One week after their 35 point comeback win over Putnam City West, the Plainsmen dug themselves too deep of a hole and never recovered, falling 37-0 to Choctaw on homecoming, disappointing a large and boisterous crowd.
The Plainsmen were thoroughly outplayed, particularly struggling on offense where they gained a season-low 140 yards, with only 26 yards passing.
“We didn’t deserve to come back tonight,” said a disappointed Enid head coach Steve Hayes.
“Offensively, we didn’t block the run very well, we didn’t protect the pass very well, we didn’t catch the ball, we weren’t very accurate,” Hayes said. “Part of it is we didn’t have the kids prepared and that’s on the coaches.”
The Plainsmen repeatedly tried to establish a running game, rushing the ball 38 times to only 13 passes, but aside from a few bursts from Marlo Hughes, who carried the offensive load, rushing 22 times for 99 yards, were repeatedly turned away. Quarterback Mason Skrimager completed only three passes and was intercepted twice, both costly.
The first interception resulted in a pick-six and the second occurred in the fourth quarter after the Plainsmen made their first and only trip to the red zone. Skrimager also was sacked three times on the night.
Skrimager punted for more yards, 369 on nine punts, than he had passing in what was a long, frustrating night for Enid. The Plainsmen had only seven first downs in the contest.
Choctaw used a 23-point second quarter that essentially put the game out of reach as the Yellowjackets took a commanding 30-0 lead at halftime. But the Jackets, after scoring early in the second half were held in check the rest of the way, after Ethan Crews caught a 14-yard pass from Hudson Woods to make it 37-0, although by the fourth quarter the Yellowjackets were substituting liberally.
“At times our defense struggled, but I think we really put them in a lot of bad positions in the first half,” Hayes said.” The second half, we competed well. They converted that one fourth down to start the third quarter and after that we pretty much shut them down. I was pleased with the way our defensive kids responded tonight.”
After a sluggish first quarter that saw both teams struggle to move the ball, Choctaw broke through late in the quarter, finishing off a 12-play, 72-yard drive when quarterback Hudson Woods scored on a four-yard run on a drive highlighted by a 37-yard pass to Dakota Armstrong.
But while Choctaw began to find its offensive stride, the Plainsmen continued to struggle. After an exchange of possessions, Choctaw’s Tae Gibbs busted up the middle untouched for a 42-yard touchdown as the Yellowjackets pushed their lead to 14-0
The Jackets’ defense then struck as Enid’s offense continued to sputter when Skrimager’s pass was picked off by Angel Ackerman who made it a 40-yard pick-six, staking the Jackets to a 21-0 lead as the Enid defense began showing signs of fatigue with the offense unable to sustain any drives.
“We really hurt ourselves when we threw that interception that made it 21-0,” Hayes said. “We were so ineffective offensively tonight.”
Choctaw added a 27-yard field goal from Jacob Dunning to extend its lead to 24-0.
Enid’s offense began to show life behind Hughes as the Plainsmen continued to be committed to the run despite being shut down most of the quarter. Hughes’ 36-yard run to the Choctaw 26 however was as far as Enid would get as the drive stalled and the Plainsmen turned it over on downs.
With 1.1 seconds left in the half and the Jackets on the Plainsmen 49-yard line, Woods connected on a pass that saw the receiver flip the ball to Raymond Navarro, who finished off the 51-yard touchdown and Choctaw sprinted off with a 30-0 halftime lead.
Enid was held to only four first downs and 103 yards, most of that on its last drive. Hughes accounted for 86 of those yards on the ground on 17 carries. The Yellowjackets had 304 first-half yards and finished with 397 yards.
“This is not what I expected tonight,” Hayes said. “I’m very disappointed.”
He said he will need to look at the video regarding the play selection, which was nearly 75 percent rushing plays.
“Part of grading the video tonight and tomorrow is to see if we effectively exercised all of our options,” Hayes said. “We have to give the kids the right choices and they have to take advantage if we do. It’s two-fold.”
Friday night was the first time the Plainsmen have been shut out under Hayes and the first since falling 42-0 to Lawton in 2014.
The loss dropped Enid to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in District 6AII-I, while Choctaw improved to 4-1 and 1-1.
It also may have proved costly as cornerback JaeShaun Sears left the game with an injury with under eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. The early indication is he may have suffered a torn left MCL. He was on crutches after the game and will be evaluated further.
Enid goes back on the road next week with a trip to Deer Creek (Edmond), which fell 63-14 at Midwest City Friday night to drop to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the district.
“Absolutely it’s a winnable game (next week against Deer Creek),” Hayes said. “We have to get b... Click here to read full article
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