El Dorado opened its football season with a 39-21 loss to Camden Fairview last week so this week’s game was already important. But, Friday’s contest at Marion is also the conference opener.
The Wildcats will have to get over their first-game jitters in a hurry.
“It’s an interesting start to the season when your second game is a conference game,” said El Dorado coach Steven Jones. “Like it or not, here it is, conference play starts. We’ll have our guys ready.”
Marion (0-1) opened its season two weeks ago with a 21-10 loss to Wynne. The Patriots had four turnovers and four turnovers on downs.
Marion had second down at the 5 before throwing an interception. A blocked punt gave the Patriots first down at the 7 but they had to settle for a 23-yard field goal. Marion recovered a muffed snap on a punt but threw an interception. Their last three drives ended in Wynne territory at the 17, 2 and 29 but ended on a turnover on downs, a lost fumble and an interception.
The Patriots’ only touchdown was set up by the special teams when they recovered a sky kickoff and Jalen Smith scored on a 7-yard run.
“Wynne runs the triple option. That’s a tough week zero opponent. Wynne kept the ball for most of the game, which tells the story there,” said Jones, who noted the Patriots had an extra week to prepare for El Dorado.
“I think they’ll be ready. I expect them to have their first-game woes out of the way, just like we will. It should be a great contest to start conference play.”
The Wildcats played the Patriots twice last season. El Dorado won 36-7 in the regular season and 60-27 in the semifinals of the 6A playoffs.
“They have a lot of returning guys from last year. Offensively, their quarterback is a dual-threat guy. He reminds me of the guy from Camden. They have a good-sized offensive line. They have Donnie Cheers coming back at receiver, an All-State guy. He’s a really explosive player, probably a college player,” said Jones. “(Smith) the running back is tough to bring down. They’re very balanced. I think they do a good job of getting in different formations and mixing it up. We’ll have to be ready for that.”
Defensively, Jones said the Patriots are multiple and will get in different looks.
“Their (defensive) line is not quite as big as the guys they put out there last season. But there’s some really good athletes up front on the line that can create havoc in the backfield and make plays,” he said.
“It’s one of the best units we’ll see all year at linebacker and an aggressive secondary that can make some big plays. They do a good job on the back end. Linebackers and secondary is probably the strength of their defense. They do a good job of rallying to the football and flying around.”
Last week, the Wildcats had some of the same first-game mistakes that plagued Marion as far as turnovers, special teams and drives stalling.
“Just making sure we’re executing and finishing drives,” Jones answered when asked for priorities this week. “To get down in the red zone three times and not get any points and have some ball security issues - we had a lot of things to work on and fix. We feel like our kids did a good job of coming in and focusing. We’ve had a good week of practice.”
Jones reiterated the importance of finishing drives.
“Offensively, we moved the ball a pretty good bit against Camden. We didn’t finish drives so, offensively, finish those drives. Defensively, I think our open-field tackling will be a key. If we can tackle those skill guys out in space, we’ll have a good opportunity to win.”
The coach bristled when asked if the team had taken the special teams miscues seriously in practice during the week.
“It’s a pretty big deal when you make like six mistakes on special teams. We had a punt that we botched the snap on that they tackled us on the 20-yard line. We gave up an onside kick. We didn’t recover an onside kick. We missed a field goal. We gave up a big kickoff return. I’d say we had some things to work on (in) special teams and that’s what we did this week.”
To be game ready after the four-hour drive, El Dorado planned to arrive at the stadium earlier to give the players time to stretch and walk around before kickoff.
When asked for the mood of the team after last week’s disappointing loss, Jones answered, “Focused.”
“I think we had a good week of practice. Our guys are eager to get back out there and compete.”