Although it was a forgettable opening week for the Madill Wildcats in a loss to Kingston, head coach Wade Couch found a few bright spots with his young unit.
He pointed specifically to senior captains Landon Clutter and Brayden Gray as providing key leadership throughout.
“Sure, it got away from us pretty quick last week,” Couch said. “If you turn the ball over like we did early against a good club like that, badthingsareprobablygoing to happen, and it snowballed on us fast.
“I was super proud of the effort and attitude though. Our kids never quit. Landon and Brayden were big bright spots in my eyes. They never wavered in positivity and are great leaders for us, which is a major key when half your team is freshmen.”
This week should be a much better opportunity for the Wildcats against a Marietta squad that will be in muchthesameboatasMadill with limited numbers and a host of youngsters.
The Indians have just four seniors on the roster but do have some talented Santiago Diaz, who is coming off a knee injury that sidelined him a season ago.
“Marietta is a very talented team and you can see they have several good players when you watch them on film,” Couch said. “It looks though like we match up a whole lot better sizewise with them as opposed to Kingston. They are also in the same boat as us in which they lack much depth because of their numbers. It should definitely be a bounce back opportunity that we are looking forward to.”
Unlike Madill, which has a game under its belt now, Marietta will take the field for the first time this season on Friday night, which could present some obstacles for the Indians.
Couch, like many other coaches, is quick to point out also that the most improvement in the season usually comesfromWeek1toWeek2.
“We talked on Monday before practice about the improvement that usually happensfromWeek1toWeek 2,” he said. “We are working to make steady improvement and progress each day. We’re excited that our numbers are up to 40 players and with 20 of those being freshmen it’s exciting for the future.
“Hopefully that game under our belt will work to our advantage.Theywilllikelybe testing things out for the first time in live competition, like special teams, so that should give us an edge.”
Couch also stressed that defensive discipline will be vitalagainsttheIndians,who run a veer type offensive attack that utilizes motion and misdirection well.
“We have to be disciplined on defense and do a better job communicating,” he added. “We need to be more consistent offensively and play with passion. If we can control those things we feel like we’ll have a good chance. It’s going to be great playing at home as well.”
The Wildcats will also honor legendary head coach Blake Smiley before the contest Friday night. Smiley guided the Wildcat football team for nearly 20 successful years from the early 1970s to the early 1990s, averaging more than six wins per season along with several playoff appearances.