Ground and pound awaits CHS in semis
#3 Pawnee relies on powerful ground game; Wildcats counter with balanced attack
A HOST of Cashion defenders make a stop in the rain and mud during last Friday’s 28-6 win at Barnsdall in the Class A football quarterfinals. The win advanced Cashion to the semifinals for the first time since 2015. It plays Pawnee Friday night in Cushi
CASHION SENIOR lineman Harley Miller (55) clears a path for Brexten Green (10) during the Wildcats’ 28-6 victory at Barnsdall in last week’s Class A football quarterfi nal matchup. [Photo by Brad
Pawnee may not be a one-dimensional football team, but the Black Bears are about as close as you can get.
For Cashion to get to the Class A state championship game for the third time since 2014, the Wildcats will have to find a way to slow down unbeaten Pawnee’s run game.
The two meet in the Class A semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Cushing High School. The winner advances to take on the Rejoice Christian-Ringling winner for the gold ball at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at the University of Central Oklahoma’s Wantland Stadium.
“We will have our hand full, that’s for sure,” said Cashion coach Lynn Shackelford about Pawnee.
The Black Bears are 13-0 and ranked third. They’ve been so dominant in their last two wins - 44-21 over Wayne in the second round and 64-7 against Mangum in last week’s quarterfi nal - that they haven’t attempted a single pass in either game.
They ran for 406 yards against Wayne and another 415 last week.
“They run a version of the Wing-T,” Shackelford said. “They’ve got a big line and three different backs who carry it.
“It’s just a mash fest… kind of like what Morrison used to be.”
Morrison rode such a fest to 14 state championships.
Third-ranked Pawnee has the makings of winning its second title, Shackelford said.
The Black Bears average 7.4 yards a carry and 366.2 per game. Of the 5,124 total yards they’ve gained this season, 93 percent have come on the ground.
Trevor Mitchell leads the way with 1,499 yards and 17 TDs. He averaged 7.7 a carry.
Quarterback Blake Skid-gel has covered 1,162 yards and scored 19 times.
He scored five rushing TDs against Mangum. Mitchell had two.
Skidgel has attempted just 20 passes all season and completed 15 of them for 364 yards. Ten of those completions are for touchdowns.
“You have to sell out to stop the run,” Shackelford said. “And sometimes that opens you up to their passing game. They don’t go to it often, but they’re really effective when they do.”
Six Pawnee players have carried the ball at least 50 times this year for 341 or more yards.
And, in a rarity for teams that rely so much on the run, they’ve lost just nine fumbles in 644 rushing attempts.
The offense produces 43.0 points a contest and it helps keep other teams’ offenses off the fi eld.
Foes manage just 11.5 points and 208 yards of total offense a game.
In seven games, teams have scored seven points or less.
The teams have two common foes: Drumright and Barnsdall.
The Black Bears beat Drumright 60-0 and Barnsdall 24-20, which was their closest game of the year.
Top-ranked Cashion handed Drumright a 42-8 loss way back in Week 0 and beat Barnsdall 28-6 last week.
The Wildcats, of course, have been just as dominant.
They’re outscoring teams 45-9 and holding teams to fewer than 150 total yards.
Barnsdall, which averaged more than 30 points a game, was held without an offensive touchdown.
The Wildcats put up 392.6 yards of balanced offense a game.
They average 199.6 on the ground and 192.9 through the air.
Cashion reached the state title game in 2014 and 2015, losing both times. This is the team’s fi rst trip to the semifinals since that 2015 season.