Coming off of an overtime loss to Bethel last Friday night, the McLoud Redskins expected to be preparing to play ancient rival this week.
But not so fast.
Harrah has so many players out due to COVID-19 quarantines, the Panthers can’t field a team, said McLoud superintendent Steve Stanley.
So, the Harrah game is off and the Redskins will instead head to Pittsburg County on Friday for a 7 p.m clash with the Hartshorne Minders
The Class 2A Miners are 0-2 with losses to Spiro and Sperry.
Following a convincing 38-6 victory over Class 6A U.S. Grant High School in their opener, and leading 16-0 against Bethel at halftime, it appeared the Redskins were on their way to win number 2 on the young season.
The veteran coach Hall said of the 28-22 OT loss, “We had some mental busts. We played pretty well overall, but again we left some points on the field. We got down to the four-yard line and didn’t score and we had some more chances to score in the second half and didn’t.
“We didn’t capitalize on them. Our running back and quarterback were not following their lead blockers who were open, they weren’t running to the hole,” he added.
Hall said senior quarterback Collin Gibson, 6-2 and 185 pounds, pulled his hamstring in practice last Thursday, a day before the game, and was hampered during the contest.
Still, Gibson completed 9 of 17 passes, for 159 yards, but also threw two interceptions. He ran for 57 yards, Hall said, but the previous week he rushed for 154 yards, the coach noted.
“He did run for a touchdown, though,” Hall stated.
“We were trying to keep him from running. You could tell he was hurting late in the game, but he never came to us or said anything. He’s not one to complain,” Hall said.
Hall said they were keeping him out of practices this week insofar as running, though he would do some passing.
The Redskins sophomore running back Clint Campbell rushed for 79 yards and two touchdowns.
Hall complimented his team’s defensive play the first half, shutting down the Wildcats’ running game. “We played lights out. We had them 16-0 at the half, and 16-6 going into the final quarter. But we gave up a couple of big pass plays he pointed to, adding, “they ended up with 290 passing yards on us.”