Olney ends season with 67-0 loss, now preparing for basketball
OLNEY— The Olney Cubs finished the football season with a 67-0 loss to Seymour and now shift their focus to offseason conditioning and basketball.
The Cubs ended the year with a 0-10 record following a loss to the Seymour Panthers Friday night, which senior receiver Brent McCorkle attributed to poor mental preparation.
“I don’t think we were prepared mentally,” McCorkle said. “We were not as hyped, mentally. We did not execute on defense very well and the offense wasn’t terrible, but we didn’t score.”
The Cubs quickly found themselves behind Friday night after on their first offensive series lead to a Seymour 40-yard touchdown on a pass from senior quarterback Caden Holden to senior receiver Cory Storek. After another stalled Cubs’ drive, Seymour sophomore running back Darrius Watson carried the ball 60 yards for a touchdown, then struck again on the next series for a 31-yard touchdown. Another rushing touchdown, this time junior receiver Collin Gann, put the Panthers up 27-0. The Cubs would have sporadic success on the ground, but not enough to reach the end zone. McCorkle said going winless during the football season makes him anxious to get his first win of the season, when the Cubs travel to Graford Nov. 15 for the season opener.
“It puts things into perspective,” McCorkle said. “We worked hard for 16 weeks and did not accomplish anything tangible. Now, we’re going to be able to see what we can accomplish.”
According to maxpreps.com, the Cubs finished the 2015-2016 season with a 10-15 record, which McCorkle said ended prematurely.
“Last year was the first time in a very long time we did not make it out of district. That is something that is very obtainable this year,” he said.
Although graduating four seniors from last year’s roster, the Cubs McCorkle is one of four seniors on this year’s roster looking to fill the void. McCorkle, a swing guard, joined fellow senior guard Carson Fite, senior forward Eli Johnson and 6-5 senior center Riley Rollans, Tuesday for the first day of practice. He was joined by six other football players. While numbers may have been an issue for the football team, with most players playing every down, McCorkle said that ironman attitude will greatly benefit the Cubs come Nov. 15.
“This will be my first day practicing and I’m excited,” McCorkle said. “We know what it means to work hard and lay it on the line every play. They will be able to go as fast as they want, but we won’t need to get subs in.”
Olney coach Carl Pennington said he is equally excited to see the football players come to practice and believes it will add a bit more intensity to each practice.
“The football kids will be a bit more physical, which is good for us,” Pennington said. “Most of them decided not to play (football) or they got injured or some other circumstance. We only got six from football.”
Pennington believes the Cubs can have a successful, productive season so long as they stay healthy. He would later say the Cubs may not score 100 points each game, but they will give opposing teams fits with their defense.
“If we stay healthy and do the things we’re supposed to, then we have a chance at being successful,” Pennington said. “Hopefully, we can make the playoffs. With Brent returning, we need some other players to step up this year. Carson is due to a breakout year ... Going into this year, our advantage is going to be our length and defense. If the kids buy into it. Last year, we played pretty good defense and I know we’re not going to score 80 points every game. We’re going to use our defense to win ballgames 45-40 and if we can do that, then we can be successful. We’re just not a very good offensive team, but I think we can be a lot better if the kids buy into the system.”
For Fite, who has been practicing with only 11 other players is happy for the influx of new blood.
“It will be good. We need as many guys as we can get,” Fite said. “The guys we have now have been practicing pretty hard, but with the football guys coming in we’re going to work hard. Everyone is going to have to earn their spot.”
Fite said having a core group of seniors will make for a more cohesive. He added that the Cubs look to pick up this year where they left off last year.
“It’s going to be interesting. We’ll have size on quite a few teams we play in our district,” Fite said. “Electra is going to be the school with the most size, but if our big guys can match up with their big guys it will be a good game ... Our main goal is get into the playoffs and go as far as we can from there.”