“He’s had to learn to be patient,” McCray said. “As the fullback, he’s used to hitting the hole at 100 miles an hour. He’s the guy back there, now.”

With the new system, it’s been so far, so good for the Warriors. But tougher tests linger down the road. They will be at archrival Wayne (0-2) Friday.

“We’re not struggling with (the new system), but it’s taking a while,” McCray said. “We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there.”

Shawnee 41,Noble 18

SHAWNEE — It’s been two games and two losses for Noble. But coach Ray Crawley said it’s too early for the Bears to lose confidence.

“We have seen some progress,” Crawley said. “We have good players, and I think our guys know they have a chance to be really good.”

But it will take time. Friday, Shawnee overwhelmed the Bears at Jim Thorpe Stadium.

It was the first game back for Shawnee quarterback Tucker Brown, who was suspended for last year’s Class 5A semifinal game against Tulsa East Central.

Brown rushed for 109 yards and completed 8-of-13 passes for 185 yards as the Wolves built a 41-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.

“We couldn’t tackle him,” Crawley said.

Shawnee outgained Noble 322-245. Noble scored all of its points in the final 9 minutes against Shawnee reserves.

The good news is the district season hasn’t started yet. But Crawley still wants to see some improvement when the Bears play at Ada Friday. The Cougars are 1-1 and suffered a 64-9 loss at Carl Albert last Friday.

“We’re still trying to find ourselves on offense,” Crawley said. “We didn’t score (against Shawnee) until the start of the fourth quarter. We started to move the ball a little bit, which is a good sign, I would hope.”