4A roundup: WFHS offensive line, receivers in sync

Jeff Goolsbey/Times Record News

Wichita Falls High School’s Montrail McNeely tackles Burkburnett quarterback Canon Cornelius during the first half of the Coyotes’ 59-35 win over the Bulldogs on Thursday night in the Times Record News Kickoff Classic at Memorial Stadium.

Rider junior defensive end Dylan McDorman is the lineman of the week for the Raiders.

WFHS junior center Gabe Garcia is the Coyote lineman of the week.

Dylan Sheffield looked like he was in a 7-on-7 passing drill last Thursday night.

Or some may have thought his linemen were making the opposition play “Ten Mississippi.”

Because Sheffield was never tackled on 37 pass attempts, while passing for a school-record 438 yards. He never had to scramble and pull the ball down.

So an offensive line that isn’t the tallest or the biggest could stand proud at the end of a record-setting night by the quarterback and wide receivers.

“The things that we called were good, and it put our line in a good position to be successful,” WFHS coach Jayson Lavender said. “There are no 6-4, 270-pound guys on our line, but our linemen can run and we take advantage of their abilities.”

The linemen with the most snaps included Gabe Garcia, Hayden Wright, Jordan Neal, Steven Veitenheimer, Isaac Aguilar, Hunter Wood and Bucky Daws.

Lavender felt all along that his fast-paced offensive system would fare better in game situations than in a scrimmage environment. And while the line had an outstanding game, he believes the whole offense worked together for that result.

Sheffield got rid of the ball on time, and the receivers didn’t piddle around getting to their open spots.

“What our receivers do so well is they know how to get open,” Lavender said. “They run routes with a purpose. If they’re out there without a specific purpose and don’t get open, it can leave the line out to dry. I was so proud from a receiver standpoint of how we are doing the little things right. And we still have things to work on, but reflecting back to last year, we’re way ahead of schedule.”

Diondre Singleton will have big days in regards to numbers, but the junior showed Lavender something with some great downfield blocks on receptions by Bubba Mathis and Devontay Chaffin.

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Tough matchup: Rider coach Jim Garfield was a little more impressed with both teams after watching the film of the Raiders’ 40-21 loss on Friday to Abilene Cooper.

“Cooper is a really good football team,” Garfield said. “And I like the way our kids showed intensity. All the mistakes are fixable, that’s one positive thing. We didn’t just get beat up.”

Rider safety Esse Gutierrez, who had played more offense in the past, had 11 tackles to lead the Raiders. He and Cody O’Donnell also had pass breakups. Tyler Kotulek had nine tackles and O’Donnell had eight.

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Praise for Burk: The Coyotes didn’t set the world on fire defensively in their opener, either. But Lavender credits a lot of that to Burkburnett.

“No. 1, Burkburnett is a good offensive team,” Lavender said. “That offense will give that district problems. We had some alignment issues, but our defensive line played well. We’ll brush up on some detail stuff.”

One of the tackling highlights for film review was the play of kicker Jared Martinez, who took down the Burk return man and saved a touchdown. Martinez also was 6-for-6 on PAT kicks and made his lone field goal.

“They loved it and wanted to put him at safety,” Lavender said of the team. “Jared is a great weapon, and he’s a great kid. That was a form tackle — textbook. He made a TD-saving tackle against Rider, too.”

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So-so first week: District 4-4A went 3-4 in openers. Denton Ryan looks deserving on its favorite status after a 28-14 victory at Sulphur Springs. New quarterback Nash Knight threw for 186 yards and two touchdowns.

The other winners were Little Elm, which ditched its wishbone for the spread offense and beat Greenville 31-10, and Old High.

Lake Dallas had a close call, falling 24-23 to Richardson Pearce, while Denton High School scored 28 in a seven-point loss to Dallas Wilson. Sherman blasted The Colony, 50-28.

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Line leaders

A new feature this year in this weekly roundup is the lineman of the week from Wichita Falls High School and Rider.

Center Garcia is the first honoree for the Coyotes after getting the ball snapped to Sheffield in rhythm all night and helping provide a wall of protection while the quarterback passed for 438 yards and six touchdowns.

Rider defensive end Dylan McDormand is the Raiders’ lineman of the week. He made two tackles, but impressed Garfield with the force he played with on every snap.

“He had a great push all night long and was in on a lot of plays,” Garfield said. “He was causing a lot of disruption for their offense.”