EDMOND — In 26 years of coaching Deer Creek head coach Grant Gower has never seen one team affected by so many injuries. 14 players, including 10 starters are out for tonight’s contest at Lawton MacArthur.
And there’s another thing that will be missing in Lawton tonight, which is excuses. You won’t hear them from Gower, and you won’t hear them from the Antlers, either.
“I told them all week all we can do is control what happens on Friday night in Lawton. We’re going to play 11 guys on offense, and we’re going to have 11 guys on defense, and we’re going to play hard every single play,” Gower said. “And that’s all we’re asking them, just play hard.”
Six more players joined the disabled list in last week’s 21-7 loss to Altus, as Deer Creek lost quarterback Alex Christensen (broken finger), backup quarterback and top receiver Tyson Wade (broken collarbone), linebacker Isaiah Byrd (back), lineman Ross Stracke and linebacker Luke Bradshaw. Linebacker Zeke Wariboko is also likely done for the year.
Sophomore quarterback Hunter Dinkines will get the start tonight, while freshman Joe Bloomingthall will also see some playing time.
“Both of those guys looked good in practice this week. Hunter will be at receiver when Joe is in the game. Both do some good things. Joe is extremely talented, we’re really excited about him. He was a part of the freshman team that went undefeated this year,” Gower said.
The Antlers had hoped to get Colten Sander back this week, but the junior is done for the season, meaning Tyler Price, who is nursing an injured right hand will get most of the snaps.
As bad as things sound, the Antlers (4-5, 3-3) still have a multitude of ways of securing a playoff spot. There’s even a scenario where they can make it with a loss.
If Chickasha beats Altus and the Antlers win, Deer Creek would take third. If both Deer Creek and Altus win, it would come down to points. The Antlers would need to win by 15, with Altus winning by six or less.
And if both teams lose, it would be the same situation, Deer Creek would need to lose by nine points fewer than Altus.
There’s room to hope for the Antlers. According to Gower, Chickasha beating Altus is a real possibility.
“Anytime you have a team that can throw it as well as Chickasha, such a big-play offense, anything is possible. I put all the scenario’s on the wall this week, but then I told them, don’t worry about that stuff. Anything can happen, but all we can do is go play as hard as we can against Lawton Mac. If we take care of business there, everything else will work it’s way out. There’s nothing we can do about the other games,” Gower said.
Lawton Mac is coming off a 48-9 win over Chickasha, and defeated Altus 24-13 the week before.
They are led by quarterback Dylan Warren, which Gower says makes them more of a threat on offense than they were last year despite having great players including Jevon Harris and Andrew John.
“Last year you knew what they were going to do. John was going to put it up a lot and they would do some zone read with Harris. Warren on the other hand is a dual threat, he can run or he can pass it. In my opinion that’s harder to stop,” the head coach said.
The Highlanders (6-3, 4-2) have improved greatly over the course of the season after replacing several starters this year.
“They’re a great team, same old Mac. Great athletes on both sides of the ball,” Gower said.
Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Cameron.
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Down but not out
Antlers still entertain playoff dreams
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