Published: September 19, 2008 12:12 am      

Antlers searching for consistency

Sometimes 0-2 starts are deceiving. That’s what Deer Creek head football coach Grant Gower sees in Woodward, who visits the Antlers tonight.

“I think they’re a good football team. They have a rich tradition, they lost to El Reno 19-7, but they were in that one all the way through. Then they lost 55-16 to Canadian, Texas, but they are a very good football team also,” Gower said.

According to the head coach Woodward was ill equipped to stop Canadian’s Texas Tech-style offense, resulting in the lopsided score.

The Antlers were baptized into 5A football last week, when they lost to No. 5-ranked Shawnee 35-8, but Gower wasn’t too concerned.

“They’re a Top 5 football team in 5A. That’s the direction that I think our program is headed. We found out what it takes to be one of the top teams in the state, and what 5A football is all about,” Gower said. “I wasn’t discouraged at all.”

Deer Creek is looking for consistency. And so far, they’ve had that in the kicking game. Defensively, Gower believes the Antlers have been pretty good and has room to improve. The area that needs to improve the most is the teams offense.

“I’m looking for us to get better in all three phases,” Gower said. “Offensively, we’ll have one great play, and then we’ll have a busted assignment that results in negative yardage. We just need consistency.”

Woodward is led by Cooper Robinson who plays multiple positions. Gower said Robinson is listed as a receiver, but also plays quarterback (his position last season) and running back. Basically, they do everything the can to get the ball into Robinson’s hands.

This will be the final non-district game of the season for the Antlers, and they will be trying to set the tone for district play.

“It doesn’t count towards the playoffs, but every game is important. I want the team to develop more consistency as we head into district play,” Gower said.

Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m.