By Chuck Reherman
Sports Editor
Yukon heads into the second of four key district matchups tonight and for the Millers it will be another challenge.
Yukon will host Jenks in a District 6A-1 contest at Miller Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Millers, 4-1, have never beaten Jenks, 4-1, in the six meetings between the teams. Two of those came in the post season, one a first round playoff game and another the state championship game.
YHS is looking to end that streak tonight against a Jenks team that is better than thought at the start of the season.
“Whoever was saying in the preseason that Jenks was down, must not have evaluated Jenks, I don’t see anyone down,” YHS head coach Jeremy Reed said. “They are very talented and the most impressive thing about Jenks is they are just so technically sound in how they play the game. Defensively they are impressive with their fits and techniques. Their kids are going to fit properly.
“They are very good, a typical Jenks team,” he added. “They have good looking kids as far as size, strength and speed. We will definitely be tested on both sides. Offensively, they run the ball well, have three different runningbacks that are talented and their quarterback is back and they return eight on defense.”
Jenks rolled past Enid 70-9 last week and their only loss has come to No. 1 ranked Broken Arrow 28-13. The Millers lost to Edmond Santa Fe 30-14 last week, seeing a four-game win streak snapped.
The Trojans are led by quarterback Ian Corwyn, who has started every game for Jenks since becoming the starter in the season opener his sophomore year. He threw for over 3,000 yards last week.
Noah Hernandez, who had a big game against the Millers last year, returns to head the running game. And, the Trojans have size and speed on the front line to lead the way for the run game.
“Their quarterback has a lot of experience and is very calm,” Reed said. “He has played in a lot of very big games like the Backyard Bowl (Jenks vs Tulsa Union) and playoff games. He has a lot of experience.
“We have talked to the players that most people are down 14-0 before the game even starts because of the JT on the helmet or Trojan name on the uniform,” he said. “As an athlete, you can look at who you are playing and be intimidated. Everyone is the same age, there is no one that is overage or different, and we are playing the same sport. I challenged the kids to not fall into any intimidation.
“We played the, to 14-7 at half last vear and granted we didn’t come out and play very well in the second half, it is still a football game. “I have played Jenks when I coached at Sand Springs in ’05 and we got a field goal that tied the game at the end of regulation and sent it to overtime and we were not suppose to be in that game either. It is a tall challenge, they are a very, very good football team. And, if we feel we didn’t have a chance at all and didn’t want to risk injury, call it off and wait for Westmoore.
“But we are going to go and compete against a great opponent and have a chance. That is the goal.”
