Bulldogs seek eighth win at Locust Grove Friday

Class 3A No. 8 Muldrow looks to register its eighth win of the season Friday night when the Bulldogs journey to Locust Grove for a District 3A-3 contest.

Kickoff inside Leonard Yarborough Stadium is slated for 7 p.m. Locust Grove is located about 26 miles northwest of Tahlequah on State Highway 82.

The Bulldogs (7-1 overall and 3-1 in the district) upended No. 5 Stigler (6-1, 21) 41-33 Thursday night on the road and Locust Grove (1-6 and 0-3) lost 39-32 at Checotah (3-5, 1-3).

The Pirates defeated Adair (22-8) in Week 2 and their other losses were to Salina (30-0), Sequoyah-Claremore (56-14), Wagoner JV (20-18), Stigler (43-14) and Berryhill (70-6).

“We really like their quarterback and their tailback,” Muldrow head coach Brandon Ellis said. “They pushed Stigler when they were up there. They do some nice things but I don‚t know how much depth they have. They‚re a decent ball club. We have to just go hit them in the mouth. It‚s teams like this that‚s scary because they can sit there on any night and beat anybody, technically. If our minds not right then we can get snake bit.”

A few of Locust Grove‚s key players on offense are running back Chad Adams (6-0, 195-pound junior), wide receivers Lane Atchley (6-2, 170, sr.), Hazen Perkins (5-10, 175, sr.), Trevor Reneau (6-4, 180, sr.) and Ricky Taylor (6-0, 185, sr.), offensive lineman Chandler Smallwood (5-11, 285, sr.) and quarterbacks Cayson King (6-0, 165, soph.) and Jaquane Shamel (6-2, 170, jr.).

“Offensively they‚re going to spread you out,” Ellis said. “They like to throw the ball and they‚ve got a nice little tailback. The quarterback‚s a good player. They‚re tough, they‚re tough kids. They‚re built like Checotah and they‚re going to spread it out.

“A key for our defense is keep on doing what we‚re doing. We‚ve got to continue to rally to the football, which we‚ve done a great job. When Stigler made some drives we bowed our backs and we got turnovers so just stick to assignment football and that‚s what we‚ve been doing.”

Some of the Pirates‚ defensive standouts are linebackers Kidman Fleming (6-1, 180, sr.), Chad Adams and Ricky Taylor, defensive linemen Chandler Smallwood and Hunter Cunningham (5-11, 180, sr.) and strong safety Hazen Perkins.

“They‚re basically a 4-4 team on defense,” said Ellis. “On offense we‚ve just got to learn to keep on staying on blocks and establishing the line of scrimmage and win there. We‚re kind of predictable in what we do so we have to continue to stay on blocks and win that line of scrimmage and we can‚t have any turnovers. We‚ve got to clean that up. I thought we started the (Stigler) game somewhat fast, a lot better than we had done in the weeks past but you come out on your first offensive possession and the second play of the game you‚ve got a fumble and we can‚t do that. We‚ve got to have ball security.”

Muldrow lost two fumbles and threw an interception at Stigler last week.

A Muldrow win in Mayes County Friday night would set up a possible winner-take-all game against topranked Lincoln Christian on Oct. 28 at Muldrow. With one district loss apiece Berryhill and Stigler are also still in the running for the 3A-3 title and marginal points (margin of wins or losses in district games) could determine the top four teams in the district standings.