Local Sports
Oakwood looks for consistency as district starts (Area Previews)
By SCOTT TYLER
Sports Editor
Heading into the start of district play, the talk for the Oakwood Panthers has been about consistency.
The Panthers start district Friday night at Apple Springs and head coach Mike Heckathorn has been stressing the need to become a more consistent football team.
“I feel like we were very inconsistent at Oglesby and I have been preaching about that ever since that game,” Heckathorn said of Oakwood’s final non-district game two weeks ago. “If we don’t get more consistent on offense, we will be in trouble in district play.”
Oakwood (4-1) enters the start of district with a passing game as the Panthers aired it out against Oglesby. Oakwood, primarily a running team, threw for 200 yards and six touchdowns in the final non-district game. Eric Ballard led the way with a career-high 196 passing yards and five touchdowns and Kealyne Durham had four catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns.
“We were not able to move the ball on the ground, which is the basis of our offense,” Heckathorn said. “So we put in a spread formation which allowed our better receivers to get open and Eric stepped up and threw the ball well.”
While Oakwood still wants to run the ball, the passing game could be a threat in district.
“We have been working on it since Day 1 and I think we feel good about it,” Heckathorn said.
Apple Springs (4-1) already has doubled its win total from last year. The Eagles have defeated four private schools in non-district and their only loss it to Leverett’s Chapel.
“They are a much improved team from last year,” Heckathorn said. “We have been preaching that this is not the same team from last year, so we have to get ready to play because we have our work cut out for us.”
Grapeland at Carlisle
Grapeland tries to prevent going 0-2 in district play Friday night when the Sandies travel to Carlisle.
The Sandies (0-1, 2-3) opened District 20-A play two weeks ago with a loss to Alto. After getting the bye this past week, Grapeland plays a Carlisle team (0-2, 2-4) that is searching for its first district win.
The winner of the matchup Friday night will get back into the playoff race while the loser may be out of the postseason picture.
Grapeland has had a roller coaster first half of the season. The Sandies started the year with a shutout over Centerville but then suffered back-to-back losses to Grace Community and Lovelady.
After a come-from-behind win against Elkhart, the Sandies gained only 97 yards of offense in the shutout loss to Alto.
Turnovers have plagued the Sandie offense this season. Grapeland has turned the ball over 24 times, including eight turnovers to Alto.
Carlisle comes into Friday night not getting much from its offense in the first two district games. The Indians’ offense has not scored against either Cayuga or Alto, with Carlisle’s only points in the two games coming on a safety against Cayuga.
The Carlisle offense was held to 120 yards in a 35-0 shutout against Alto last week.
West Rusk at Elkhart
The Elkhart Elks have a tough test when they open District 19-2A play Friday night.
The Elks host undefeated West Rusk Friday at Elk Stadium.
West Rusk comes into the start of district play with a 4-0 record and has allowed only 24 points this season. The Raider defense started the season with back-to-back shutouts of Harlton and T.K. Gorman.
West Rusk’s offense is led by quarterback Josh Medford, who has shown the ability to throw and run the ball. He had 180 rushing yards and two touchdowns against Hughes Springs and earlier in the season, he threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns against T.K. Gorman.
The Elks finished non-district play with a 1-4 record. Elkhart has lost three straight after a 23-12 win over Huntington in the second week of the season.
The game against Huntington was when Elkhart made several changes on offense, including moving Lane Grant to quarterback and Cam Reeves to running back.
Grant threw for 138 yards and rushed for two touchdowns against Grapeland earlier this season.
A bright spot for the Elks has been kicker Bryce Fillmore, who has booted three field goals – 38, 44 and 45 yards.
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