High school football: Yukon grinds out win over Norman for 4-0 start

YUKON — Ugly is good in Yukon's world.

That still doesn't make it easy to show patience with just a few yards each play the Millers run in their flexbone offense.

“I would prefer to score every drive,” Yukon coach Jeremy Reed said.

But how about scoring two out of six drives? That's all No. 6 Yukon needed Thursday night in a grinding 14-7 win over Norman at Miller Stadium to open District 6A-I-1 play.

The Millers' triple-option attack churned out 239 rushing yards on 56 carries and chewed up the clock to limit Norman's offense to just 45 plays.

It was a lot of plays for less than 10 yards. Yukon had just one play for more than 20 yards.

“Our discipline was to our advantage,” Yukon quarterback Jackson Young said. “It's tough. It's a long drive. Everyone wants to hit it in one shot. You see teams want to go deep once every other play. We just took little by little by little, drained the clock and made the defense tired.”

Young accounted for both touchdowns. He completed the lone pass Yukon threw, a 14-yard strike to Colton Dekinder on third-and-goal with 1:47 remaining in the first half. Yukon was up just 7-0.

Norman scored quickly on its opening drive of the third when quarterback Cade Horton connected with Jonah Paden for a 38-yard TD with 9:50 on the clock.

Yukon's response was long and painful for the Tigers.

The Millers responded with an 18-play, 73-yard drive that Young capped with a 1-yard TD run on the opening play of the fourth quarter.

Yukon's defense then continued its bend-but-don't-break style. Norman missed a field goal and then failed to get past midfield as time expired. The Tigers had just seven possessions and crossed midfield all but once.

Horton, who has committed to play baseball at Ole Miss, completed 7 of 14 passes for 130 yards. Running back Joe Willie rushed for 114 yards on 12 carries.

But Norman simply couldn't keep Yukon's offense on the sideline.

Young calmly operated the flexbone offense, handing the ball to four different ballcarriers and carrying the ball five times himself.

It was a sign of confidence the Millers lacked more than a year ago when coach Jeremy Reed was first hired. In the first team meeting he saw a broken team of players who wouldn't even look at him.

Now ugly or not, the Millers are 4-0.

“I'm just proud of our kids,” Reed said. “A year ago, we don't win a game like this.

“Our whole culture and attitude and beliefs have changed. It's fun to watch them believe in themselves and believe in their teammates.”