By Chuck Reherman, Sports Editor – With the pre-season wrapped up, there is one thing on Yukon’s mind this week…
The Canadian County Bedlam Battle.
Yukon travels to rival Mustang on Friday looking to end a losing streak to the Broncos. More than 10,000 fans are expected for the annual brawl. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Bronco Stadium.
The Broncos will feature a wide open attack and has eight starters back from an 8-4 team that reached the second round of the playoffs.
The Millers will be looking to throw some new wrinkles at the Broncos. Yukon have switched to an option attack on offense under new head coach Jeremy Reed and will be looking to control the tempo of the game with a ground attack.
The Millers wrapped up pre-season work Thursday night in a scrimmage at Choctaw. The teams went in a controlled workout first, then played two eight minute quarters in game like conditions.
The Millers scrimmaged this past week at Stillwater, that included three other teams.
The Millers moved the ball in the scrimmage and averaged 8.4 yards a carry.
The teams worked a speed scrimmage, where they went a set amount of minutes on offense and defense, then finished up with a “mini game.”
“We did okay, I don’t know if we won or lost, we weren’t focused on that,” Reed said of the mini game. “At that point of the scrimmage we were pretty fatigued I felt like. There were times we did really well and times we had mental lapses because we were worried about tired. That was the teaching moment at that time.
“Any mistake we had during that time, especially on offense, was all related to ourselves,” he said. “There was not someone overpowering us or schematically beating us. Those were easy to see on film and correct.”
The Millers stayed mainly on the ground, but did air it out some, throwing 11 passes by quarterback Perry Olsen. The newcomer has stepped in an earned the starting quarterback role.
“We didn’t throw the ball near as well as we would have liked,” Reed said. “We completed three of 11 and two of those were touchdowns. But, we have to be more efficient on that.
“It was a great learning experience for our quarterback. He has played quarterback before, but in reality he has been a linebacker. So he is getting more reps than he has ever had in live action. There is comfort level there, I expect it to get better.”
The Millers did start the scrimmage with several player that had not started on varsity before.
Another player who had a good night was senior Bryce Williams, who scored three touchdowns, two receiving and one running.
“We have played with eight guys on the offensive side of the ball that have not played varsity football,” he said. “That is because of the nature of what we do, we use a different style of kid than other offenses. That is a positive in the long run, but in the short term it is getting everyone used to playing varsity football. And, that is a big change.”
