MANNFORD — So, in Mannford, the forward pass is optional for the offense, because the defense makes up for it.
Mannford opened their 2026 football season Friday by running for 380 yards, throwing for exactly zero, intercepting Catoosa five times and beating the Indians 46-12.
Somewhere, an old-school football purist smiled.
Somewhere in Catoosa, a defensive back probably did not.
The Pirates were not interested in dressing this one up. They lined up in Kenny Gooch’s Wing-T, handed the ball to people who knew what to do with it and spent most of the night asking Catoosa the same basic question: You sure you want some more?
By the end, the answer was fairly obvious.
Senior JJ Hindsman ran for 116 yards and three touchdowns, junior Ryder Tidwell had 117 yards and a score on just 13 carries, and Wilee Glassco added 41 yards and another touchdown as Mannford rolled up 380 yards on the ground.
Clearly not offensive balance, but it is offensive conviction.
The Pirates came into the season returning six offensive starters from a group that rushed for more than 3,000 yards last fall. Hindsman was already a 1,000-yard back with 10 touchdowns. Luke Naylor had another 1,000-yard season and 12 scores.
So there was not a lot of mystery about what Gooch wanted this team to be.
Physical, patient and annoying.
The Wing-T is built on misdirection, repetition and the belief that eventually somebody on defense will make the wrong read, take the wrong step or just get tired of being hit by something they never saw coming.
Friday night, Catoosa provided enough of all three.
Tidwell’s 117-yard effort marked his first 100-yard varsity game, and Hindsman picked up right where last season left off.
But if the offense was the hammer, the defense was the anvil.
Fred Giles intercepted three passes.
Three. One of them he returned for a touchdown.
He also had six tackles. Evidently, ruining one part of Catoosa’s evening was not all he had in mind.
Lyndon Hamilton added 15 tackles and another interception. CJ Russell finished with eight tackles, a tackle for loss and an interception of his own. Wyatt Aikens added a sack.
Five interceptions in all. At some point, this stopped being a football game and started looking a court hearing after Mannford had applied for full custody of the Catoosa passing game.
The Pirates led 26-6 after three quarters and then kept going.
By the final whistle, Mannford had seven touchdowns, 46 points and its sixth straight home victory dating back through last season. This was a ground-up restoration. Mannford went 2-8 in 2023. Then 2-8 again in 2024.
Last fall, in Gooch’s second season, the Pirates jumped to 6-4.
That was the first sign. Friday was another sign.
There are always questions after a breakout year. Was it a step? Was it a good season?
A good season is something you remember, something you build on.
Mannford looked Friday like a program that intends to keep going.
Granted, Catoosa was not some Class 5A monster walking through the gate. The 3A Indians went 0-10 last year, though they entered this season with significant returning experience — nine starters back — and enough reason to believe things would be better.
It was still the kind of opener Mannford was supposed to win.
Nobody is hanging a banner for that.
The more important story is what the game said about this Mannford team.
The offense has an identity. The defense has teeth. The returning backs look exactly as dangerous as advertised.
And players stepping into larger roles — Tidwell chief among them — are producing.
There was also something almost stubbornly oldschool about it.
Mannford threw for zero yards. Zero.
There are probably coaches somewhere who would call that a lack of balance.
Pretty sure Gooch calls it 46 points. And Fred Giles, for the record, caught more Catoosa passes than Catoosa did. Hard to argue with that kind of efficiency.
Next comes a trip to Cleveland Friday at 7 p.m., where the Pirates will find out that their fan base travels well. It is yet to be seen if the Pirates do too.