Leopards sprint out quickly on Indians

Lindsay scored on the opening kickoff and it was sign of things to come as the Leopards downed the Comanche Indians, 60-7, last Friday night.

It was the 3A District 1 opener for both teams.

The Leopards were up 53-0 at the half, scoring four times each in the first and second quarters.

With a continuous running clock in the second half, Comanche used the entire third quarter to post their lone score of the game on a long drive. Quarterback Colby Shannon capped off the drive with a five-yard run.

Lindsay would add a fourth quarter score to make the final, 60-7.

The young Indian squad started out the season with four tough games on the schedule. Through Week 4, Comanche’s first four opponents - Mangum, Marlow, Plainveiw and Lindsay - are a combined 14-3.

“At the very beginning of the season, I told them we had to weather the storm,” said Gary Robinson, head coach. “That’s a nice way of saying we’re probably going to get our butts kicked for four weeks. So, we got through it. We weathered the storm and we are all still here. We are still, for the most part, healthy and I think we are getting into the part of the schedule where we can compete a little better. I don’t know how the scoreboard is going to turn out, but I think we’re going to be in some games and be competitive.”

One of the keys will be keeping the team focused.

“It’s hard as young as we are,” Robinson said. “We were talking about it Friday. We’ve got a bunch of kids that aren’t even old enough to drive playing against 18-year-olds with beards and stuff. That’s the weather the storm part I’ve been talking about and I’ve think we’ve done a good job doing that.

“And, hopefully, we’re a little better football team because of it. I still don’t think we have played as well as we should have and I think that is on me and the coaching staff. We’ve got to keep drilling in their heads how to make reads, how to react and how to execute better on offense and stuff like that.”

The coach said the team had a good practice on Monday, especially on defense.

“The defense was flying around the ball. We were hitting hard today and flying to the ball,” Robinson said. “Plus, we’ve got some guys back who have become eligible to play. Landon Steele is a senior who played last year. He left and came back to school this year and had to sit out 15 days. They are all going to help us on defense. We’ll be bigger and faster and more aggressive, so it was an exciting day of practice.”

This week

It is homecoming time in Comanche with Crooked Oak paying a visit to Stephens County.

Something will have to give on Friday night, though. Both teams come in at 0-4 and one team will leave with their first win of the season.

“They’re quick and got some really good athletes and kids that can run,” Robinson said. “They’re average as far as execution and stuff like that, but I mean they can hurt you really quick. We need to take care of our responsibilities because of their athletes. I look forward to a good game Friday night. We’re matched up pretty well and it may be one of those that go down to the wire.”

He doesn’t think all the homecoming festivities will be a distraction for his team.

“I don’t usually like it, but this week has been calmer than any other week we have had,” Robinson said. “Hopefully, it will stay that way. Yes, there are many different things happening and we’ve got to fight through that. There have been a lot of distractions since week one and the kids have gotten used to it.”