The Guthrie and Deer Creek series will be renewed Friday night when the Antlers pay the Jays a visit in Jelsma Stadium, Friday night, but neither team will have their starting running back.
The Jays and Antlers will look for additional help in the running game in the district opener.
Both teams enter the first district game of the season with 2-1 records. Deer Creek has wins over Piedmont (35-14) and Tecumseh (35-13). Their only loss came on the road in Week 2 to Shawnee. The Wolves, much like Enid did to Guthrie last week, scored late in the game to pull out the win over the Antlers.
Deer Creek’s senior running back Colten Sander was lost for the year when he tore his ACL for the second straight year in last week’s game with Tecumsheh. The 3-year starter was averaging 116 yards a game on the ground with 46 carries for 349 yards and four touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Guthrie’s senior running back Alphonso Wilcots took a helmet to the knee in last week’s game with Enid. The hit came on the opening series of the second half. The diagnosis on Wilcots knee has not been determined, but is likely out for Deer Creek.
The speedy Wilcots averaged 107 yards rushing and has carried the ball 54 times for 323 yards and two touchdown scores. In his sophomore season, Wilcots was hampered with a severe ankle injury that lingered into his junior year before returning to 100% this season.
Deer Creek may explore with Joel Blumenthal at quarterback and Alex Christensen at fullback. Also, sophomore Brennan Miyake is likely to have his role increased on the offensive side of the ball. Christensen leads the team with 392 yards rushing and six touchdowns. Blumenthal is 15-of-30 for 146 yards with two interceptions.
The Antlers offense averages 248 yards on the ground per game while passing for 72 yards a game. For the Jays, they have been more balanced offensively with 197 on the ground and 188 in the air. Both teams have scored 96 points in the three non-district games.
Guthrie’s defense will be put to the test with Christensen running the ball, but the Jays have done well in holding their opponents rushing game by allowing an average of 76 yards on the ground. The Jays passing defense is allowing 156 yards in the air, but that number may be deceiving a bit with Enid’s offense having to go through the air for the majority part of the second half.
The Antlers defense also saw a pass happy offense in Shawnee and allow 161 yards through the air and allow 140 on the ground.
Deer Creek is just a hand full of teams to give the Jays a home field lost in the Rafe Watkins era and the only team to have taken the same Jays down in multiple games. Guthrie has won the two previous match-ups, in 2008 and 2007, by a combined score of 93-0 and leads the overall series 5-2.
More injuries
Week 3 was not very friendly to talented players in the state. Not only did Wilcots and Sander suffer knee injuries, but so did two quarterbacks. Lawton’s Cody Miller and Carl Albert’s Dillian Dansby both suffered season ending ACL injuries.
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