Playoffs: Round 2

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Rematch:

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  • Playoffs: Round 2
    Playoffs: Round 2
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It was just four weeks ago that a short-handed Meeker team came to Chandler and got handled, 30-0. The game was a low point in the season for the Bulldogs. After dealing with outbreaks of COVID-19, having players quarantined and enduring days when they had trouble scraping up enough players to practice, they took their third loss in four games.

For Chandler, it was just the opposite. The Lions came into the game 4-3, but used the win as a launching pad for a four-game winning streak. They went on to finish No. 2 in District 2A-2 and hammered Alva, 49-19, last week and will host Meeker Friday night in Round 2 of the playoffs.

“Meeker’s going to be out for blood,” said Chandler coach Jack Gray. “And they should be. I would be.

“And they’re a lot better team than they were four weeks ago. They got a couple of kids back, and they were tweaking their offense a little bit at the quarterback position and I think they have that worked out now.”

The Bulldogs are coming off what coach D.J. Howell said was their best game of the season, a 26-19 come-from-behind road win over Perry.

“I had a feeling it was going to go that way,” Gray said. “The thing about Coach Howell is that he gets guys to play hard for him.”

Howell said the Bulldogs will stay focused on themselves this week and on trying to improve.

“They’re a good football team,” he said. “But I’m more focused on us and what we’re doing.

“We’re playing better football than we were a month ago. We’re going to focus on what we do this week.

“If we go out execute and focus on what we do, it’s going to be a dogfight.”