Brown, Kell look to lead defensive resurgence

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October 23, 2012

Brown, Kell look to lead defensive resurgence

Aaron Colen, Sports Editor, Aaron.Colen@chickashanews.com The Express-Star The Chickasha Express Star Tue Oct 23, 2012, 01:00 AM CDT

CHICKASHA — The Chickasha High School football team has come up against some powerful running games in district play this season.

The Fightin' Chicks gave up 362 rushing yards two weeks ago at home in a 34-24 loss to Ardmore, and 448 rushing yards Thursday against Del City.

Chickasha lost both of those games, and while the team has shown stretches of stellar defensive play, consistency is what the Chicks need to find.

"We just have to go 100 percent every play, never give up and keep getting up," linebacker Levi Kell said.

The defense has shown some big play ability. Lineman Jacoby Brown has blocked two kicks this season, and Kell has two fumble recoveries.

Kell is a sophomore playing his first year of varsity football. Despite his inexperience, he leads the team in solo tackles and is second to Brown in total tackles.

"I'm improving every game," Kell said. "But I was nervous coming in there because I didn't want to mess it up for the older guys. It's been a growing experience."

Brown said he was unsure about how the younger players on the defense would perform before the season, but he has been pleasantly surprised.

"I feel we've done pretty good," Brown said. "At the beginning of the year I was worried about a sophomore playing against the bigger linemen. I ate my words, and they've actually done better than anyone expected."

One common denominator in Chickasha's three wins is the fact that the Chicks have out-rushed their opponents in all three.

Chickasha has allowed an average of 78 yards per game on the ground in wins over El Reno, Cache and Capitol Hill.

"The trouble is, whenever you have a team like Del City that does the option read, and they have a good quarterback that can read really well, it's really hard to bring them down and not have them run it up the gut for five yards a carry," Brown said.

In those same games, Chickasha has run for an average of 251 yards per game.

Head coach Tom Cobble has made it clear how important the running game is to the Fightin' Chicks' offense and team success. At the same time, the front seven will need to tighten things up in the trenches to force teams to throw the ball more.

Brown said one thing the line has to continue improving on is beating double teams.

"Being inside, usually you're lined up with the center or guard, and you have to fight across a double team, and that's the hardest thing to do," Brown said. "But if I get double-teamed by a guard or a tackle, our defensive ends do a good job of squeezing in and making tackles."

This Friday's game against Southeast may be a good one for the Chickasha defense to get some momentum. Southeast is 2-6 this season.

The Spartans' running game is led by senior Zachary Guess, who has run for 353 yards on 58 carries this season, with four touchdowns. Southeast averages 123.7 rushing yards per game.

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