Wolverines welcome Beggs for state quarterfinals tonight
The Vian Wolverines defeated the Kansas Comets 38-7 in last Friday night’s Class 2A, Division II openinground playoff game at St. John Stadium. However, Vian coach Gary Willis thought his team still had a couple of mistakes that will need to be corrected by the time tonight’s state quarterfinal game against the Beggs Golden Demons kicks off at 7 p.m. at St. John Stadium.
“We’ll take the win, and fix the things we need to fix,” Willis said.
Willis knows as the road to the state title game continues, the opponents will get better each week. Tonight’s opponent, the Golden Demons (9-2), is no exception to that. The Demons have won five straight games since back-toback losses to Davis (28-22) and to Holdenville (32-14).
“As you go through the playoffs, everybody gets better, or they wouldn’t be there,” Willis said. “They’re a very fast team. They can throw the ball well. They have a receiver they put all over the field who’s a Division I kid. He’s a goodlooking kid. He can score at any point of the game from anywhere on the field.”
Stopping Beggs’ top receiver is of the utmost importance for the Wolverines (11-0), who also need to produce in the run game from an offensive standpoint.
“We start by defending (Beggs’ top receiver),” Willis said. “That’s our main focus on defense. Offensively, we need to go establish a run game and take what they give us in the passing game.”
The last time the two teams met was in the Class 2A state quarterfinals on Nov. 19, 2021, at St. John Stadium, where the visiting Golden Demons defeated the Wolverines 4424. However, none of the current Vian players were on the varsity team when the two teams last met.
“As for the history, these kids didn’t play in that game, so that game doesn’t mean a lot to them,” Willis said.
A big positive for the Wolverines is they will enter tonight’s state quarterfinal contest healthy.
“Injuries are always huge, so we’re very blessed there and thankful (the Wolverines have no major injuries),” Willis said.
