Stroud packed a game's worth of points into the . rst half and beat Okemah, 40-0, Friday night.
The win lifts the Tigers' record to 1-1 going into Friday night's rivalry game at Chandler. The Tigers scored twice in the . rst quarter and then iced the game with 27 points in the second period. "I thought our kids played really hard," said coach Josh Presley. "I was proud of our defense. We were on those guys all week long about running to the football and playing fast. That was our number one goal this week, and I felt like we accomplished that. "We moved some kids to the D line to get some fresher bodies on the . eld and I think that paid ou . All 11 of our kids were running to the football like we're supposed to and I was proud of the way they responded." Freshman Gavin Morris had 10 tackles to pace the Tigers' defense, which limited Okemah to just 92 yards of total ou ense. "Gavin played really well for us," Presley said. "He stepped in and I was really proud of him." Senior Aiden Collins did a little bit of everything, returning a punt for a touchdown, intercepting a pass, carrying the ball four times for 101 yards and two scores and kicking four extra points. Sophomore quarterback Gideon Smalley completed three of six throws for 85 yards, Kadom Young carried . ve times for 43 yards and a touchdown and Colton Briggs carried three times for 26 yards.
"There are a lot of areas we need to clean up, but it's early in the season and that's the way it goes, especially with a bunch of young guys," Presley said. "Out the re at one time we had . ve sophomores and a freshman. Those guys are going to grow throughout the season and keep getting better every week and we're excited about that." Presley said he was proud of his ou ensive line - Leelyn Neuman, Aikman Harrington, Zane Abbey, Brandon McNeill, Zane Charkowski and Jalen Morris.
"They were physical up front, took care of business and made the running game go," he said. "I thought Gideon Smalley had a good game at quarterback and threw the ball well. That's something that we're hoping to get better and better. I feel we got better last week." Next up comes the annual rivalry game with Chandler, which comes ou a 45-7 win over Prague. Kickou is 7 p.m. at Joe Telford Field.
"Chandler has some really good skill guys - their backs, their receivers and their quarterback are play ing really well," Presley said. "That's the number one thing with those guys. Their skills guys are really good and we're going to have our hands full with them, for sure "They do a good job running and passing, and on defense those guys are always sound and play physical and fast. It will be a big challenge for us."
Senior Aiden Collins makes an over-the-shoulder grab against Okemah. Photo/Beth Young