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El Dorado walked off the field Friday night for the first time this season - on the short end of the scoreboard. The Wildcats fell hard at top-ranked Greenwood 52-21 last week, dropping to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in 6A West play. Coach Scott Reed wants to make sure losing doesn’t become a habit for the Wildcats, who travel to take on winless Sheridan tonight. “I think they’re a little upset. Practice has been O.K. I get a sense they are a little disappointed in the way we played,” said Reed. “Early in the game, we got a couple of kids hurt. They didn’t handle it well and we got behind. But, Monday’s practice was pretty good. Mentally, we’re pretty good. We were sharp as far as knowing what to do and execution-wise. I thought (Wednesday) the defense had a lot better practice than they had Monday and Tuesday. I think they understand that we can’t let that one loss cost us other games along the road, especially this week. It’s time to crank it back up.” Senior tailback Richard Kesee and linebacker Tyrek Rucks both left Friday’s game early with injuries. Although Rucks returned to action in the second half, Reed said it’s doubtful he’ll play tonight. Kesee, meanwhile, has been ruled out of tonight’s game. “It kind of threw us for a loop,” Reed said of last week’s injuries. “I thought (Zac) Donahue came in and played well at linebacker. Jarius Curry came and did some good things and we’d already started practicing Alex (Hicks) there. So, with he and Keontae Larry, we’ve still got three guys we feel good about there.” Sheridan brings an 0-5 record into the game. The Yellowjackets fell to Little Rock McClellan (51-13), Arkadelphia (56-0) and White Hall (49-13) in the non-conference. The last two weeks have been closer, however, falling to Siloam Springs (31-24) and Russellville (28-14). Sheridan, under first-year coach Lance Parker, has switched from the run-oriented double-slot offense to a shotgun spread attack. “Early in the year, I think they were going through growing pains,” said Reed. “They played Arkadelphia, who is really good and then White Hall. Both of those teams are at the top of their conferences. Honestly, they could’ve beaten Russellville. That was close. It ended up being a two touchdown ball game but I thought they played well against Russellville. So, I think they’re getting better but, to me, it’s all about us. I think if we’re ready to play, we should be in good shape. We need to go back at it. I think we have good leadership and a lot of guys who have played in a lot of games. I don’t see that there should be a letdown.” Defensively, the Yellowjackets are multiple with a 4-3 alignment that will morph into a 50 front. “They do some different things on defense,” said Reed. “They like to bring pressure. They like to add a couple backers at times. We have to be alert and pick it up and our protections have to kick the right way. We also need to get back to running the ball when we want to run it. Those will be the main things to me.” Through four games, Kesee was averaging seven yards per carry. How will his absence hinder El Dorado’s rushing attack? “We’re gonna find out,” said Reed. “Richard was playing real well. He was physical, downhill with the ball. He’d become more explosive, too, as far as hitting it. He had more explosive runs this year than a year ago. That is a big loss. “I told him the other day, he’s had a great first half to the season. I hate to have anyone get hurt, especially as well as he was playing. We missed him Friday but I’m very confident in the guys that we have as well. I think they will step it up and play.” Alex Hicks, El Dorado’s sophomore back-up quarterback, has shown he can tote the ball. But, can he transition to running back? “Alex is just a ball player. He could go in at a number of places,” said Reed. “We ran a counter and Alex had the most vicious block of the night, probably the most vicious block I’ve seen all year. “He went and hit a guy and the guy landed on his back. I mean, he was airborne. He plays with the mentality that he’s telling me, we need to find a place for him on the field. That’s not something you have to coach. He just goes at it like that. He tries hard to win every play.” Perhaps as much as anything, bouncing back from a loss could be a mental hurdle for the Wildcats. El Dorado has never lost to Sheridan in 16 games so it would be easy to take a rebound victory for granted. Reed said there are things that have to be done. “We need to be able to run it when we want to. We need to be a lot better in the run game than we were last week. I watched tape over and over and Darius missed some throws in the first half where he wasn’t quite as accurate. But, he played well. He didn’t throw balls up for grabs and his percentage was still 60 percent even though we didn’t have a very productive night. So, I need some more Darius Holly. I need the rest of them to help him out, to step up offensively,” said Reed. “Defensively, I think our issue was just doing what your assignment tells you to do. If you look back at the game at the plays they made, they threw a fade for about a 38-yard touchdown when we had two guys right there and we don’t get the ball out. “They converted a fourth-and-20 on a ball that, either we should’ve intercepted or at least knocked it out of the air. We had two guys there. We just didn’t make the plays we’re supposed to make. “I’m not saying there were two or three plays that would’ve changed the game. Not at all. But, we need to make the plays we’re supposed to make. Make them earn it. Last week, we didn’t do a good enough job of that.” Despite last week’s loss, the Wildcats believe they’re still, very much, in the hunt for all of their goals. How they bounce back tonight could set a tone for the rest of the season. “It’s important for our conference race. It’s important for later down the line,” Reed said of tonight’s game. “I looked at Hooten’s the other day and Hooten’s still has us ranked second in 6A. There’s a reason. Our conference is really good. We have one quality win against 7A. We laid an egg last Friday. But, our team is respected. “There’s no reason for Hooten’s to know that much about our team, other than what they’ve heard from other coaches. I do think we’re in the mix or we’re one of the top handful of teams in 6A. But, we need to play like it. “We don’t need to have Fridays like we did last week. I think that embarrasses everyone that’s in our program. I don’t think that’s who we are. Yeah, this game is important. If we are as good as we think we can be or gonna be or whatever, we need to show it on Friday. We don’t need to have anymore like last Friday.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
El Dorado High School Athletics

EL DORADO LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK AT SHERIDAN

TONY BURNS

El Dorado News-Times | 10/6/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: El Dorado High School Athletics