It was an all-inclusive evening for Caden Wolford Friday night against Stroud.
The Meeker senior kicked off, ran for a touchdown, caught a touchdown pass, had two sacks, made 12 tackles, ran for 192 yards and kicked three extra points.
The result was a 45-7 win for the Wolford-led Bulldogs against Stroud, seeing its first action with Josh Presley as head coach.
“Caden is a special player,” said Meeker coach D. J. Howell. “It’s his fourth season of being a starter and he just gets better.
“We use him in a lot of ways. We’ve run the ball with him and thrown it to him - rushing the quarterback, dropping back into coverage, stopping the run.
“He just does so much for us. He’s a special kid with a high football IQ. And he’s a great person. I feel fortunate to get to coach him.”
Fittingly, Wolford got Meeker on the board first, running 12 yards for a score less than four minutes into the game.
Stroud responded with a 19-yard scoring pass from quarterback Chasen Neuman to Dylan Collins, who made a nice grab in the end zone.
After that, Meeker began to take control of the game, with the Bulldog defense stifling the Tigers’ running game.
Meeker quarterback Budgie Cameron hit Wolford on a 21-yard scoring pass in the second quarter and Meeker got two points when a Stroud snap went out of the end zone for one of two safeties on the night, making it 17-7 at the half.
Howell said he was pleased with the Bulldogs, who entered the game without benefit of pre-season scrimmages.
“We wanted to see where we were,” he said. “I was pretty nervous about coming in without scrimmages, without any team camps.
“We were sloppy on some things, but I thought we showed up in the second half with some of the things were good at.”
Meeker racked up 449 yards of total offense and held Stroud to 65.
For Stroud, in Class A, it was a tough opener, facing a Top 10 Class 2A squad on the road, but Presley said he was pleased with how the Tigers responded.
“I was proud of the kids, with the heat and the conditions,” he said. “That’s a tough first ballgame. Our kids played hard - we’re thin right now, but we had some kids step in.
“We have resilient kids and they responded to adversity.”
Next up for Stroud is the annual rivalry game with Chandler, a match that requires little external motivation.
“Chandler Week, the kids are always super fired up when they walk through the door,” Presley said. “You throw out the records and play. Chandler Week, everyone lifts their game.”
Statistics
Scoring:
1st - 8:36 Meeker Wolford 12 yd run (Wolford kick) 0-7
1st - 2:04 Stroud D.Collins 19 yd pass from Neuman (Blancarte kick) 7-7
2nd - 11:52 Meeker Wolford 21 yd pass from Cameron (Cameron run) 7-15
2nd - 3:11 Meeker Safety-ball snapped out of end zone 7-17
3rd - 5:37 Meeker Grady 15 yd pass from Gabbert (kick blocked) 7-23
3rd - 4:24 Meeker Gabbert 39 yd run (pass failed) 7-29
4th - 11:54 Meeker Cook 4 yd run (Wolford kick) 7-36
4th - 9:50 Meeker Safety-McHenry tackled in end zone 7-38
4th - 7:11 Meeker Harris 26 yd pass from Gabbert (Wolford kick) 7-45
Rushing (Att-Yds-TD)
Stroud: Neuman 9-(4), Blancarte 5-2, Parrick 1-1, Hughey 3-5, McHenry 4-(13), B.Collins 2-6, team 1-(8) Meeker: Wolford 19-192-1, Cameron 5-21, Cook 10- 73-1, Norton 3-20, Gabbert 3-57-1
Passing (Comp-Att-Yds-TD-Int)
Stroud: Neuman 9-13-76-1-1
Meeker: Cameron 3-5-37-1-1, Gabbert 4-4-49-2-0
Receiving (Rec-Yds-TD)
Stroud: Parrick 3-12, Campbell 2-15, Blancarte 2-30, D.Collins 1-19-1, Hughey 1-0
Meeker: Norton 2-9, Wolford 2-29-1, Grady 2-22-2, Harris 1-26