The Guthrie Bluejays will look to continue to ride their momentum into Ponca City on Friday evening, while the Wildcats will be looking for their first victory on the young season.
Guthrie (2-0) has collected two three-point wins with big plays late in the fourth quarter to defeat Enid and Shawnee. Ponca City (0-2) has shown strides in the passing game and enters the season with high hopes for the defense despite allowing 84 points in the first two weeks.
The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kick with the radio pregame show beginning at 6:30 p.m. The game can be heard on 93.7 FM and will be streamed on Guthrie Sports Page and Guthrie News Page (including app).
The Wildcats have dropped games against 6A Edmond Memorial and Enid. Both games were on the road and entertain the Jays for the home opener.
Third year head coach Josh Allen is depending on his veteran defense to hold up to allow his offense to mature. The coach says it could be the best defense he puts on the field so far in his tenure.
The Wildcats will surround their defense with good linebackers in the middle.
A season ago, senior Austin Fry finished with 117 tackles, three sacks and three interceptions. Not far behind was Mitch Neisen with 87 stops and Mitch Wilson with 75 tackles.
Overall, the Wildcats allowed 42 points to each of their opponent.
Despite just one score against Memorial, the Ponca offense was able to throw for 225 yards and an 82-yard touchdown pass. The following the week against Enid, the offense piled up 428 yards, including 366 in the air, picked up 25 first downs, punted just three times, committed no turnovers and finished with just six penalties.
Ponca scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter against Enid to make the score appear more respectable (42-31).
Senior quarterback Brice McDougal, a three-sport athlete, has thrown four touchdown passes.
The Wildcats may have a strong task running the ball against the Jays. Guthrie takes pride in stopping the run and the Wildcats have not found success in their first two games with only 134 yards total.
If the running game is successful, it will likely come from Darrell Arita. The senior, who is a threat to also catch the ball, has piled over 1,000 yards in his career and will likely go over the same yardage receiving.
Ponca City will look for a win to get the momentum going after not having a winning season since 2005 (9-2). In their last 51 games they are 10-41.
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