— Porter: 11 is enough

If you weren’t aware that the Pirates haven’t been in 11-man league football since 2003, you wouldn’t have known judging by their performance Friday night defeating Drumwright 52-22.

Even with the victory, Porter coach Ron Coppedge sees improvements.

“We still weren’t firing on all cylinders, we had three turnovers and didn’t take care of the ball well,” he said. “We have room to grow and improve throughout the season.”

Coppedge was impressed with his backfield of quarterback Marcus Scarborough and running backs Jacob Richardson and Marcus Bruner. Scarborough passed for 162 yards and two touchdowns. Richardson ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns and Bruner ran for 176 yards and touchdowns in the win.  

“Some teams are going to  find out we have more speed than what they think we have,” Coppedge said. “Bruner is our big back who runs through the holes and Richardson is our slasher, and when they lock in on those two we still have Scarborough who can tuck it and run.”

On Warner: “Coach (McMullen) has them pointed in the right direction. We need to play mistake-free football.”



Warner: Off a bit

Coach Chris McMullen’s first game as the Eagles head coach didn’t go according to schedule, losing the first game to Chouteau 19-14.

“I’m disappointed about the loss. We did a few things well, we just had breakdowns at the wrong time, and as a result we didn’t win the game,” explained McMullen.

The Eagles will have their hands full this week when they host Porter, 1-0 after its season-opening win.

“We have to get lined up right and make good tackles,” McMullen said. “They run many different formations and sets. We have our work cut out for us this week.”

Warner will have the chore of slowing down Jacob Richardson and Marcus Bruner, who combined for 304 yards rushing and five touchdowns.

‘We have no margin for error when we play such teams as Porter who has as much speed as they do,” McMullen said.



Midway: No film

First-year coach Jeremy Jackson has his work cut out for him when scouting his opponent this Friday night, Bokoshe. The Chargers coach is having a hard time finding any film on the team he’ll go on the road to meet.

Even without having film, though, Jackson is optimistic that this Friday night he will capture his first victory.

“The kid’s spirits are high right now, we made some adjustments and now just hoping to get on the winning track,” Jackson said.

If Midway gets its first victory, it’ll need a big game from senior running back Michael Campbell. Campbell rushed for 132 yards and three touchdowns in the loss to Gans.

”We need to have Michael be the workhorse for this offense and get at least 20-25 touches a game. It will help open up the offense if he does,” said Jackson.



Gore: Tale of two halves

After scoring 26 points in the first half against Hackett, Ark.,  the Pirates were held scoreless in the second half and almost watched their lead disappear.

Coach Brandon Ellis believes though they will get on track this week.

“We underestimated (Hackett) a little bit,” he said. “We are a better team than what we showed.”

There’s no underestimating this week’s opponent. Talihina routed Gore 44-19 on its way to a district championship over the Pirates last season and has won three of the last four meetings. Plus, it’s a road game for Gore.

The Pirates will rely heavily on the play of quarterback Logan Andrews, who combined for more than 200 total offensive yards last week.

“He’s a gamer. He got the rhythm of the game and settled down as the game went on,” Ellis said.

“The Talihina defense is aggressive and well disciplined, hopefully we can get the passing game going on them. It all starts with our offensive line, if they protect Andrews enough for him to throw the ball or tuck it and run then we will have success.”

Gore will face its own quarterback test on defense in Jordan Eagleroad.



Checotah: Rivals up next

The Wildcats don’t get to savor the victory over Poteau as long as they would like to, as the Wildcats now turn their attention to their rivals, the Eufaula Ironheads.

“Last week was definitely a big win, very happy beating Poteau, but this is Checotah-Eufaula. These kids don’t have to told about this game, they are already pumped up for it,” said coach Brandon Turley.

Checotah will have to  improve their red-zone scoring if they hope to get the victory at Eufaula on Friday night. The Wildcats were 0-for-3 in the red-zone against Poteau, plagued by penalties, one interception and one fumble.

The Wildcats’ senior class is hoping to become the first group to win three games in a row over the Ironheads since the 1990s. Eufaula is coming off a 36-8 loss to Keys.

— Compiled by Cody Moore