Wildcats overcome miscues, Yellowjackets
A win is a win is a win is a win.
El Dorado got that win, 31-17 over Sheridan on Friday. The Wildcats are anxious to put that win behind them because it was not a thing of beauty.
“We did so many things that were uncharacteristic of us. The blocked punt, it looked like we were confused after watching the film. We didn’t do a good job in protection. It wasn’t anything special they did. We just didn’t block ‘em,” said El Dorado coach Scott Reed on Saturday. “Then, we mishandled a kickoff, which was easy. It was just a little popup. We had two guys run into each other. We had a fumble late in the game in four-minute, which, we don’t do. We had a fumble returned for a touchdown. We had a lot of adversity to overcome. It was frustrating for all of us. At halftime, there wasn’t anybody happy.
“But, I was really pleased with the way they hung in and finished. I was very pleased with that.”
The Wildcats improved to 3-3, 2-1 while the Yellowjackets slipped to 1-5, 0-3.
El Dorado had two punts blocked with another netting five yards due to intense pressure. The Wildcats muffed a kickoff, had a fumble returned for a touchdown and was flagged with four holding penalties, two facemasks and a pair of personal fouls.
“We have got to cut out these penalties. We had way too many penalties,” Reed said. “We get these holding penalties called and facemasks. I watched the film. For the most part, we’re guilty. We’ve got to do a better job of getting our hands inside. We have to do a better job of moving our feet when a guy tries to get off of us. We were a bit out of sync at times. But, that was a huge win because that game could’ve gone the other way.”
El Dorado’s offense was bailed out by a solid ground game. Alex Hicks rushed for 148 yards on 18 attempts with Keonte Larry adding 131 yards on 15 carries.
“I’m really pleased with Keonte Larry,” said Reed. “I think Coach (Claude) Johnson has done a tremendous job with him. He is competing. He is safe with the ball. He runs downhill. He finishes runs. I’m very pleased with the way he’s playing.
“I thought Thomas Crawford played pretty well. Watching the film, I thought Thomas Crawford played better at center than he had. I thought he got better. He did some good things. I thought Alex made some plays and did a good job. Devunte Kidd played hard and I was really pleased with (Derek) Jobe and Hunter Dear and Trey Norman.”
On a night when the offense struggled, the Wildcats made some big stops defensively when they had to.
“Defensively, we only gave up one touchdown. And, we had a number of penalties on that drive,” said Reed. “I saw Calab Scott go hit people and separate the ball. I mean, there was one play on our sideline where the ball was there and the kid caught it and Calab came and knocked it out. He made two or three hits that were good to see. We need that presence. We need his presence defensively, going and hitting people. I was really pleased with his play.”
Larry’s 64-yard touch-