slideshow

It’s been said that winning can cure everything. Last Friday night the Altus High Bulldogs recorded their first win of the season over Chickasha and was just the right medicine.

It was a big district opening victory and now the Bulldogs turn their attention toward the Duncan Demons. Altus travels to Duncan on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. contest at Haliburton Stadium.

It was sweet taste of victory for the Bulldogs and Coach Chad Stone said it made a big difference.

“Everything is better after a win,” Stone said.

The most notable difference came quickly in the amount of film the starters watched over the weekend. Stone said after the first three games those starters watched about an average of one hour of film on the weekend. After the Chickasha victory those starters watched an average two and one-half hours of tape.

The film can is sent to the players via their cell phones. Therefore the coaches can track how much tape they watched. “It’s amazing what we can do with technology,” Stone said.

The focus this week is to put together four good quarters of football, something that the Bulldogs have not done in the first four games.

“We’ve talked about it and we hope we are focused to go four quarters, Stone said. It’s not conditioning, we’re in good shape.”

Former AHS head coach Jim Holloway remains at the helm of the Duncan football program and he has gone back to an friend.

Duncan runs out of the wishbone offense, an offense that Holloway has had so much success in his coaching career.

“It’s a straight wishbone, three yards and a cloud of dust,” Stone said.

You would think since not many run the wishbone, it could present a problem for defenses.

“What’s funny about it is that we say you don’t see it that much,” Stone said. “Last week for the vast majority of the game, Chickasha is in a double tight I and their very run happy. Before that we see Lawton Eisenhower, they are in a pistol option run attack. Then the week before that we see Vernon and their are in a wing t running attack. It’s interesting to see how cyclical the game is and defenses evolve to stop a spread game. And now the offensive coaches are putting more people in the box and they say let’s run. So the defensive coaches are going to have to get more people in the box and get them use to playing that type of football. That’s what’s fun about coaching is the whole chess match.”

The Demons love to run the football. In the first four games of the season 75 percent of their offensive plays have been runs.

A good part of the reason Duncan’s runs the football lies with its huge offensive line that averages about 260 pounds per man.

Fans will see a lot of option and a lot of power football. According to the scouting report when the Demons run the option they either give it to fullback or quarterback Tanner Norton, (5-9, 180 Sr.) runs it. They don’t pitch it very often.

“I would say 90 percent of the time they are going to leave it with the fullback or the quarterback is going to take it,” Stone said. “They pitch it very seldom.”

Defensively the Demons will line up in both a five man and four man front. Their linebackers Stacee Morrison (5-6, 160, Soph.) and Logan Gadbow (5-5, 175, Sr.) are big play makers and they run to the football well.

Up front, defensive end John Jones (5-9, 197) and defensive tackle Caleb Longest (6-1, 247), son of former AHS assistant coach Kim Longest, have played well in their first four games.

Bulldog notes: Duncan comes into the contest with a 2-2 mark and are 1-0 in district play. Like the Bulldogs, Duncan played a tough non district schedule. The lost to top ranked Guthrie and Carl Albert while beating Weatherford. They defeated Oklahoma City Capitol Hill in their first district game.

Altus is 1-3 and 1-0 in the district. The Bulldogs lost to Vernon, Texas, Lawton Eisenhower and Lawton High before defeating Chickahsa last week.

Stone cited senior linebacker Patrick Carnes for good play in the Chickasha game. He made 10 tackles. “He is getting comfortable with his reads,” Stone said. “That is also a testament to how the defensive line play, keeping their offensive line off the linebackers.”

Senior wide receiver Demaurie Randle will be available for the Duncan game. He suffered a knee injury in a pre season scrimmage with Weatherford.