Boomers home to face 5A Deer Creek

After two weeks of dealing with wide open spread offenses, the Boomers will see something a little more traditional when Deer Creek visits tonight.

The Antlers, 1-1, face the homestanding Boomers, 0-2, in the final pre-district tuneup for both teams. Each is coming off a tough loss, the Boomers 43-21 to Canadian and Deer Creek 46-19 to Shawnee.

Game time at Boomer Stadium is 7:30 p.m.

“Deer Creek is a lot different than the teams we played the last two weeks,” said Boomer head coach Justin Jones. “They will be in the I formation with two backs and they’re kind of a grind it out team.

“They are big and will try to use those big bodies to push people around, gain 4 or 5 yards at a time, then pop a big gain or two.”

The Antlers, a playoff team last year, have new players at a number of positions and don’t have the star power of a quarterback like Dax Dilbeck, now at Oregon State.

At the same time, the Antlers are a solid team fundamentally.

“They are good at what they do,” Jones said. “Our kids understand we have to stop the run.”

The Antlers big offensive line features players like Garrett Sullivan and Cale Coshaw. Sam Jenkins is another 300-pounder. Tight end Leighton Dilbeck is a weapon when the Antlers do throw the ball.

The Boomer defense is also a physical group, making for an interesting matchup.

“We’ve got to do whatever it takes to stop the run, commit as many as we can,” Jones said. “If we can force them to throw, and force them into some bad situations, we’ll be OK.”

The Boomer offense will see a Deer Creek defense lined up pretty much like Canadian last week. The Antlers won’t do quite the same things out of their defensive set.

“They don’t have the speed at linebacker or defensive line like Canadian,” Jones aid. “They are much more of a physical team and don’t blitz as much.

“Instead of trying to slow down the blitz, we have to try and move some big bodies out. We’ve got to do a good job on our combo blocks to give us room to run the football.”

Through two games, the Boomers have been able to move the ball and put up points - especially in the passing game where Casey Covalt has six touchdown passes to four different receivers. They have also been their own worst enemy, committing eight turnovers and putting the ball on the ground in other situations.

“We’ve had nine fumbles (six lost) in two games and you can’t win games doing that,” Jones said. “Against Deer Creek we’ve got to be able to execute and stay balanced enough so they can’t do what they did last year and pack everyone in the box.”

Linebacker Isaiah Byrd is one of the Deer Creek headliners.

Notes: The Boomers haven’t enjoyed a lot of success against the Antlers, losing all three meetings in this decade. Woodward is also looking to break a six-game losing streak extending to last season and avoid a third consecutive 0-3 start. Deer Creek was a playoff team last season, but like the Boomers exited in the first round. This is Black Out Night for the Boomers. The team will dress in all-black for the game and officials are asking fans to wear all black as well. Woodward’s Quarterback Club will hold its weekly luncheon today at noon at K-Bob’s. Jones will be on hand to discuss the game. The Woodward Kiwanis Club’s Punt, Pass and Kick competition is today at Boomer Stadium. Registration starts at 3:30 p.m.

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