Sandies Show Promise in Opening Scrimmage
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
CUSHING – After two weeks of battling against teammates in the hot, August sun, the Grapeland Sandies hit the road to Cushing to take on the Cushing Bearkats in their first scrimmage of the season.
The Sandies showed quite a bit of promise in their first competitive matchup as several returning starters and several new faces made their presence known.
The defense was stellar as there was only one breakdown on a short pass over the middle. A few missed/broken tackles allowed a Cushing WR to go the distance on a play that should have picked up five yards at best.
Other than that, the D played lights out and did not allow a first down during the rest of the timed quarter. The Bearkats QB was constantly under pressure and the Sandies stuffed the run when Cushing would attempt to go up the middle or bounce it outside.
On the offensive side of the ball, Grapeland showed flashes of things to come. After an incompletion on the first play of the timed quarter, Cadarian Wiley took a pitch from Riley Murchison, found a seam in a clogged running lane and took the rock 70 yards to pay dirt.
Following the previously mentioned scoring play from the Bearkats, the Sandies took over on their own 30.
Murchison was in the shotgun and connected with Omarian Wiley for nine yards on first down. C. Wiley picked up seven yards on a pair of carries while Murchison completed a pass to Zandric Anderson for 12 yards to keep the drive going.
Grapeland kept the ball on the ground as the Sandies moved down to the Cushing 32, where they faced a fourth and two. To no one’s surprise, the Sandies turned to their All-State running back, C. Wiley, who kept the drive going with a three-yard blast.
With the ball resting at the 29, Murchison threw incomplete on first down but once again connected with Anderson on second down for 10 yards. An incompletion and a false start penalty moved the ball back to the 24.
Murchison scrambled for 9 on the next play and then C. Wiley took it the rest of the way for a 15-yard TD.
The Grapeland drive took a lot of time off the clock, so when the Bearkats got the ball back they had limited time with which to work. The Sandies’ D made the task of tying the game nearly impossible as Cushing’s first two plays after the score netted a loss of a yard. Their final play before the clock hit zero was a gain of two.
The Sandies still have some wrinkles to iron out, but for a first scrimmage, Grapeland looked pretty good. The timing on some passing routes could use a little work, but that is to be expected at this stage of the season. Another big positive was a lack of penalties.
Something the Sandies do have in their favor is, for the first time in a while, the Grapeland line on both sides of the ball, has some size to it. In past years, the Grapeland line was good but didn’t have the size.
The coaching staff coached ‘em up as they got every ounce of effort they could get from the O-Line and D-Line, but you can’t coach size.
Once the line (offensive and defensive) starts to gel as a unit, the Sandies have the potential to surprise quite a few people on their way to the postseason.
Grapeland will be back in action on Thursday, Aug. 19 as they welcome the Price Carlisle Indians to Sandie Stadium for their second (final) scrimmage of the year.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
