Muldrow, Gore look good in Hartshorne scrimmage
HARTSHORNE — Both the Muldrow Bulldogs and the Gore Pirates football teams had successful scrimmages Friday night against the host Hartshorne Miners.
All total, the Bulldogs scored seven times, with senior quarterback Teaguen Collins accounting for six touchdowns — two rushing and four passing as Collins connected with J’Vion Mays, Jermauree Palmer, Gabe Miller and D.J. Massey. DeShawn Willson rushed for the other TD for the ’Dogs.
“I’m proud of what we did and how we competed,” Muldrow coach Logan Coatney said. “We still have a lot of work to do in order to get where we want to go. We executed our base plays very well, and we look forward to getting better. I’m very proud of our offensive line, and the way they finished plays. Teaguen commanded the offense well and looked comfortable. Defensively, I liked the way we rallied to the ball. We still have a lot of growth to work toward as we prepare for Week 1 (the annual “Battle of 64” at Roland on Sept. 5). We ran the ball very well and our wide receivers ran good routes and made plays when opportunity allowed.”
The Bulldogs did compete in two live quarters, one against each team.
“It was more a game-like situation for us and was a good look for us,” Coatney said. “We did a lot of things very well, but still have plenty to work on.”
Gore coach Brandon Ellis also was quite happy with how the Pirates did.
“I thought we looked good,” Ellis said. “We did what we wanted to offensively. We had some big stops and got some turnovers (on defense). Our special teams looked good. Surprisingly, I liked what I saw. The main thing is we came out healthy, which was our No. 1 goal.”
Blaydin McCartney scored on a 7-yard touchdown run and Comer kicked the extra point, while Mannon scored on a 99yard fumble recovery return on defense during the live quarters for Gore’s TDs.
The Pirates, however, will only get this scrimmage as they will begin the 2025 season with a Zero Week game against the Wilburton Diggers at 7 p.m. this Friday at K.G. Horn Stadium. Thus, there only will be a couple of days to get any mistakes corrected that were discovered in last Friday night’s scrimmage at Hartshorne.
“We’re going to have to fine tune some things,” he said. “That’s what scrimmages are for. Everything gets ramped up in rush mode since play (the season) opener this week.”
On the other hand, the ’Dogs will have one more scrimmage before their season opener, the annual “Battle of 64” against the archrival Roland Rangers at 7 p.m. Sept. 5 at Ranger Stadium, as they will entertain the defending Class 2A, Division II state runner-up Vian Wolverines and the Panama Razorbacks for one last preseason tune-up at 6 p.m. Thursday at Marty Rogers Field.
“I think we need to see continued growth,” Coatney said. “Though I felt like we had a really good outing at Hartshorne, there was still plenty there we need to work on to get more crisp at. I thought our young guys and older guys did a good job. Going into this scrimmage Thursday night with Vian and Panama, I just want to have our kids continue to show growth, show their understanding of the schemes on both sides of the ball, go out and compete. The biggest thing is we want to stay healthy to get ready for Week 1.”
Coatney said the Bulldogs will be pretty basic on what they run on Thursday night, as it will pretty much be a carbon copy of what they did one Friday night at Hartshorne.
“It’s going to be a similar set-up,” he said. “We want to make sure we get all our young kids some reps. We’ll then have a live quarter/half with a 20-minute running clock with both Panama and Vian.”
