It might be one of the more marquee games state-wide in all of six-man football.
When No. 14 Zephyr travels in to face No. 8 (sixmanfootball.com rankings) Oakwood at Panther Field in Oakwood Friday, it will have the attention of plenty of neutral six-man fans.
But, the magnitude of the game has yet to really reach the Panthers dressing room, according to OHS coach Mike Heckathorn, who said his team is merely quietly confident about the contest.
“I think they’re confident about this game. I feel like they have confidence in what they can do,” he said. “We saw tape on (Zephyr) today, and I think — pretty much across the board — we feel like if we play with intensity like we did (against Blum) we can beat them.”
The Panthers made quick work of Blum in the season-opener, putting up 62 points with relative ease, while holding the Bobcats to only six points.
Zephyr lost their opener to Division II No. 3 Milford, 56-40.
What the Bulldogs have that Oakwood doesn’t see much of is a big, physical running back. That type of runner is common in West Texas six-man squads, while the East Texas game is more speed-based.
“They’ve got a big back and he runs hard and they block pretty well,” Heckathorn said. “We’ve definitely got a speed advantage, overall, but if they just line up and pound us, I don’t know if we can stop them.”
Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Panther Field (Holly St. at Knowles St., Oakwood, Texas 75855).
CAYUGA at Mt. Enterprise
After their big, season-opening win against Cushing last Friday, the Wildcats are gearing up for another kind of test this week.
Cayuga travels to Mount Enterprise Friday for a 7:30 p.m. kick-off at John Webb Stadium (W. 4th at Harrison, Mount Enterprise, Texas 75681).
There, the Wildcats will face off with Mount Enterprise’s power rushing attack, led by star running back Hunter Ammons.
“It’s an offense that the kids haven’t seen. We’ve been seeing spread,” CHS coach Greg Jenkins said of Mount Enterprise’s option based attack. “It’s all jumbled up with misdirection. Kids are going to have to know their keys and know their reads.”
In Mount Enterprise’s season-opening win against Shelbyville, Ammons ran for 278 yards and all three of his team’s touchdowns.
For Cayuga to move to 2-0, stopping him will be key.
“The big thing this week is to tackle (Hunter Ammons),” Jenkins said. “He’s a good back and his stiff arm is crazy. We’re going to have to get to him and make sure that we tackle. Make your reads, get to him and tackle.”
Cayuga brings firepower of its own to the table, even maybe more than Wildcat faithful thought they’d have.
Sophomore quarterback Chandler Rigdon had a breakout game in the opener, tallying almost 270 yards of total offense, and accounting for four touchdowns.
Cayuga also got its usual strong contribution from D’onte Jackson, who ran for 80 yards.
“We couldn’t be any more pleased. We got a lot of people involved offensively,” Jenkins said. “We think that’s what’s going to make us good. We’ve got a running quarterback, we’ve got two legitimate running backs. Offensively, we’re very versatile with what we think is a very athletic offensive line.”
GRAPELAND at Trinity
The Grapeland football team will look for its first victory of 2012 when it travels to Trinity Friday for a 7:30 p.m. kick-off at Tiger Stadium ( Hwy 94, Trinity, Texas 75862).
The Sandies lost their opener, 47-18, to a strong Class 2A Centerville squad, while Trinity won its opener, 21-13, over Groveton.
Grapeland gained more than 300 yards of total offense in the loss, led by Patrick Walker’s big night. The junior had 138 yards rushing and 37 more receiving, scoring twice.
But, the Sandies failed to score in the opening half, trailing 41-0 at the half.
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Sports editor Justin Rains can be reached via email at jrains@palestineherald.com
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