. Right then we all knew we had a lot left to accomplishment.”

Clearly Ferguson and the Owls will be in the playoffs and he will be playing college football somewhere. Along the way he might just land a spot on the menu at the local burger hangout, Boompas.

Just what would the “Fergie Burger” include?

“Let’s see, two patties for sure, bacon, lettuce, tomato and probably hot links, that’s it, keep it old-fashioned,” he said.

While he might eat an old-fashioned burger he sure plays like a modern lineman who has his priorities right and loves his hometown and is eager to do his part to put it on the state prep football map.