SANDITES FACE COLLINSVILLE FOR FIRST SCRIMMAGE

The Sandite offense showed flashes against Collinsville for the first preseason scrimmage of the 2018 season. The Sand Springs offense looked good at times but struggled getting into the end zone in a controlled scrimmage Friday, Aug. 17 at Collinsville High School. The Sandites faced the Class 5A Collinsville Cardinals and each team got the ball at their own 35-yard line with a set number of chances to score. “We need to work on tackling and not fumbling the ball in the red zone,” said head coach Dustin Kinard. “I thought Caden (Pennington) and the offensive line look pretty good. We need to work on tackling.” Senior quarterback Caden Pennington looked poised in the pocket and found junior receiver Jacob Snodgrass for a 65-yard touchdown. Snodgrass, a 6-foot-2, 177-pound receiver was the most consistent pass catcher, but sophomore receiver Daren Hawkins looked good as well. Colton Roberts and Aaron King also caught passes. However, Pennington took several sacks and most were coverage sacks because the receivers weren’t able to get open, causing the pocket to collapse. At running back, junior Trey Wilkerson got most of the carries, but senior Joel Mackey, who normally plays on the defensive side, got some chances as well. Wilkerson, Mackey and Seth Jones will all get the chance to carry the ball, but it looked as if Wilkerson might have the edge as the starter. At center, Cameron Lierly got the ball to Pennington without any mistakes, and J.T. Bristow, Lane Webster, Josh Fincannon, Landon Wise, Ryan Johnson and Nicolas Hancock anchored the offensive line. The defense is pretty banged up, especially at linebacker. Senior linebacker Cooper Mock tore his ACL and is out for the season, and Luke Bratcher is still nursing a pretty serious cut on his foot from a lawnmower mishap this summer. Bratcher should be cleared to play within the next few weeks. Middle linebackers Hayden Cramer and Ty Rutledge tried to control the middle of the field against Collinsville, but the Cardinal running backs and their elusive quarterback found big holes to run through. The secondary got burned a few times, but defensive lineman Ty Atkison, Caleb Mallory, Justis Myers and Sango Whitehorn battled in the trenches. Sand Springs will travel to Claremore Thursday, Aug. 23 for its second and finals scrimmage of the preseason.