Friday’s overtime defeat at the hands of the Collinsville Cardinals may have been the Grove Ridgerunners’ fourth consecutive defeat, but it may also have been the game that turned their season around.
A week after being manhandled in a dispiriting 47-20 loss to Tahlequah, the Ridgerunners played inspired football, leading for much of the game before losing 28-21 to the Cardinals.
“I think the players decided to do something about the emotional aspect,” Grove head coach Dennis Millican said. “They took the responsibility and accountability of getting psychologically ready to play. It was inspirational to me and they were inspirational to each other. They came out ready to play.”
But a loss is still a loss and the Ridgerunners now find themselves 0-2 in district play and needing to put some wins together in a hurry if they want to reach the playoffs. This week they’ll face a surprising Pryor team that has bounced back from consecutive losses to Wagoner (35-13) and Miami (32-20) in non-district play to squeak out wins over Coweta (42-41 in OT) and Central (21-14) to start district play.
The Tigers, under second year head coach Jason Freeman, have gone back in time to resurrect the triple option, running it out of a variety of spread formations with multiple receivers across the field.
“What you see is what you get,” Millican said. “It’s not too fancy, they’re just proficient at what they do. In some ways it’s similar to what we’ve seen the last two weeks whether the running back is standing behind the quarterback or next to him, the reads are similar.”
The Ridgerunners have had a lot of experience against option teams so far this season, whether it be of the newer read option variety or the old-fashioned triple option. They’ve had mixed success, though last week they held the Cardinals largely in check, allowing just 14 points in regulation.
“It’s assignment football,” Millican said. “When you’re going against the option, it takes away from stunting and blitzing. You have to stop the fullback. You have to stop the quarterback then everybody’s got to rally to the pitch man.”
Offensively, the number one goal for the Ridgerunners will be turnovers.
“It’s like every week – the number one statistic is turnovers,” Millican said. “We have to get better at that. There’s hardly ever a perfect game. There’s going to be interceptions and fumbles. We just have to minimize those and be smart with the football.”
Grove will also look to improve its running game. The Ridgerunners started out well at Collinsville, churning out several first downs on the ground during their opening possession, only to have the running game fizzle out as the game progressed.
“We’re still focusing on being able to run the ball,” Millican said. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out we’re struggling in that department. You don’t want to have to throw the ball. We were effective for a while Friday night, but for whatever reason it didn’t continue.”
The Tigers, along with Claremore and East Central, are one of three teams 2-0 in district play, while Grove is one of three teams sitting at 0-2. With parity running rampant in 5A-4, the Ridgerunners still have games left to climb back into the thick of things.
“We still have half the season left and 5-2 will get us second place in the district,” Millican said. “That is out there on the table for us. There’s still a lot of ball to be played.”
