As if having several key players already out due to injury wasn’t bad enough, the McLoud Redskins were without both their outside linebackers as they took on Kingfisher last Friday night.
Still, McLoud Coach Rusty Hall said Monday, “The game was actually closer than the score.”
The injury-plagued Redskins dropped a 28-6 decision to the Yellowjackets during a road contest. “We were only behind 12-6 at halftime and it was 18-6 most of the second half. They scored a touchdown with a couple minutes to go,” Hall said.
McLoud hosts Anadarko Thursday night with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
Hall, pointing to the additional injuries, said, “Last week we had an outside linebacker who dislocated his knee in practice. We’re not sure how long he’ll be out.
“Our other outside linebacker, 10-15 minutes before the game, got to feeling really sick, headache, fever, and his parents took him right then to get checked out for COVID. He tested negative, but still we were without him.”
The Redskins were already without their top two running backs who also play defense, their center is out for the year, Ryland Hall-Norton, a wide receiver, either has a torn ACL or a torn meniscus and he was going for an MRI on Monday.
“We are only rolling with about half our starters,” Hall noted, as he was preparing for practice.
The good news is Kaiden Cue, one of the running backs, has been cleared for practice this week and there is a good chance he’ll play Thursday night, the coach thinks.
Hall said Monday, Clint Campbell, the Redskins’ top running back who hasn’t played a down yet this year, goes back to the doctor next week to see how well his arm that was broken is healing.
Hall said about last Friday night, “We played pretty well. They scored on a running play in the first quarter that was about 25 yards, but they missed the extra point try.
“Then they returned a punt deep into our territory and a few plays later took it in on a short run to make it 12-0 and they missed the point after try.”
He said in the second quarter, “Our running back Cirilio Vallez scored on a 76-yard run. We missed the two-point conversion try so that was the score at half.”
McLoud gave up a touchdown and later a field goal before Kingfisher scored its final TD with a few minutes to go, Hall said.
“Our starting quarterback was out due to grades, so our backup, a freshman, played quarterback,” Hall stated.