Bulldogs welcome Checotah for homecoming

The Muldrow Bulldogs have all intention to make tonight a happy homecoming when they welcome District 3A-3 foe Checotah to Marty Rogers Field for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

The Bulldogs (4-0 overall, 1-0 in district play) will try to match the 2022 team’s 5-0 start with a win tonight.

Muldrow coach Logan Coatney is confident his team will not get caught up in the pregame homecoming festivities.

“Not a lot of coaches get this, but I had numerous players who were asked to be a part of homecoming and they turned it down,” Coatney said. “They didn’t want to be a part of the distraction. Obviously, we’ll have players out there (for the homecoming ceremony), and kids who will be playing a lot of minutes for you who will partake in the festivities. The program, and where it’s at currently, anytime your winning ball games, the kids understand how important it is to stay locked in and put the mindset where it needs to be, which is on playing a football game. Homecoming is great. It’s a good thing for the community, and it brings people out. At the end of the day, it wouldn’t be homecoming if it wasn’t for having a football game. The kids understand that. For the most part, our community and our school understand that. At the end of the day, the football game is what matters most. Our kids have bought into that. We have goals we’ve set for the season. We’re not going to let something like homecoming come in and distract us and take us off our mindset we need to be in. I like our chances. Our kids are fired up. We’ve put together a good game plan for this week. Now, it’s just going to be about the kids executing it to go 1-0 this week.”

The Wildcats (3-1, 1-0) are on a twogame winning streak, winning 53-13 Sept. 13 at Dewey and winning last week’s district opener 68-42 over Locust Grove. After routing Okmulgee 48-0 on Zero Week on Aug. 30, the ’Cats lost their only game so far this season, 60-49 to Seminole. One key Wildcat has just about everybody’s attention.

“I think they have a very explosive offense,” Coatney said. “Everybody knows about (senior wide receiver) Elijah Thomas and what he brings to the table. He’s an OU commit. He’s a phenomenal athlete. They have good athletes on the field at all times. They’re aggressive defensively and explosive offensively. When you blend those two things together, it’s a good recipe for success.”

The ’Dogs will need to play a nearperfect game tonight to ensure a happy homecoming.

“Offensively, we have to take care of the ball,” Coatney said. “We’ve done a pretty good job of that the last few weeks. Against a high-powered offense like Checotah, we’re going to have to score more times than not. That puts a little more pressure on our guys, but it’s pressure they relish in. They like having that pressure on them, so offensively we have to score. We can’t have too many punts in a game like this. From a defensive standpoint, we have to limit their explosive plays. They’ve put up 48 to 60 points a game through four weeks. If we can limit their explosive plays and limit the amount of times they get to the end zone, it gives us a better chance of winning the ball game.”

The Bulldogs will enter tonight’s game healthy.

“Luckily for us, we’re healthy 100 percent,” Coatney said. “We do have a couple bumps and bruises, but there is nothing that a day off didn’t fix. We come in every Saturday morning for film and stretching and taking care of some minor things like that.”