Published: September 07, 2008 10:59 am      

First notch on the belt

Demons strike early in 20-7 win over Seminole

SEMINOLE —

— Christmas came early for the Duncan football team. Three minutes into its season opener against Seminole to be exact.

The Chieftains coughed the ball up twice in the opening minutes and the Demons took advantage with two touchdowns to take a 13-0 lead in what would be a 20-7 final.

A sputtering first-team Demon offense struggled for most of the contest, adding a touchdown in the fourth quarter to leave the field feeling better about itself, in what could be considered a typical first game performance.

“We got a win at Seminole and there are a lot of people that can’t do that,” Duncan coach Jim Holloway said. “When it got to 13-0, we put it in cruise control, we got sloppy and made a lot of mental errors.

“I thought that our kids played hard, we just made too many mistakes. We also need to be in better condition.”

Holloway also credited Seminole for playing hard in a game that a lot of teams would have rolled over and played dead after such a horrendous start.

On the second play from scrimmage, Justin Lena fumbled the ball on a trap and the Demons recovered at the Seminole 30. Five plays later, Houston Johnson put a pass over the outstretched hands of a defender to Axel Rauh, who could have walked into the end zone on a 17-yard scoring play. Levi Huff’s extra point attempt was wide right leaving the score at 6-0.

Seminole’s offense came back on the field after the ensuing kick, but only in a cameo role as Myron Barnes put the ball on the ground after a reception and Micah Franklin was there to pick it up, bringing the offense back onto the field. Houston Johnson capped a four-play drive with a one-yard run for a score that was set up by an 11-yard Jacob Miears run on a reverse. Huff split the uprights to make the score 13-0.

The rest of the half was dictated by defensive play, or offensive miscues. Seminole dodged a bullet on Duncan’s next possession, which started at the 32 following a 29-yard punt return by Miears. The Demons drove to the 14 but turned it over when Clint Miller was unable to put the clamps on an option pitch. Miller finished the night with 84 yards on 19 carries and two fumbles.

Defensively, coordinator Kim Longest could not have been happier with the production he was getting out of his group. The Demons only gave up 97 yards in the first half and 217 for the game. Of those yards, 74 came on a pass play late in the game and another 36 came on a late second half drive that sputtered at the Demon 35. The only other time Seminole crossed the 50 came via a punt return and that drive ended on an interception by Houston who finished the game with two.

“That is the way you want to start out the game,” Longest said. “Everybody flying to the ball, we just need to keep up the intensity. We had some alignment problems but they were running formations they hadn’t shown in scrimmages. We have worked on them, but we hadn’t seen them in a while.”

The Demon offense controlled the clock in the second half, but had trouble putting anything on the board to show for it. Penalties short-circuited one drive and a fumble at the Seminole 15 ended another. The Demons put their best drive of the game together at the end of the third and into the fourth, taking the ball 71 yards for a score. Johnson began the game off the mark but found his rhythm in the second half, completing five passes in a row at one point. One pass went to Rauh for a 14-yard score.

“We shot ourselves in the foot tonight,” offensive coordinator Todd Hudson said. “And we also did some good things. That is usually the case in the first game. You just want to have them corrected by the fourth game, when district starts.”

Seminole’s lone score of the game came with 1:43 remaining. Josh Cramer slipped behind the secondary and freshman quarterback Garrett Clark found him for a 74-yard catch-and-run.

Duncan will host their home opener next Friday against rival Ardmore. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.