By Chuck Reherman
Sports Editor
It’s getting down to that time.
For Yukon, a district win would be a big boost in the arm and the Millers have that chance this week, heading to Edmond North for a 7 p.m. District 6AI-2 kickoff at North High School.
The Millers are 0-3 in district play, 1-6 overall, while North enters the game with a 2-2 district mark and a 2-5 overall record.
North’s two wins have come against Edmond Santa Fe 36-35 and Norman 24-17. The team lost 42-21 to Memorial and fell 30-16 to Owasso before having an open date last week.
It will the first time in four years that the teams will meet on the field. Yukon has won the last two meetings, winning 21-13 in 2019 and 28-0 in 2018.
“We are looking forward to it, I’m sure they have a few different looks since last time we played them,” Miller head Marshall Hahn said. “They do a good job and are similar to us, they have played teams close and have just had a hard time getting over the hump in some of them. Hopefully, we will be able to get something done.
“We need to win them all,” he said, talking about the final three games of the season.
“Time is running out as we look for district wins to get into the playoffs, so we are down to three shots and we need to make the most of what we have. We the expansion of the playoffs, you can get in with three district wins and two of the teams were are battling for spots already have two, so we need to find a way to get a win, then get another and then a third.”
The Millers will face an Edmond North team that is balanced on offense and have done some different things on defense.
“The seem to be an even front on defense, at times will play some man defense like a 4-2, but at times it looks like a 4-4,” Hahn said. “With as much as we run the ball, we anticipate the 4-4 type of look and putting a lot of people in the box.
“Offensively, they always seem to have a couple of crazy formations that they try and throw out and see if they can spring one on you or steal a score here or there,” he said. “Our kids will have to get ready to line up quickly to I-formations and then they will do some Wildcat stuff. They snap the ball to No. 10 (Mason Hill) and he is a tough, hard runner. They use a couple of different tight ends to change the strength of their formation.
“As far as either running or throwing it, they are like everyone else in our league, they are going to start trying to run the ball and if they get you to commit seven or eight to the run, then they try and throw it. And, the will. They have a couple of tight end screens and different kind of things to keep you off balance.
“I don’t want to say they are just not like anyone else we have played, but they are not out of the box as far as style of offense.”
North will face a Miller offense that has started to open things up a little more, but rely heavily on the run.
The ground game had a good night against Owasso and had some big plays. Quarterback Logan Troxell had an 85 yard run that set up the team’s first touchdown and he also had a couple of nice pass plays.
The Miller defense did force turnovers against Owasso and Lucas Jones’ 59-yard return of a fumble set up another touchdown.
“We just need to continue to improve and play hard for each other and things will come our way,” Hahn said. “We are working on getting this first district win and then the others will follow. Edmond North is a winnable game for us and we just need to go play hard.”
