Although the final scoreboard mayhavereadSulphur 68, Madill 0, the improvement displayed by the youthladen Wildcat football was encouraging.
The end result against the top-ranked team in all of Class 3A was decided in a massive first quarter avalanche but the Madill youngsters continued to battle throughout the four quarters while showing their wares on the field.
“It was a very encouraging game for us as a staff,” head coachWadeCouchcommented. “No, we weren’t happy about the final score but they are the number one team in Class 3A for a reason. The first quarter was just a whirlwind in which we didn’t know what hit us and although the scoreboard didn’t show it we saw the most improvement we have had in a game all season. Kids were executing their assignments much better and we had a good feeling afterward about that.
“Octavio Lozano had a great game on the offensive line. He dislocated his pinky four plays into the first series of the game and kept playing the whole time. He had a good, consistent night for us. Steven Moreno ran the ball consistently well out of the backfield. Kyce Robinson continues to improve at center, and we thought Aaron Rodriguez did a really nice job on the offensive line as well. Rodrigo Cruces was by far and away our defensive standout and tackle leader. Brylon Gibson was consistently around the ball and was disruptive some as well. We had several guys that played pretty solid games.”
After facing powerhouse programs from Ardmore and Sulphur the past two weeks, the Wildcats should get a bit of a reprieve this week facing an 0-4 Pauls Valley club on the road.
The Panthers’ record might be a bit misleading though as they have also played a brutally tough schedule that included Dickson, MarlowandLindsayand even had a two-score lead against Seminole last Friday before seeing it slip away in a 24-22 loss.
Pauls Valley utilizes an up-tempo offensive attack fueledbyseniorrunningback Brody Brown.
“We are excited about the opportunity ahead of us Friday,” Couch said. “Pauls Valley had chances against Seminole. They should have won and had a ton of opportunities. That was a very different looking team than we saw against Lindsay. I think we have opportunities for success if we can play like we did against Sulphur and stack good plays together. It’s an opportunity that we haven’t had in the last four weeks. We know how our kids are going to prepare and think we have a good shot to be right in it. We have to play well though.”