|
|
|
Diamond, Mo. —
Friends and family all came out to Diamond High School to cheer on the Wildcats in their season opener against the Lockwood Tigers on Friday night. Unfortunately, the Wildcats couldn’t please the home crowd. They fell to the Tigers 48–6.
Lockwood got the ball first and scored on their first drive by way of an Isaac Lasater pass to Elijah Pitts for a 36-yard touchdown. The Tigers used play-calling techniques similar to college football’s Oregon Ducks, using a whiteboard and multiple hand signals to relay the play to the players on the field.
Diamond would go 3-and-out on their first possession of the game, but, determined to get the ball back Tyler Horton punted the ball 49 yards. The ball would land on the Tigers one-yard line.
Luckily, the Diamond defense would put on the clamps.
Tyler Horton intercepted a pass from Lasater and returned the ball 17 yards before being brought down in Tigers’ territory. Once again, the Wildcats stalled and failed to score any points on the possession.
With Diamond trailing the Tigers by a score of 14-0, the Wildcats looked to their back up quarterback, Brodie Bien, to ignite the passing game.
The sophomore quarterback heaved a long pass into the air and, just as they are taught to do, a Lockwood defender tipped the pass. Unfortunately for the Tigers, he tipped it into the hands of sophomore receiver Jordan Divine. The play went for a 47-yard gain.
On the next play, sophomore running back Zach Renfro received an option pitch and strolled into the end zone for a 24-yard scoring run. The extra point failed for the Wildcats.
From there, it was all Lockwood as they would go on to score 34 unanswered points to close out the game.
The Wildcats’ offense still centers around the option attack, however, they mixed it up with a few passing plays.
“We had a few good passing plays tonight, but we can’t be a one dimensional team,” Diamond coach Aaron Davied said. “We have to implement some more passing so that we can be more of a threat.”
Bien finished the game 5-for-11 passing for 109 yards. He also threw an interception. Renfro led the rushing attack for Diamond with 95 yards on just seven carries.
The Diamond Wildcats faced a good Lockwood team on Friday night. There are many good things Davied says the Wildcats will build on from this.
“We have three of the four toughest games right off the bat,” Davied said. “If we continue to get better we will win games down the road.”
Davied and the Wildcats will take their new offense on the road next week when they travel to Miller for another Spring River Valley Conference matchup.
Friends and family all came out to Diamond High School to cheer on the Wildcats in their season opener against the Lockwood Tigers on Friday night. Unfortunately, the Wildcats couldn’t please the home crowd. They fell to the Tigers 48–6.
Lockwood got the ball first and scored on their first drive by way of an Isaac Lasater pass to Elijah Pitts for a 36-yard touchdown. The Tigers used play-calling techniques similar to college football’s Oregon Ducks, using a whiteboard and multiple hand signals to relay the play to the players on the field.
Diamond would go 3-and-out on their first possession of the game, but, determined to get the ball back Tyler Horton punted the ball 49 yards. The ball would land on the Tigers one-yard line.
Luckily, the Diamond defense would put on the clamps.
Tyler Horton intercepted a pass from Lasater and returned the ball 17 yards before being brought down in Tigers’ territory. Once again, the Wildcats stalled and failed to score any points on the possession.
With Diamond trailing the Tigers by a score of 14-0, the Wildcats looked to their back up quarterback, Brodie Bien, to ignite the passing game.
The sophomore quarterback heaved a long pass into the air and, just as they are taught to do, a Lockwood defender tipped the pass. Unfortunately for the Tigers, he tipped it into the hands of sophomore receiver Jordan Divine. The play went for a 47-yard gain.
On the next play, sophomore running back Zach Renfro received an option pitch and strolled into the end zone for a 24-yard scoring run. The extra point failed for the Wildcats.
From there, it was all Lockwood as they would go on to score 34 unanswered points to close out the game.
The Wildcats’ offense still centers around the option attack, however, they mixed it up with a few passing plays.
“We had a few good passing plays tonight, but we can’t be a one dimensional team,” Diamond coach Aaron Davied said. “We have to implement some more passing so that we can be more of a threat.”
Bien finished the game 5-for-11 passing for 109 yards. He also threw an interception. Renfro led the rushing attack for Diamond with 95 yards on just seven carries.
The Diamond Wildcats faced a good Lockwood team on Friday night. There are many good things Davied says the Wildcats will build on from this.
“We have three of the four toughest games right off the bat,” Davied said. “If we continue to get better we will win games down the road.”
Davied and the Wildcats will take their new offense on the road next week when they travel to Miller for another Spring River Valley Conference matchup.
