SAND ROCK — Despite a 24-15 loss here Friday night in the Wildcats’ home opener, head coach Russell Jacoway preferred to accentuate the positives in the post-game locker room.

“Defensively we played well,” said Jacoway. “We found one or two players tonight.”

In particular, Jacoway pointed to the play of a pair of seniors and one junior, Justin Little.

“Skylar Blankenship had been hurt most of the summer and has not played a lot of defense, but he played really well,” Jacoway said. “Justin Little played really well for us tonight. And late in the ballgame I took Austin Carver, a linebacker, and put his hand on the ground at a weak defensive tackle and I noticed that his nose was stuck in the backfield a lot.”

On the opposite side of the coin, the Sand Rock offense was anemic compared to the team’s 35-point effort from a week ago. The Wildcats managed only 78 yards on the ground. Playing from behind all night, Sand Rock only attempted five rushes the entire second half.

Sophomore quarterback Dylan Mackey had a tough outing. He was 1-of-11 with an interception in the first half. But he recovered somewhat in the second half, going 6-of-10 for 164 yards and a pair of scores.

Still, the Wildcats (1-1) were never a serious threat to win.

Led by tailback Teague Whitaker, Ider rushed for 250 yards and dominated the game on the ground. Whitaker had 23 carries for 127 yards and three touchdowns. He got his first score of the night late in the second quarter to put the Hornets up 10-0 at halftime. Josh Simpson, who had already booted a first-quarter field goal, added the extra point.

Mackey hit junior split end Sean Wylie for a 71-yard bomb on the Wildcats’ third play from scrimmage in the third to close the score to 10-7. But Ider answered right back, driving from its own 15-yard line and consuming over 7 minutes off the clock. Whitaker spun into the end zone from the 1-yard line for an 18-7 lead with 1:23 remaining in the third.

Whitaker’s third score came on a 25-yard run midway through the fourth, giving the Hornets a 24-7 lead.

Just before Mackey went 4-for-6, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Matt Graham on the final drive of the night, Jacoway put an arm around his quarterback on the sideline and gave him a few words of encouragement.
“I told him he’s our quarterback,” Jacoway said. “He’s got a lot of potential and he’s going to be our guy all year.”

Jacoway, who has seen a lot of talented signal callers come along in his nearly three decades at Sand Rock, said he’s got another good quarterback in the making in Mackey.

“Tonight was a tough night for him, people came after him and they are going to, because he’s young,” Jacoway said. “The last drive gave me some encouragement. He settled back down and threw the ball well.”

Jacoway said it is easy to get frustrated with a young player still growing into a position of responsibility at a successful program. But he said he sees enough signs of potential to show him that the future will be brighter for the Wildcats.

“When Mackey throws the ball he spins it as well as anybody I’ve had,” Jacoway said. “He’s just got to settle down. And maybe we need to simplify a few things.”

In the meantime, Jacoway said he knows very well the best way to create opportunities for his veteran team, and his young quarterback, to be successful.

“Our defense is going to have to carry us,” Jacoway said. “I want to see our defense carry us and our offense not get us beat. And then we’ll just take what we can get, scoring-wise.”

Sand Rock travels to Class 3A Glencoe Friday night.