PITTSBURG — In a lackluster showing on the road, the Chanute Blue Comets were shut out by the Pittsburg Purple Dragons, 42-0, in Week 7 football action on Friday night.
“We tried to throw too much at the kids and do things we don’t normally do,” Chanute head coach Clete Frazell said. “We wanted to check a lot of plays at the line of scrimmage because Pittsburg does a lot of blitzing and stunts. We wanted to change things based on what we saw, and it confused our kids. The first two plays of the games were total miscues. At that moment, I didn’t know if we could do that anymore. So it was a coaching mistake and our kids got tight. That’s all on me.”
Pittsburg hung 21 points on the board in each half as the Purple Dragons’ offense proved methodical.
The Purple Dragons rushed for 298 yards as a team, with Malcolm Riley piling up 142 yars on 14 carries with two touchdowns. Quarterback Jamarcus Davis added three total touchdowns and 106 total yards.
“As a coach, you feel like things can be easy at times and you don’t think about how the kids deal with it,” Frazell said. “We just created too much uncertainty and our kids played slowly. They didn’t get off the ball because they were worried about the other team rather than attacking. And a lot of kids play both ways, so you saw that on offense as well.”
Chanute’s offense was limited to 158 total yards.
“We got behind early and then we’re down 21-0 at halftime,” Frazell said. “I wanted to establish a run game. If we could’ve gotten some stops, we could’ve scored and got back in the game. Everything revolves around our run game. And we didn’t have a good one in the first half. It ended up just being a nightmare of a night.”
Chanute secures share of SEK title with Labette County loss
With Labette County getting upset by Independence in Week 7, the Blue Comets secured at least a share of their fifth straight SEK League title regardless of their Week 8 outcome against the Grizzlies.
If Chanute beats Labette County, the Blue Comets will claim the title outright.
“We have a carrot in front of our faces that we’re chasing,” Frazell said. “This year, this title really means something because we’re on the same level. We don’t have a lot of the same guys we’ve had the last four years we’ve won it.”
