The Wayland Baptist football team is going into Saturday's Sooner Athletic Conference game against the Lyon College Scots a bit blind. That's because the Scots – unlike the Pioneers who are three games into the 2020-21 convoluted campaign – haven't yet played a game this season. On top of that, the Scots have a new coaching staff.
That makes it doubly-tough on Wayland coaches to form a meaningful scouting report.
"Their coaching staff has changed, so we can't go back to things they have done in the past," WBU head coach
Butch Henderson said. "They kept some offensive coaches so we might have some idea what they'll do there."
The Pioneers also are all too familiar with some of the Scots' returning players, including junior quarterback Isaiah Bradford, who last season in a 42-7 Lyon win accounted for five touchdowns – three throwing and two running.
"Their quarterback is a good athlete. He's a good runner, a good reader, and did a good job last year," Henderson said.
The Pioneers will try to contain Bradford when he and the rest of the Scots visit Plainview and Greg Sherwood Memorial Bulldog Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. Tickets, priced at $10 for adults and $5 for students, will be available at the gate. Spectators must wear facemasks and keep socially distant at all times.
Because WBU coaches don't have any recent game film to study on the Scots, Henderson said they're focused more on doing what they do correctly.
"You have to prepare for a broad area and make sure you're technically sound," said the coach, adding that his staff is confident in the experience of the Pioneers' offensive linemen who will need to adapt to Lyon on the fly.
"Thank goodness we have a bunch of juniors and seniors on the offensive line that can adjust to things," Henderson noted.
The other thing the Pioneers have going for them is a successful history against Lyon, last season's lopsided outcome notwithstanding. Wayland has won four of its six games against the Scots.
Henderson said the Pioneers won't be reading anything into past success, however.
"It's not as much who we're playing, (but more) we have to come back and do what we know how to do," he said, stressing that the Pioneers should be well-prepared since they've been working since last August and have three games under their belt.
Henderson went on to relate a humorous story about playing February football, saying before a recent practice he suggested his players adopt a summertime mindset, telling them to have the mentality that "it's just like August."
"Then we head outside and it's 7 degrees, and they said, 'Ah, coach, it's not like August at all!'
"You really have to work at it in that regard," Henderson said, adding that until the current COVID-19 delayed season "you don't realize how seasonal your life really is. You have to flip some switches in what you've always seen."
The Pioneers need to flip another switch after opening their spring season last week with a disappointing 25-18 loss to Oklahoma-Panhandle State. Wayland couldn't recover after giving up three first-quarter touchdowns, the first after an errant punt snap and the next two on lengthy pass plays.
Henderson didn't point the finger solely at his secondary for the pass plays, saying Wayland's defensive front needs to apply consistent pressure. "It starts up front."
Despite the loss, the coach said "some good things came out of last weekend," many of them surrounding the Pioneers' special teams, including freshman punter
Andre Harmon.
"We played great field position (football)," Henderson said. "We gave up three big plays defensively, but other than that… . Offensively we did some things well, we just have to be more opportunistic. We have to be able to get it in (the endzone) and make some big plays."
