A big road win over it’s district foe Skiatook last week has given the Durant Lions (1-3) season new life. This Friday the Lions come home to face off against another district opponent, Tulsa Bishop Kelly Comets (2-2).
This will be the ninth meeting between the teams and the series is tied at 4-4. The Lions won the first four meetings, but have lost the last four. The Comets won the last the meeting 37-14 in 2003. The last time the Lions beat the Comets was in 1993 with a 47-0 romp.
The Comets will be a bit more complicated opponent to defend. They have a balance offense that will set up in multiple offensive looks to confuse the defense.
“They go from everything from Double Back Split Tight Vere, Three by Two Empty sets, Double Tight Empty sets and Double Slots running the Fly Sweep. They do a lot of different things and they do it well.” said Lions head coach Bryon Cordell.
Bishop Kelly will throw the ball, but it’s bread and butter is in the running game and like coach Cordell has said before, you can’t win if you can’t stop the run.
“They want to run the football and they are going to be physical. They are good up front and they have really quick running backs.” said Cordell.
Last week the the Lions stop the bleeding in it’s run defense by switching to a 4-3 defense look from a 3-4 base defense that was run in the first three weeks of the season.
The Comets also have a potent passing game that the Lions will have to deal with, “But they throw the ball enough to beat you,” said Cordell, “The QB doesn’t make mistakes, the receivers catch the ball the well.
The Lions offense will have it’s hands full the Comets defense that likes to blitz to put pressure on the offense.
“They like to pressure on every play. Their defense will bring five to six guys on every play from different angles,” said Cordell, “It’s a real challenge for an offense and offensive line to pick up all those guys up.”
The Comets may present a challenge for the Lions, but with the Lions passing game gelling from game to game and a new look defense, the Comets will face a challenge too.
Kick-off time will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Paul Laird Field. Before the game, DPS Hall of Fame inductions will begin at 7:00 p.m.
CHAMELEON is the correct spelling.