The Wayne Bulldogs defeated Crooked Oak 35-14 to start their season off on the right foot.

Wayne got on the board with a 44-yard pass from senior signal caller Jaxon Dill to junior Max McGlory.

Adolfo Vazquez made good on the point-after attempt and Wayne was off and running.

Wayne scored their next touchdown in the second quarter when Dill found pay dirt after a four-yard run. Vazquez was good again on the kick and was a perfect 5 of 5 on the day.

Wayne scored their final touchdown of the half when Sloan Jackson scored on a 13-yard run.

Wayne head coach Brandon Sharp said Crooked Oak’s big defensive line packed the box and took away Wayne’s inside run game.

“They packed it in with a zero and three techniques and tried to take away our inside run,” he said. “That was their game plan. So we started hitting them outside.”

Crooked Oak scored their first touchdown in the second quarter and scored again in the third quarter.

“We had an opportunity to put them away in the third quarter before they scored,” Sharp said.

Wayne turned the ball over on their next possession and Crooked Oak went on a drive to try to tie the game at 21 all.

But they turned the ball over inside the Wayne five yard line.

Wayne drove the ball back down and flipped the field, getting out of trouble before scoring twice more in the fourth quarter.

“We played good defense the rest of the game and it was a big swing in the game,” Sharp said.

Sharp said his defense played solid against the ultra-talented Crooked Oak quarterback.

“For the most part they did a decent job to contain that kid,” he said. “We were good in our gap assignments but on the two big plays he had we didn’t break down and make a play like we needed to. But dealing with kids like him is tough.”

Crooked Oak went for over 200 yards rushing and Sharp was disappointed in that.

“That’s not something you want to see,” he said. “But they were huge up front and our kids played hard.”

Wayne’s defense forced multiple turnovers in the game.

Sloan Jackson forced two turnovers, which were recovered by Jeremiah Peterson and Lane Canfield.

Jackson also collected seven tackles from his safety position.

Vazquez also had seven tackles along with a couple sacks.

Ryli Taylor and Eli Stottlemyre both picked off Crooked Oak passes. Additionally, Stottlemyre had five tackles while at safety.

Duke Moore registered five stops, while Peterson had three and Canfield had two.

After Crooked Oak’s turnover in the third quarter, they never threatened again and Wayne scored twice in the fourth quarter.

Jackson scored on a six yard run and Logan Simpson found the end zone after a 12-yard run.

For Wayne, Jackson finished the night with 226 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns.

Dill had 15 carries for 70 yards and Simpson rushed for 30 yards on seven carries.

Dill was 3-8 through the air for 60 yards.

Wayne amassed 340 yards rushing as a team.

“I was pretty pleased overall,” Sharp said. “We had a couple busts and some things we need to correct but it was pretty good.

Stratford

There are very few secrets between these two teams.

Sharp has been lining up on Fridays against Michael Blackburn for many years.

“They know what we’re going to do and we know what they’re going to do,” he said.

Defensively, Stratford will run a 3-3 stack front.

“They will try to eat up offensive linemen with their three down linemen and let their linebackers run to the ball,” Sharp said. “Our kids will have to stay glued up when we’re blocking.”

Offensively, they will use a lot of quarterback run with a talented QB in Lincoln Hall.

“He’s really, really good,” Sharp said. “And they always have their power I and wing game installed too. We’ll have to execute.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Wayne.

“I hope everybody comes out to watch,” Sharp said.

Notes

Wayne head coach Brandon Sharp nominated Sloan Jackson for Heart of Oklahoma Offensive Player of the Week.

He nominated Lane Canfield for Offensive Lineman of the Week for his 80% blocking.

Adolfo Vazquez was his Defensive Player nominee while Duke Moore was the Defensive Lineman nominee.