Owls play ‘fast, physical’ during Bethany scrimmage

ELGIN – Scrimmages are a test for the regular season, and it appears the Elgin Owls gridiron squad passed, according to head coach Chalmer Wyatt.

A team that returns several starters on offense and defense played with the level of intensity the Elgin coaching staff has been searching for during the off-season workouts as the Owls took on the Class 4A’s Bethany Bronchos in an Aug. 19 scrimmage.

“I liked their energy and their physicality,” Wyatt said. “It was their first live action, and they did the things we wanted them to do.”

Defensively, Elgin was difficult to block with the “front seven playing their assignments hard,” the head coach said. “We had guys in the right places. Bethany is a good football team so that was a good scrimmage for us.”

Offensively, the running backs “ran hard” and the quarterbacks “did a good job seeing their guys downfield. I was excited to see how we scrimmaged at such a high level. We wanted to play fast, and we wanted to play aggressive, and we did.”

Elgin was scheduled to scrimmage Harrah and Millwood at Harrah High School Aug. 25. Elgin opens its 2022 season Sept. 2 on the road at Anadarko followed by another away game Sept. 9 at Cache. Elgin will hold its home opener Sept. 16 against Weatherford. The Owls kick off District 5A-1 action on Sept. 23 when El Reno comes to town.