Gore’s Cody Casinger runs with the football after recovering a fumble in game earlier this season. The Pirates will play at Savanna on Thursday night with the winner getting third place in District A-6. (Mike Erwin•TIMES)
Kickoff for the game at Savanna, which is located a few miles southwest of McAlester on U.S. Highway 69, is 7:30 p.m.
Taylor McBane, a 6-foot-3, 155-pounder, is the Bulldogs’ quarterback and Gore head coach Brandon Ellis is impressed with Savanna’s senior signal caller.
“He’s definitely the best we’ve seen,” Ellis said. “He has a great arm, he likes to scramble, and he has a lot of weapons to throw to. Number one (Tyler Inman) is their number one receiver, and he can go.”
Inman is a 6-3, 155-pound senior.
“They’ve got a spread, high-powered offense,” Ellis said. “They’ll spread you out and throw a lot of quick passes.
“Our defense has to have great pass coverage, and that should allow us time to get a great pass rush. Our line also has to be disciplined (because of McBane’s scrambling ability).”
Other key offensive players for the Bulldogs are wide receivers Reedis James (5-8, 145, junior), running backs Kyle Hull, Zac Doyle (5-4, 130, freshman) and Trenton Bolding and linemen Tommy Martin, Lee Caldwell (6-2, 190, senior) and Shaq Kinchion (5-9, 175, junior).
“Their linemen are small, but quick, and they like to take really wide splits,” Ellis remarked.
McBane, a three-year starter for the Bulldogs, threw two touchdown passes earlier this season in Savanna’s 13-12 overtime loss to Central. James had a 10-yard reception in overtime for a touchdown and Inman caught an 8-yard TD pass in the third period.
McBane was Savanna’s top rusher with 74 yards on 21 carries in the Central contest and he completed 12-of-16 passes for 71 yards.
Kinchion, a defensive tackle, and Caldwell, a middle linebacker, are two of Savanna’s key defensive players. Other defensive standouts are tackles Matt Isom (6-4, 290, senior) and Trey Wilson (6-0, 230, sophomore), linebackers Kolby Hackler (5-9, 155, senior) and Matt Turner and cornerback Kody Brown.
“They run a 3-3 stack on defense, which is basically a 3-5,” Ellis said. “They’ll walk their outside linebackers up and it looks like a 5-3.
“On offense we have to put drives together and complete drives. We have to eat up the clock and keep the ball on our side.”
Savanna enters Thursday’s game riding a three-game winning streak. The Bulldogs stopped Quinton 43-34 on Halloween night and are 7-2 overall. Talihina topped Savanna in Week 6 and Central handed the Bulldogs their only other loss. Gore and Savanna are both 6-2 in the district.
