Ron Booth
The Duncan Banner
DUNCAN —
It has become the traditional way to open the high school football season in Stephens County. When Velma-Alma and Comanche hook up on the gridiron tonight at Jeb Bryant Stadium-Edgar Martin Field, it will be standing room only.
The Comets come with lofty expectations placed upon them. Velma-Alma is ranked ninth, and has high hopes because of a team built around a solid senior core.
The Indians are under the tutelage of first-year head coach Steve Justus. Justus was an assistant for CHS last season and has a solid grasp of what he expects from his squad.
“Our goal is to get lined up and do the things it takes to win. In the other sense ... it is a big game. It is always a big game between Comanche and Velma,” Justus said. “There are a lot of people in the stands that are ready for football to start. We want to go out and make a good showing.”
V-A head coach Greg Gothard said that it will be important to the players to make a good showing to open the season because of the opponent.
“With it being a rival, and it is a good rivalry and I think it is a hated rival. If you talked to their kids, they’d probably say I hate Velma” he said. “If you talked to our kids off the record they’d probably say the same thing.
“It is a little bit of bragging rights, because they live by each other and are going to see each other in Duncan every weekend.”
Even though the players tend to get caught up in the rivalry, Gothard said that he has always had a great deal of respect for the current and past coaches at Comanche.
“I certainly respected Coach (Brent) Clark when he was there and Coach (Dale) Condict when he was there,” he said. “And I’ve known Coach Justus, I’ve known for a long time, and they’ve all done a good job.”
Justus said that his team will have to be well-prepared to handle the Comet attack.
“They are good at what they do,” Justus said. “They are very good at what they do. It seems like Week 1 they are a well-oiled machine.
“You better play well. Be assignment football. Do the things that you have worked on all week long. Hopefully, if you do things right that things come out right, the end is right in that you come out with a win.”
On Velma-Alma’s side, Gothard said that he is comfortable with where his team is at.
“I think we have some really good football players. Having 10 seniors, and the majority of those 10 seniors have been players since they were sophomores,” Gothard said. “We’ve got to be more disciplined and play better defense than we have in the past couple of years. A big question for us is going to be in the kicking game. We are going to have a new punter and new kicker.”
On the other hand, Justus said that he would like to be a little more settled with his team.
“I’m never where I want to be. I think I always need a few more bullets for the gun,” Justus said.
— Ron Booth is the managing editor for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 166, or via e-mail at ron.booth@duncanbanner.com.
