Hornets shrug off mistakes, shut out Owls
■ Colcord picked up a season-opening 27-0 win against Fairland.
COLCORD, Okla. — Colcord (Okla.) was plagued by penalties and mistakes in its seasonopening game Thursday night, but the Hornets still had plenty of power to overwhelm Fairland (Okla.) in a 27-0 victory.
Colcord was flagged 14 times for 95 yards, including several penalties that wiped touchdowns off the board. The good news though was that most of the flags seemed to stem from playing aggressive, which is exactly what second-year coach Curtis Waltman wanted to see.
“Our kids are aggressive and we’re going to continue to teach them to be aggressive,” Waltman said. “So a lot of those were aggressive penalties. We’ll go back and we’ll correct them, but at the same time we’re not going to go back and take the aggressiveness out of our kids.”
Colcord rolled up 355 yards of total offense, while its defense hung in there against a Fairland ground attack that rushed 55 times for 173 yards.
The Hornets’ trio of offensive playmakers — quarterback Spencer Earp, running back Ryan Castleman and wide receiver Matthew Farris — all had big nights.
Earp rushed 11 times for 96 yards and completed 6 of 11 passes for 84 yards and two touchdowns. Both of those TD passes went to Farris, who hauled in three catches for 44 yards.
Castleman did a little bit of
everything. He rushed nine times for 119 yards and scored two touchdowns, including the opening score of the year on a 36yard run with 1:47 seconds left in the first quarter. Castleman caught four passes for 44 yards and threw a 36yard halfback pass to Farris that helped set up another Hornets touchdown in the second quarter.
Defensively, Castleman had a second quarter interception that he returned for a touchdown, but the score was called back because of a block in the back penalty. Castleman had another pick six in the second half that was called back altogether because of a roughing the passer flag.
“We were fortunate they were able to make plays when they made plays,” Waltman said of his big three seniors.
Colcord opened the game on defense, and Brandon Hedges recovered a Fairland fumble after the Owls had moved into Hornet territory.
Colcord gave it right back though on their first offensive possession when a 16-play drive was erased by an Earp interception in the end zone.
The Hornets scored on their next two offensive possessions — Castleman’s TD run in the first quarter and a 12-yard pass from Earp to Farris with 9:14 left in the second quarter to go up 14-0.
Colcord had a chance to increase its lead at halftime, but Castleman lost a fumble while trying to extend a long pass play near midfield.
“I think the biggest thing for us is to not shoot ourselves in the foot,” Waltman said. “As an offense, we had the ball four times in the first half and we turned it over twice. Those would have been touchdowns if we had not turned the ball over. So I think those are the type of things we have to clean up, but at the same time it’s always nice to get a victory, and then you can go fix all those things.”
Up 14-0 at halftime, the Hornets took the opening drive of the second half and marched 52 yards in four plays. Earp ran for 12 and 17 yards, and Castleman carried for five yards down to the 28.
Earp then hit Farris for a 28-yard touchdown pass to give the Hornets a 20-0 lead.
After stopping the Owls on defense, Colcord scored the game’s final touchdown on its next possession. Earp ran for nine yards, and Farris took a direct snap for 15 yards into Fairland territory.
Earp ran for 17 more yards to set up a 31-yard run around the right side for Castleman’s second touchdown of the game.
Because of a lack of depth and mounting injuries on the Owls’ side, the fourth quarter was played with a running clock.
Colcord’s defense allowed 184 yards of total offense, but 133 of that came in the first half.
The Owls’ running game had 122 yards on 29 carries in the first half led by running back Charles Reed and quarterback Jose Garcia. Fairland was also successful on 10 of 12 conversions on third and fourth down in the first half.
But fortunes changed for the Owls in the second quarter when Garcia went out with an injury and Fairland turned the ball over on downs on the Colcord six-yard line.
“Fairland played really hard,” Waltman said. “They lined up and moved the ball. I think it was a good challenge for us. At the same time though, we need to get off the field on third and fourth down. Their percentage, we tracked it at the half, they were 10 out of 12 on third and fourth down, so that right there is a critical stat for us.”
Colcord returns to action on Friday when it hosts Afton. Afton defeated the Hornets last season 55-12.
Colcord 27, Fairland 0
Fairland 0 0 0 0 — 0
Colcord 7 7 13 0 — 27
First Quarter
Colcord — Castleman 36 run (Difrancisco kick), 1:47.
Second Quarter
Colcord — Farris 12 pass from Earp (Difrancisco kick), 9:14.
Third Quarter
Colcord — Farris 28 pass from Earp (kick failed), 11:06. Colcord — Castleman 31 run (Difrancisco kick), 8:35.
Fairland Colcord
First Downs 15 14 Rushes-Yards 55-173 22-235 Passing Yards 11 120 Comp-Att-Int 1-5-1 7-12-1 Punts 2-27.5 1-49 Fumbles-Lost 5-1 1-1 Penalties-Yards 3-15 14-95
Individual Statistics
Rushing — Fairland, Reed 22-89, Garcia 14-46, Foust 1528, Powell 3-2, Jones 1-8. Colcord, Castleman 9-119, Earp 11-96, Farris 2-20.
Passing — Fairland, Garcia 1-2-1-11, Powell 0-3-0-0. Colcord, Earp 6-11-1-84, Castleman 1-1-0-36.
Receiving — Fairland, Padberg 1-11. Colcord, Castleman 4-44, Farris 3-76.
Missed Field Goals — None.