HILLDALE, WAGONER, TAHLEQUAH GET FINAL TRIAL RUNS

If anyone was expecting a clear choice for starting quarterback to emerge in Hilldale’s scrimmage Thursday night, it didn’t happen. And that’s not a bad thing. Jeron Nail and Dawson Neighbors each showed why they deserved the starting nod guiding the Hornet offense to success against Wagoner and Tahlequah in the three-way scrimmage at W. L. Odom Stadium. “I thought both executed well and made good throws and good decisions,” said Hilldale head coach Chad Kirkhart. “We were moving the chains and getting first downs.” The scrimmage featured a running clock and first downs in order to keep the ball offensively. “It was more like a game situation,” Kirkhart said. “That allowed us to do more of what we do offensively. Our offense is designed on getting first downs and speeding things up and we were able to that.” Each quarterback alternated series with each getting a total of three offensive series. Nail was six of eight for 68 yards, while Neighbors completed four of eight for 86 yards including a 66-yard pass to Hayden Fitzgerald which set up a 6-yard touchdown pass from Neighbors to Fitzgerald against Wagoner. Hilldale scored on all three possessions against Tahlequah. Mikey Winston rushed for 68 yards and two scores against the Tigers. But, Winston was only able to manage 13 yards against a much tougher Bulldog defense. Defensively, the Hornets shut out the defending three-time Class 4A champions. Winston intercepted a pass inside the Wagoner 10 and then Hornets stopped Wagoner on downs after the Bulldogs had moved to the Hilldale 4. “There was a little different feel playing the defending state champions,” Kirkhart said. “There was motivation even if it’s just a scrimmage. We should be able to feed off of this.” Wagoner coach Dale Condict wasn’t so pleased with his team’s performance. Wagoner’s offense was only able to muster one score against Tahlequah. “I didn’t think we played with a lot of intensity,” Condict said. “But I’ve learned not to put a lot into scrimmages that we play poorly in. We were trying to get a lot of kids some playing time and I promise that Nikia Jones will touch the ball more once the season starts.” Condict’s biggest concern is finding players to step up and fill the roles of those that were lost to graduation last year. “We want to find out who can handle the pressure of playing varsity football,” Condict said. “We have guys like Jones, Patrick Curley, and Dylan Mayfield that we know can handle it. I thought that Quentin Johnson stepped up tonight and showed us something.” Wagoner’s running game struggled against both Hilldale and Tahlequah. The Bulldogs only had three runs of 10 yards or more. Steve Adair raced 44 yards against the Hornets before Winston’s interception ended that drive. Johnson had a 22-yard run to set up Jones’ 3-yard touchdown run against Tahlequah. “We’ve got to get our running game going,” Condict said. “We haven’t run the ball well in two scrimmages and we have to get better.” Tahlequah coach Brad Gilbert knows his Tigers have a long way to go in replacing key players from last year’s playoff team. But he also feels his team is on the right path. “We came in looking for what we found,” Gilbert said. “It’s not where we need to be, but it’s where we thought we were.” Gilbert limited quarterback Cayden Aldridge running plays and instead looked for execution. While it wasn’t there against Hilldale, the Tigers looked significantly better against Wagoner. “We get the big play against Hilldale and then mishandle the ball and lose the momentum,” Gilbert said. “We have to eliminate mistakes and take care of the football. I thought we did a better job of that against Wagoner.” Tahlequah was limited to just two offensive series against Hilldale. Aldridge found Braxton Stopp open for a 41-yard pass completion on the first play. But the Tigers would be held to negative yardage after that. “We talked in between games about how this is a game of emotion,” Gilbert said. “I thought we showed a little more of that. We eliminated our mistakes and executed better. “More than anything, we wanted our players knowing their assignments and getting where they were supposed to be. I thought it was a good experience for us playing two of the top five teams in Class 4A.” Although the Tiger offensive was held scoreless by Hilldale, Tahlequah found more success against Wagoner. On their second series, Tahlequah drove the ball. Back to back pass completions to Brian Resch for 16 yards and Stopp for 22 set up Resch’s 1-yard scoring run.

HILLDALE, WAGONER, TAHLEQUAH GET FINAL TRIAL RUNS

Photo Credit: Shane Keeler

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