Weatherford’s quest for a gold ball will begin this Friday at Woody Roof Field as they take on the Cushing Tigers 7 p.m. Friday.
“Cushing is a really good football team,” coach Reagan Roof said. “It will be a tough game and we will have to play well. Cushing has some really good athletes who can make plays on both sides of the football. Our guys are more than ready for the challenge this week and we are really excited.”
Friday, Cushing defeated Bethany 41-17 to advance to the next round. Weatherford is loaded with talent on both sides of the football. Weatherford has senior playmakers such as defensive end Ethan Downs, linebackers Tyler Jack Hoffman and Murphy Back, quarterback Gunnar Gaunt and wide receivers Michael Mayfield and Cameron Patee just to name a few.
“We have lots of experience on both sides of the ball,” Roof said. “The guys understand how important each game is and I think our senior leadership will show in the playoffs. This will be key to keeping us focused.”
Cushing is averaging 25 points per game and has scored more than 40 points twice this season.
“Cushing has a very good offense,” defensive coordinator Taylor Sossamon said. “They throw the ball well, run a lot of misdirection and are one of the best offensive teams in Class 4A. They are a tough team to prepare for and our guys will be challenged Friday.”
Roof said they plan to play their style of football and they just continue to get better every day.
“We will not change a whole lot of what we do,” Roof said. “We plan to play great defense and just do what we do best which is play our style of football. We understand we have to keep getting better each and every week. We cannot get complacent at all.”
Cushing scored 21 points in the first quarter against Bethany on long passing plays. Sossamon said he trusts his secondary to cover the Cushing wide receivers.
“I have lots of faith in our secondary,” Sossamon said. “Cushing does a good job reading defenses, but we have been playing good defense all season long. If you slip up a week, you are done. I know our guys will prepare for this week well.”
Sossamon said he plans to call a mixture of defensive plays, but will have to make adjustments as the game goes on if Cushing has success on offense early.
“We are planning on doing a mixture of things,” Sossamon said. “We are going to bring some pressure, but if they make plays when we force pressure, we will have to cover more and change our game plan as we go.”
Roof said last week in practice was very productive and they got lots of rest and work done in preparation for this Friday.
“It was a good week of practice and a good week of rest,” Roof said. “Overall, we had a productive week of practice.”
Kickoff is 7 p.m. Friday and the only thing Weatherford is focused on is Cushing and nothing else.
“We need to be focused on Cushing,” Roof said. “We have a little conditioning to catch up on and we have to stay focused and keep working hard.”