Fall is upon us and so is week 6 of the High School football season. Woodward is set to host Chickasha on Friday which will be military appreciation night. The Fightin’ Chicks will bring a good challenge to the Boomers as they have already matched their win total from last season and currently sit atop the district after dismantling Weatherford and John Marshall. Let’s take a deeper dive into what Chickasha brings to the table:
Record & Rank: 4-1 (2-0) not ranked by the Oklahoman or AP. Chickasha went 4-6 on the season last year and did not appear in the playoffs.
Meet The Coach: Ross Carter (interm head coach). Carter took over the after head coach Eric Gibson was placed on administrative leave following an incident before Chickasha’s game on September 14th against Anadarko. Carter is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Team Preview (Offense) : The Fightin’ Chicks offense has a singular focal point and that is senior running back Ma’lek Murphy (6’0″ 190lbs). Murphy has already churned up opposing defenses to the tune of 1104 yards and 12 touchdowns through just 5 games on the season. Murphy ran for 260 yards and 2 touchdown last week against John Marshall. Two weeks before that dominant performance Murphy put up a staggering 313 yards and 4 touchdowns against Anadarko; as a team Chickasha ran for over 400 yards in the game. These monster running stats cannot be achieved without an elite offensive line and the chicks certainly do have one. Although not the biggest offensive line the Boomers will see this season it certainly is arguably the most polished led by senior guards Dax Mangus (5’11” 275lbs) and Ty Rayburn (6’0″ 250lbs). Junior center Cecil Robinson (6’2″ 295lbs) completes the talented trio in the middle for Chickasha. Junior quarterback Cade Rayburn (6’0″ 190lbs) isn’t asked to do a lot in the offense, but has shown glimpses of consistency when getting the chance to throw. Rayburn has solid weapons on the outside in recievers Da’Marion Harris, Tyreese Gonzalez, and Landon Bowens. Overall this offense will run the ball till the cows come home if you let them. If this offense can get more consistency from the passing game then it will be a daunting attack for any team to stop.
Team Preview (Defense): The Chickasha defense is showing growth week by week gaining confidence at the right time entering district play. Up front defensive tackles Ty Rayburn and Christian Larsen are tasked with being the only down lineman and trying to draw double teams to allow linebackers Ray’Shun Callahan, Cache Wilson, Tyren Alexander, and Logan Palesano to aggressively shoot through gaps to create havoc. The secondary is the backbone and biggest strength of the Chickasha defense. Senior Trevor Canvess (5’9″ 150lbs), and junior Landen Bowen (5’11” 145lbs) patrol the deep parts of the field as safeties, but have shown the ability to come up and make big plays in run defense. Da’Marion Harris is the team’s lockdown corner and can make any opposing reciever have a bad night. Overall this defense is opportunistic and has excelled in pass coverage so far in the season.
Keys To The Game: Woodward’s defense will be challenged repeatedly to consistently tackle Ma’lek Murphy in the open field. If you allow Murphy to get space and get a head of steam he becomes nearly impossible to bring down. The Boomers need to slow down this prolific rushing attack of Chickasha in order to take them out of their comfort zone and force them to go to the air. Offensively Woodward will get a boost will freshman Ace Long returning to the lineup and they will need to utilize him in the running game to have extended drives. It may be a saying as old as the game itself, but this ballgame will truly be won in the trenches.
Game Summary vs Weatherford: Weatherford took the first possession of the game 12 plays and 80 yards to take an early 7-0 lead halfway through the first quarter. The drive was capped off by a 24 yard strike from Reece Villines to sophomore sensation CJ Nickson. After each team saw more drives come up short the rest of the quarter Weatherford again found a score midway through the second quarter when Stone Chism found CJ Nickson from 9 yards out to extend the Eagles lead to 13-0 after a missed extra point. Woodward would find an answer on the ensuing drive as Hayden Hillyer provided a spark with back to back big gains in the middle of the drive. The Boomers would find pay dirt when Sam Cheap connected with Mason Boring on a 34 yard touchdown strike to pull Woodward within a touchdown of the Eagles 13-7. That would remain the score heading into the half. Each team would trade possessions in the third quarter before Weatherford put pressure on the Boomers by putting together a 5 play 48 yard drive capped off by a 14 yard run by Stone Chism to extend the lead 19-7 after a failed 2 point try. After Weatherford forced a quick three and out from the Boomers, Weatherford would put together a 12 play 51 yard drive that saw CJ Nickson pick up his third touchdown grab of the game on a 25 yard pass from Reece Villines. Weatherford would take a commanding 27-7 lead into the fourth quarter. Woodward would answer on their next drive going 73 yards in just under three minutes to pull it back within two scores at 27-14. With just four minutes left in the game Weatherford would put it out of reach for good with a 34 yard touchdown run by Justin Blackmon to make a 33-14 game which was the final score.
Game Takeaways: Hayden Hillyer had an admirable performance playing both ways with the absence of freshman Ace Long at running back and the offense line did a great job of creating holes for the junior to run through. The passing saw some success throughout the game but ultimately some communication issues still arose. Defensively Woodward did all they could to contain the extremely talented sophomore reciever CJ Nickson, but his unteachable size proved too much. All three of Nickson’s touchdown catches were heavily contested but the 6’5″ standout was still able to haul them in.
Don’t forget to join us on Z92 for the radio broadcast with pre-game coverage at 6:30. Dakota Waggoner, Eric Scott, and myself will be on the call for all the action. You can also find the video stream of the game on BoomerTV by going to boomertv.net or going to z92online.com and finding the link to the channel there.