HOMECOMING HOPES: CV Trojans look to slay Dragons in Friday fray

A week ago at this time, Caney Valley High School needed a quick jolt of success to bounced back from a rugged 0-2 start on the gridiron.

The Trojans got more than a jolt — they thundered past Wyandotte, 38-0, which generated plenty of optimism going forward.

But, tonight’s Homecoming game foe Chelsea High School won’t be out there to play patty cakes.

The Chelsea Green Dragons carry a 2-0 record into the fray, including last week’s 50-20 victory at Nowata.

Riding the momentum of lopsided wins, The Dragons and Trojans collide at 7 p.m. at the stadium in Ramona.

This will be the final non-district test for each.

Veteran Trojan head coach Stephen Mitchell expects Chelsea to use its legs to try to control the clock.

“They like to focus on their running game,” he said.

In last week’s contest, Chelsea’s offense ran the ball 89 percent of the time, compared to 11 percent passing.

Quarterback Chase Smith is one of the team’s top ground pounders, Mitchell said.

“They’ll try to run the ball, but we want to try to eliminate the run,” Mitchell continued. “We want to try to make them pass the ball.”

Trojan linemen or linebackers that will try to stifle the Chelsea offensive thrust are Clane Norman, Blake McClagan, Jaydin Allen, Kayden Dawes and Luke Bowers.

Norman racked up six sacks last week against Wyandotte.

On the other side of the equation, Caney Valley will look to ramp up its running game, by committee, with Dawes, Blaine Arthur and freshman J.T. McClain.

“We’ll work in a couple more (running backs) on Friday,” Mitchell said.

Guiding the Trojans’ attack is fourth-year quarterback starter Zak Wallis, a threat to punish opposing defense with both his passing and ballcarrying.

Wallis had a hand in all six Caney Valley touchdowns last week, including a 41-yard punt return.

Mitchell perceives to keys to Caney Valley success.

“Us stopping their run game and, second, focusing on the little things (formations, getting into the right packages and no turnovers),” Mitchell said.

Caney Valley is trying to achieve what would be a school-record tying third-straight regular season with a non-losing record.

The Trojans completed a 5-5 mark in 2020 (but then lost a playoff game to finish 5-6 overall), and powered to a 6-4 mark last season.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Caney Valley Trojans take aim on Chelsea in Friday grid clash