Some traveled across states and others around the globe, but no matter the distance, being in Hulbert, Oklahoma, for Labor Day weekend was a must for graduates of Rift Valley Academy.

It’s been a while since the class of 1974 reminisced. Rift Valley Academy High School graduates live all around the world.

“And who would have known Oklahoma’s the center of the world,” said alumni Thad Peterson of Tanzania. 

So, the class is celebrating its 50th high school reunion in Hulbert, Oklahoma.

“We’ve got people here from east Africa, from Europe, from Canada, from all over the United States, and so it’s just good to get back together and compare notes,” said alumni Mark Alison of Arkansas. 

As they caught up on half a century of life, they looked back on their years spent together at their Kenyan boarding school.

“At first, it’s a little awkward because where do you start? 50 years covers a lot. But I think once we get chatting, it’s easy, it just sort of flows,” said graduate Donna Whitson of Texas. 

Some classmates set up makeshift “dukas,” a Swahili word for store, to help the space feel a little more like Africa.

“Some beadwork or jewelry that they’ve made, or just some artifacts from Africa. A lot of us are downsizing, and so we brought some of those maybe for other people to take home,” Whitson said. 

An opportunity for them to make their current homes feel like the ones from their teenage years.

“If you went to a big family reunion and you hadn’t seen these people in a long time, and it just really feels like that connection. We just really feel like a family; we still have that connection of home, which is Africa,” said Whitson. 

With nearly all of their graduating class in attendance, they look forward to this weekend’s celebrations back together again. “I think about the common heritage that we share that is very different and unique, and we’re just privileged to be able to celebrate it together,” said Whitson. 

Associated Press

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — It’s finally Jackson Arnold’s time.

The former five-star quarterback opens the season as No. 16 Oklahoma’s starter after waiting behind Dillon Gabriel last season. He will lead the Sooners against Temple on Friday night in his second career start.

Arnold steps into a position that has produced like few others in college football. Oklahoma has featured Gabriel, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts, Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams at quarterback in the past decade. Mayfield and Murray each won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma and Williams played a year with the Sooners before transferring to USC and winning a Heisman there. Mayfield, Murray and Williams were No. 1 overall picks in the NFL draft.

Arnold understood the history when he signed. He hopes to someday have a statue at Heisman Park across from Memorial Stadium – an honor previously bestowed upon Oklahoma’s seven Heisman winners, including four quarterbacks.

“It’s a ton to live up to,” he said. “But at the same time, I want to create a name for myself, create a legacy for myself, and really, I don’t want to be compared to one of those guys. I want to be the best version of myself, and hopefully I can get a statue out there one day.”

Arnold passed for 361 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions in his first college start, a loss Arizona in the Alamo Bowl last season. He left an impression on Temple coach Stan Drayton.

“That was a very talented football player that we saw playing quarterback against Arizona,” Drayton said.

Backup quarterback

Freshman Michael Hawkins won the battle with Casey Thompson for the spot behind Arnold.

Thompson has passed for 5,338 yards in a career that took him to Texas, Nebraska and Florida Atlantic before he landed where his father, Charles Thompson, played quarterback in the 1980s.

Coach Brent Venables considered it no small feat that Hawkins earned the spot over such a proven veteran. Venables said Thompson has been a great mentor for the younger quarterbacks, but Hawkins performed better overall.

“Mike has shown us a lot of things,” Venables said. “Tremendous playmaker, really focused and locked-in. Fundamentally sound. He’s got a big arm. He’s a quick decision maker. He can improvise and keep his eyes down the field. He can beat you with his legs. As I said, there’s not a route that he can’t excel in.”

Not naming a QB

Drayton resisted naming a starting quarterback between Forrest Brock, Evan Simon and Tyler Douglas. It wasn’t that he hadn’t picked one, it was that being undecided seems to have helped the Temple quarterback room.

“What I’m not going to do today is announce a starting quarterback,” he said during his weekly availability. “I have a great competitive situation going on in that room right now, and I don’t want to lose that edge. Iron sharpens iron mindset, and everybody in that room is is getting better.”

Temple Tuff

Temple has named its Temple Tuff players as selected by their teammates who will wear single digit numbers this season.

This year’s honorees are linebacker D.J. Woodbury (0), receiver Ian Stewart (1), safety Andreas Keaton (2), defensive end Tra Thomas (3), cornerback Elijah Deravil (4), receiver Dante Wright (5), defensive tackle Latrell Jean (7), tight end James Della Pesca (8) and defensive tackle Demerick Morris (9).

Stewart is the only one returning from last season.

Anderson out

Oklahoma receiver Nic Anderson will miss the opener as he recovers from an undisclosed injury. The 6-foot-4 sophomore caught 38 passes for 798 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Oklahoma already had announced it had lost receiver Jayden Gibson for the season with a knee injury.

Andrel Anthony, who led Oklahoma in yards receiving last season before being knocked out for the year with a leg injury, will be available.

Quotable

Drayton, after being pressed about the quarterback situation: “That’s for us, not for y’all. I apologize.”

___

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Now that South Dakota State is (sort of) in the game — that is, EA Sports College Football 25, of course I had to simulate their Week 1 clash with No. 17 Oklahoma State at Boone Pickens Stadium.

It is, of course, not a completely accurate simulation. While the game already comes with the Cowboys roster fully loaded and the players accurately rated, I had to create the Jackrabbits, and edit the prefabricated roster as well as I could to somewhat resemble the Jackrabbits.

My SDSU creation has an overall team rating of a 72, compared to an 84 for OSU, for what that’s worth.

Instead of ‘playing’ the game myself, I set it up and let the computer control both teams.

Here’s what happened:

– The Jacks got the ball first and moved quickly into the red zone on passes to Davin Stoffel and Devon Cole, but back to back sacks pushed SDSU all the way back to the 35, and Hunter Dustman’s 52-yard FG was wide right, and SDSU came up empty on an 11-play drive.

– The SDSU defense forces a 3 and out.

– The Jacks again move into the red zone, are again pushed back by a sack, and again miss a field goal. Still 0-0 despite two good drives for SDSU.

– The Cowboys take the lead on a 55-yard streak from Alan Bowman to Rashod Owens. 7-0 OSU.

Halftime

– OSU goes 3 and out, the drive killed by a Randy Keumonge sack.

– SDSU ties it up on a 58-yard drive that ends in a touchdown pass from Mark Gronowski to Griffin Wilde and includes a fourth-down conversion in the red zone.

– OSU answers with a 10-play, 82-yard drive, with Ollie Gordon taking it in from 3-yards out to make it 14-7.

– A pick six by OSU’s Korie Black on an underthrown fade puts the Cowboys up 21-7 with just over a minute to play in the game.

– Gronowski is sacked on three straight plays to end the game.

Final score: Oklahoma State 21, SDSU 7.

The low score is largely due to the game being played with just five minute quarters (I didn’t have the patience to sit through full 15s), but otherwise played fairly realistically. The Jacks had success moving the ball, but the OSU pass rush on 3rd down killed their drives. The Jacks did a good job on Ollie Gordon, but that left them susceptible to the pass and the veteran QB Bowman made them pay.
It will be interesting to see if any of that plays out on Saturday.

Final stats:
SDSU
Gronowski 19-24, 167 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Amar Johnson 11-35
Griffin Wilde 6-56, 1 TD
Devon Cole 4-30
Cale Reeder 6 tackles
Daeton Mcgaughy 6 tackles, 1 sack

OSU
Bowman 8-10, 150 yards, 1 TD
Gordon 10-34, 1 TD
Collin Oliver 3 sacks, 10 tackles
Collin Clay 4 tackles, 1.5 sacks

Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.