Pirates look to stay undefeated overall, perfect in District A-8 with home game tonight against Pocola

Gore’s football team will look to remain undefeated in both the season and in District A-8 play when the Pirates (5-0 overall, 2-0 in district play) welcome the Pocola Indians (32, 1-1) to K.G. Horn Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff tonight.

The Pirates took care of business last week with a 58-0 rout of the Canadian Cougars.

“Right now, we’re in control of our own destiny,” Gore coach Brandon Ellis said. “We’re fixing to get into the meat of our district stretch.”

The Indians saw their threegame winning streak snapped by the Central Tigers, who prevailed 58-30 last Friday night to celebrate homecoming.

“They’re upset with the (Central) loss,” Ellis said about the Indians. “I foresee them throwing everything in the book at us to try to get a little payback from last week, so we expect them coming in here hungry.”

Ellis is concerned with Pocola’s ability to out-athleticism its opponents.

“They’re so athletic — they’re athletic across the board,” he said. “The big play (capabilities) scare us. They have great team speed. They’re big up front. I believe this is going to be the toughest competition we’ve seen so far (this year). We’re going to see where we’re at real quick.”

As long as the Pirates play “Gore football,” Ellis believes his team will give itself its best chance of staying atop the District A-8 standings after three weeks of district play.

“We’ve got to take care of ourselves,” he said. “We have to play our football — controlled, disciplined football. I’ve always lived by that slow-and-steadywins- the-race type of deal. We’ve got to make sure we do the things we do right. We have to control the line of scrimmage, commit no turnovers and limit the penalties. We can’t afford to put ourselves back behind the chains at all. In all three phases of the game, special teams, defense and offense, we’ve got to play lights out.”