COLCORD, Okla. -- A strong offensive showing for the Colcord (Okla.) Hornets was nullified by three red-zone turnovers, as the Hornets (3-4) fell to the Salina (Okla.) Wildcats (5-2) at home by a score of 30-14 Friday night.
"This game comes down to us making critical mistakes," said Colcord coach Curtis Waltman. "We had, what four turnovers? Three of them in the red zone."
"You can't do that against a team like Salina that we knew was going to be very good," Waltman said.
Colcord's first costly turnover came during the first drive of the game when Branson Littlefield grabbed an interception on a pass to the end zone from Colcord's Spencer Earp. The interception ended a 13-play, 49-yard drive. Salina capitalized on the change in possession by scoring on a QB sneak that turned into a 77-yard scamper by Heath Stewart on the second play of the drive.
Colcord struck back and grabbed their only lead of the night after Earp found Matthew Farris in the end zone to cap off another long drive, this time a 12-play, 92-yard campaign. A successful fake kick put Colcord up 8-7 on the visitors.
But that would be the last time the Hornets reached pay dirt until the closing minutes of the game. Salina responded by scoring on the first play of the second quarter when Salina dumped the ball off to Jesse Tramel. Tramel ran 58 yards to put the Wildcats up 15-8, a lead the visitors would not let go.
Colcord's bid to respond with a score of their own was cut short when Tramel beat Colcord's offensive line to sack Earp from his blind side, forcing the ball loose. Salina's Bobby Goins recovered the ball at Salina's 12-yard line for Colcord's second turnover in scoring position.
"It's the ability to rise to the occasion," said Waltman. "This week, we didn't. I really think we did a great job of moving the ball, you know what I mean? But we just can't make those critical errors."
Despite being doubled on the scoreboard, Colcord kept pace with the visiting Wildcats in offensive production, as far as moving the ball was concerned. The Hornets put up 370 total yards of offense, just 20 fewer than Salina's 390 yards. But defending against big plays and third-down defense proved difficult for the Hornets, Waltman said. Another problem that hadn't been an issue before Friday was snapping, as high snaps caused several fumbles and a safety when a snap sailed over Earp's head and bounced 25 yards backward, through the end zone.
Another problem that hadn't been an issue before Friday was snapping, as high snaps caused several fumbles and a safety when a snap sailed over Earp's head and bounced 25 yards backward, through the end zone.
"We'll look at this film, and we'll look at what we have to work on, and we'll just keep moving forward," said Waltman. "The playoffs are still in front of us, but we're going to have to really break down this film and see what we have to improve on."
Sports on 10/15/2017