— Hilldale averaged 5.9 yards per carry with two backs combining for 212 rushing yards and scoring four touchdowns in the 26-7 victory against Jay this past Friday night.

It doesn’t exactly sound like a team that came into this season wanting to operate from the spread offense.

But coach Chad Kirkhart isn’t narrow-minded in his thinking. He’s watched approvingly as the Hornets have been doing some running — and scoring — out of the I formation this season.

“We’ve just evolved into that,” he said. “Josh (Giem) does a good job at fullback and Jamaul (Cullom) is doing well running with the football. It’s also an offense that fits us better up front. We’re more of a downhill team and we don’t pull a lot. We’ve got to figure out what we do best. We’re not going to be in the double tight end formation every play. But we’re not going to spread it out on every single play.”

Giem, also a starting linebacker for the Hornets, likes the I formation.

“We ran it pretty well against Stigler (in the opening week),” he said. “We didn’t do too much against Fort Gibson or Beggs and ran it quite a bit against Jay. I like it because it burns a lot of clock and that helps us a lot. I like pounding it down the other team’s throat.”

A senior, Giem enjoys the running formation as it satisfies his thirst for contact.

“We played a little of it when I was in the ninth grade and coach Kirkhart coached us then,” he said. “I just like to blow up the linebacker when I’m on offense. We usually get in it when we’re closer to the goal, but there’s no specific time when we’ll do it.”

In the District 3A-7 opener against Jay, quarterback Chandler Puckett ran for 98 yards and scored once while Cullom ran for a team-high 114 yards, averaging 9.5 yards per carry, and scored three times.

“I would say all of my yards, but one carry was out of the I,” Cullom said. “I think it works pretty well. It’s hard to stop a team from running it. But you can also pass out it and do a little play action.

“I didn’t think we would be doing it when we first started this season, but I like it because it’s a power formation and I like to run with the ball.”

The Hornets line up Friday at Inola for a non-district game. Both Hilldale and the Longhorns are 3-1 overall.

“Inola also runs from the I,” Kirkhart said. “They have a good-sized fullback. I think they’re better defensively than they are offensively. They have a couple of big tackles with good size. They have a left-handed quarterback (Zack Proctor) who slings it up there, but they want to run the football.”

Kirkhart doesn’t see his team having a problem with playing a non-district game right after opening league play last Friday night.

“We’re not going to play this game down,” he said. “We’ll prepare like we always do.”