Big plays highlighted the Caddo Bruins’ lone preseason competition last week as they showed off an explosive attack full of balance against a solid Cyril squad.
Coach Chad Speer’s squad will be back on the road Friday when they open the regular season at Thackerville.
New quarterback Corbin Stoner connected with Jake McKay on an 80-yard bomb as well as newcomer Camarian King for a 40-yard catch and run score. Stoner rumbled 40-plus yards for another Caddo score while running back Bayler Black contributed several bursts out the backfield, including a long touchdown jaunt.
“We did some good things on both sides of the ball,” Speer said. “We executed fairly well offensively but still have some things to clean up. One of the big things is just taking care of our responsibilities instead of trying to make a big play every time. We spread it around well and a lot of young kids made plays. There is some stuff to clean up on the offensive and defensive lines. We gave up two really big plays defensively. A screen pass for 80 yards and then a busted coverage. Overall though I was pleased with where we are at defensively but there is still a long way to go.
“We have a lot of guys that haven’t played many meaningful snaps under the Friday night lights so it was good to get them a lot of reps. We had a chance to see where we are at and where we need to improve against a really good opponent. That will be good for us in prepa- ration for upcoming weeks.”
While the Bruins welcome back a wealth of experience, Thackerville is in rebuilding mode under second-year head coach Terry Felderhoff.
The Wildcats have six returning starters on each side of the ball but are relying on a ton of youth and inexperience as well.
“They have eight freshmen that are playing a considerable amount of time this year,” Speer said of the Wildcats. “It’s a good chance for us to go in the first week and get a lot of guys reps. It will be an opportunity to work on fundamentals and execution and just take care of our business.
“Our focus is taking it one game at a time. It’s good though because it is really difficult to simulate game speed in practice. This nondistrict stretch early should make us stronger as a team.”