As the only 6A-1 school in NW Oklahoma, and one of the few 6A-1 schools not near a major metropolitan area, Enid High Football has to rely on different strategies to be competitive – the main one being effort – which is the main part of the team’s core slogan – “Effortville.”
“For us to be successful, we have to give max effort, every day,” says 2nd year Head Coach Cameron Conder. “We have to be different than those other schools, because we are different. We have more two and three sport athletes, for example. So, when we are doing football things, we have to have that effort from all of our kids.”
And that is just what he has gotten from his players since the end of last season. “We had some good and some bad last year,” says Conder, “We really ran the ball a lot better than I expected, given that our top running back had so few carries going into the year. But we also struggled some on defense, mostly, I think, due to youth, being undersized, and running a new defensive scheme. We reached some of our goals, such as making the playoffs, and we had some good individual performances, but I expect more out of this year’s team.”
And this year’s team is not without its weapons. Especially on offense, as they return several excellently skilled players to the mix. Senior quarterback Aidan Robinson is coming off a midseason injury, that appears to be fully healed, and he will be relied upon to get the ball to 3 outstanding receivers, Senior Zyaire Allen, Sophomore Keon Young, and Junior Tyson Kennedy. “Zyaire has not missed a workout, has had a great summer, and his length and ability to catch the ball is really impressive. Keon has power 4 scholarship potential if he keeps improving, and Tyson is one of our captains, had 80 catches last year, and is on pace to set the state record for interceptions in a career. All have bright futures,” Conder said.
With all the returning talent on the offensive side of the ball, one might expect some high-scoring shootouts, but that is something Coach Conder would like to avoid. “We are going to try to do some things on offense to protect our defense a bit and not put so much pressure on them. We have a great early schedule and hope to get some wins under our belt. Winning 6 games is not out of the question, we just need to give that extra effort,’ said Conder.
