Demons get offensive

Michael Pineda
The Duncan Banner

November 25, 2009 06:29 pm

— Coming into the 2009 season, the biggest question marks on the Duncan football team were on the offensive side of the ball.
With very little in the way of experienced skill position players returning, the Demon coaching staff knew they would have to lean on the offensive line, which they identified as the strength of the team.
The offense gelled as key underclassmen developed into playmakers and Duncan finished first in Class 5A in rushing, averaging 240 yards a game on the ground and 24 points per game.
“From early on, it was about trying to blend them all together and take that mix and develop it into a good football team,” Duncan coach Jim Holloway said. “We expected some bumps and close calls because of the blend on the roster.”
Those close calls came in a three week run that saw the Demons defeat Altus, Deer Creek and Lawton MacArthur to lock up a home playoff game.
In the win against Altus, it was the evolution of sophomore Brandon Wilson into a quarterback that could shake off a bad play and stay focused on the game. Wilson threw for 963 yards in his first season, completing 77 of 148 passes. He threw five touchdowns and only two interceptions.
Wilson also was second on the team in rushing, picking up 703 yards on 103 carries. His only touchdown rushing of the season came in the Altus game after turning the ball three times on the ground.
“We knew he had the physical talent,” Holloway said. “Coach Hudson did a great job of bringing him along. Making him a big part of the offense but not a total part of the offense. He is not a finished product, but he is a competitor.”
Wilson had plenty of help from a set of backs that exhibited depth throughout the season. Junior Payton Atchley was first on the team in rushing with 750 yards on 115 carries followed by Jordan Laskey, who added 559 yards on 111 carries.
“Going in, we knew we had Payton,” Holloway said. “He was a J.V. tailback from last year. What I always liked was that he was competitive. His ability to run surpassed our expectations.
“Jordan came on quickly and gave us depth and Domonique (Petties) was a process.”
Petties saw limited playing time at tailback yet displayed a lot of potential, rushing for 181 yards on only 22 carries.
Duncan went with a rotation at fullback with Devante Harris leading the way. The transfer from Lawton Mac rushed for 261 yards on 42 carries and had 11 receptions for 136 yards.
Tyler Wilkins also played his way into the rotation, adding fullback to his resume which included back-up quarterback. Randal Snider also saw time at fullback as did Bradley Wilson, who was used mainly in the passing game.
“That was probably the toughest task, molding players into that position,” Holloway said. “That was the biggest offensive challenge.”
One of the biggest keys to Duncan’s success in 2009 was the offensive line’s health. The Demons did not lose a starter to injury this season although it did take a hit on the depth chart when it lost Jordan Broom to a knee injury in the Ardmore game.
“Losing Broom was a huge blow,” Holloway said. “It was not that big a factor on the offensive line but it hurt our depth and we were forced to use more of the linemen on defense.
“Even though we lost some of our depth, we did not lose anyone in the starting lineup and that doesn’t happen very often. The line did a nice. In almost every game, we dominated upfront except for Altus, Guthrie and half of El Reno. That was 10 out of 44 quarters.”
The tight end position also took a hit this season when it lost Tanner Hughes to injury. Michael Rice came on to lead the team in receiving and was backed up by Dane Steil, a converted fullback.
“We got a ton of mileage out of the tight ends,” Holloway said.
This season, the wide receiver corps proved to be an upgrade over a 2008 group that was injury-riddled. Chris Gilbert moved over from quarterback to provide depth to a group that made improvements over the season.
“It’s the same story, we don’t have that scorpion. That guy one-on-one can turn you every which way and get loose,” Holloway said. “From start to finish, those guys made an improvement and worked hard. We are in a mode where wide receivers are cornerbacks. You can’t have those guys playing both positions. You give up something trying to keep players fresh.”
The kicking position was one that resembled a M.A.S.H. unit this season as the Demons trotted out three placekickers this season.
Micah Frye started the season healthy with Jack Braught sidelined with an injury only to lose his season to an injury in the Chickasha game. Tyler Wilkins took over for two games and relinquished those duties when Braught got healthy.
“We had no experience coming back at that position,” Holloway said. “Frye was a little bit inconsistent early on, he just needed playing time. He got hurt and we had lost Jack as a back-up. We went from two to one, one to none in the span of two weeks. The toe-puncher Tyler came through and stepped up.
“Jack came back and was never 100 percent and what really hurt us was we were never able to use him in practice. He never really got his rhythm.”
The Demons did develop two deep-snappers this season with success as Cody Pollock and Randal Snider came through in a position that was also a question mark this season.

Michael Pineda is the sports editor for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 143, or via e-mail at m.pineda@duncanbanner.com.

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