Colcord set for playoffs
The Hornets lost at Adair 36-20 on Sept. 15.
Colcord (Okla.) has a weapon it didn’t have during a 36-20 loss at Adair in Week 4.
Senior Matthew Farris is finally at full strength after missing more than a month due to a bone spur in his ankle. He suffered the injury during Week 3, a 41-19 win against Westville.
The Hornets (5-5, 3-3 District 2A-7) return to Adair for the first round of the Oklahoma Class 2A playoffs. They were 2-1 before Farris went down and have won two of their last three since his return.
“Matthew is a great kid and was our QB last year,” said Colcord third-year coach Curtis Waltman. “We moved him over to wideout this year because of the problem he presents for defenses.
“And he’s just now getting at full-strength as far as what he can do with his ankle.”
At 6-foot-5, 235 pounds with agility — now that he’s healthy — Farris is a matchup problem for linebackers or defensive backs to cover.
In last week’s 56-12 win against Kansas, Farris caught six passes for 52 yards and a touchdown. Farris’ presence helped free up senior playmaker Ryan Castleman, who used the extra space to cash in on nine passes for 172 yards and a touchdown and rush four times for 28 yards and two touchdowns.
The offensive catalyst is senior quarterback Spencer Earp, who accounted for more than 400 yards and five touchdowns. He also had a 66-yard interception return for a touchdown.
With Farris back and
A lot of what we’ve been able to do offensively has been since (Farris’) return. Curtis Waltman Colcord coach
Earp’s accuracy improving with two big targets (Castleman is 6-3, 190), the offense is clicking heading into the playoffs. Colcord also put up 56 points at Ketchum in a Week 8 win. With three seniors triggering the offense, it’s also resulted in a much higher tempo between snaps.
“A lot of what we’ve been able to do offensively has been since (Farris’) return,” Waltman said. “When you start throwing the ball all over, you tend to extend the game. The thing you don’t want to do is have a bunch of quick three-and-outs because it puts lots of pressure on your defense, but our kids have done a nice job of executing the offense and keeping the clock moving to help keep our defense off of the field.”
Adair (8-2) has won seven games in a row and went 6-0 in 2A-8 play to earn the top seed from the district. The Warriors outscored 2A-8 opponents 326-96 by using a spread offensive attack from multiple formations to go along with a defense that “does a good job of gang tackling.” Their offense is similar to what the Hornets’ run, so Waltman hopes the familiarity of his team’s own offense will help its defense on Friday.
“They present a lot of problems because of how complex they are offensively,” Waltman said. “They’ll line up in a lot of formations, and run a lot of stuff out of the Pistol or an I-set with one-back.
“We obviously have a lot
of experience against that, but because of the number of things they do, we’re going to have to play sound defensively.”