CPHS Football Preview: Sandites host No. 2 Bixby Thursday

Hunter Greathouse leads the Sandites in a 2016 State Title game against the Bixby Spartans. (Photo: Austin Evans).

The Class 6A-II No. 11 ranked Charles Page High School football team (2-5, 1-3) notched their first district win 35-14 at Ponca City last week. The Sandites are all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, though they could technically still make it if they win out.

To do so they’ll need three-straight upsets, starting with No. 2 Bixby (6-1, 4-0) this Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

Memorial Stadium
600 North Adams Road
Sand Springs, OK 74063

OSSAA 6A-II District 2 Standings
4-0 Bixby (59 district points)
3-1 Muskogee (32)
3-1 Booker T. Washington (31)
2-2 Shawnee (-18)
2-2 Sapulpa (-24)
1-3 Bartlesville (-33)
1-3 Sand Springs (-3)
0-4 Ponca City (-44)

Last Week

The Sandites snapped a four-game losing streak with a dominant 35-14 performance in Ponca City (0-7, 0-4). Caden Pennington was 14-22-165-1 passing and 8-64 on the ground for four total touchdowns. Trey Wilkerson led the rush with eight carries for 75 yards and a score. Jacob Snodgrass and Braden Foster each had five receptions for 51 yards, with Snodgrass hauling in a touchdown. Jaden Weiser went 5/5 on PATs.

Hayden Cramer and JT Bristow led a successful defense that racked up 29 yards on eight tackles for loss with four zero-gain stops. The Wildcats managed only 3.5 yards per play and 2.7 yards per carry, while Luke Bratcher and Lucas Adcock provided excellent pass coverage, limiting Justin Andrews to six completions on eighteen attempts. Ponca was forced to punt four times, gave up four turnovers on downs, and was limited to only six plays and eighteen yards per possession.

The Spartans thumped Sapulpa 65-6 in their second-biggest win of the season with a 30-0 first half shutout.

This Season

The Sandites started strong, despite an opening week loss to a tough Texas program. They easily handled a still winless Putnam City team, but things took a downward turn from there. After an unsurprising loss to a powerhouse Arkansas team they suffered three come-from-behind losses. They have no problem scoring and no problem getting stops, but both sides of the ball have a hard time finishing. The Sandites own the No. 9 offense in Class 6A-II.

Bixby is riding a six-game win streak after a 28-14 season-opening loss to Jenks. Since then they’ve recorded two shutouts and hung half a hundred on three different opponents.

No. 11 Sand Springs (2-5, 1-3)

28-41 vs. Mansfield Summit (3-2)
45-24 @ Putnam City (0-6)
13-49 @ Greenwood (5-1)
23-23, OT @ Shawnee (2-4)
27-45 vs. Muskogee (4-2)
27-29 vs. Bartlesville (2-4)
35-14 @ Ponca City (0-7)

No. 2 Bixby (6-1, 4-0)

14-28 vs. Jenks (6-1)
36-33 vs. Mansfield Timberview (3-3)
64-0 vs. Putnam City (0-7)
45-0 @ Sapulpa (5-2)
21-7 vs. Booker T. Washington (4-3)
57-20 @ Ponca City (0-7)
65-6 vs. Bartlesville (2-5)

Average Sandite Box Score
Opponent 32 CPHS 28
First Downs: Opp 17, CPHS 16.
Fumbles/Lost: Opp 2/1, CPHS 2/1.
Penalties: Opp 8-80, CPHS 7-58.
Passing: Opp 11-18-151-0, CPHS 9-17-130-0.
Rushing: Opp 41-213, CPHS 39-237.
Offense: Opp 59-363, CPHS 56-368.

The Programs

Sand Springs is coming off a 5-6 season, led by twelfth year Head Coach Dustin Kinard with a 62-65 record. They are riding an all-time program best streak of six-straight seasons with playoff berths. They have been in Class 6A-II since its inception in 2014. The Sandites hold one gold ball, winning the 2A State title in 1966.

The Spartans are coming off an 8-5 season, led by ninth-year Head Coach Loren Montgomery (72-39), a product of Sand Springs during the L.D. Baines era. The Spartans won their first three State Titles in 2014, 2015, and 2016 and came in runner-up last year, all at the 6A-II level.

The Series (Bixby 16-12)

The two teams first met in 1922 during the fourth year of Sandite football when Bixby edged out A.R. Bateman’s Sandites 19-14. Sand Springs won the next two meetings in 1926 and 1927 and the schools didn’t battle again till 1980.

Sand Springs and Bixby split a six-year series in the 1980s, with the lowest-scoring game occurring in 1984 with a 5-3 Sandite victory.

Sand Springs won a 5-3 series in the 1990s. The only overtime game came in 1992 with the Spartans winning 20-17, then Sand Springs notched the first shut out in 1997 at 19-0.

The Spartans have dominated the modern era 9-2 since the series was resurrected in 2010, when the Spartans won a 48-35 shootout in the highest-scoring affair yet.

Things have been particularly competitive since the inception of 6A-II and the teams have met three times in the post-season. The Sandites made their first Semifinal appearance since 1997 in 2014 but were missing their starting kicker, starting quarterback, leading receiver, and the two leading tacklers. They were knocked out 41-14 by the Spartans after losing only 34-31 two weeks prior.

The Sandites shocked the Spartans in 2015 with a 20-0 senior night shutout, their first shutout loss since 2008. They got payback in the post season with a 38-28 State Championship win in the Sandites’ first title game since 1966.

Bixby won the next three meetings after that and their four-straight win streak is the longest streak in the series. They knocked Sand Springs out of the semifinals again in 2016 and won last year’s match 41-21.

1922: Bixby 19-14
1926: Sand Springs 30-12
1927: Sand Springs 20-6
1980: Sand Springs 10-7
1981: Bixby 14-12
1982: Bixby 32-6
1983: Bixby 21-4
1984: Sand Springs 5-3
1985: Sand Springs 14-3
1992: Bixby 20-17, OT
1993: Sand Springs 26-20
1994: Sand Springs 33-7
1995: Bixby 17-10
1996: Sand Springs 28-7
1997: Sand Springs 19-0
1998: Sand Springs 30-6
1999: Bixby 23-7
2010: Bixby 48-35
2011: Bixby 43-23
2012: Sand Springs 21-7
2013: Bixby 35-21
2014: Bixby 34-31
2014: Bixby 41-14 (State Semifinals)
2015: Sand Springs 20-0
2015: Bixby 38-28 (State Finals)
2016: Bixby 35-19
2016: Bixby 35-21 (State Semifinals)
2017: Bixby 41-21

2018 Stat Leaders

Passing
65-116-872-3, 11TD Pennington
1-1-41-0 Foster

Receiving
16-276, 5TD Hawkins
20-224, 3TD Snodgrass
10-153, 1TD Foster
5-74, 1TD Roberts
2-70, 1TD Roe

Rushing
103-805, 7TD Mackey
82-414, 6TD Pennington
66-340, 4TD Wilkerson
11-68 McCallie
7-23 Jones

Kick Returns
9-132 Snodgrass
2-59 Mackey
2-38 McCallie
2-26 Jones
2-22 Roe

Kick-Avg
36-34 Weiser

Punt-Avg
2-39 Pennington
10-33 Smith
1-16 Weiser

PAT
21/24 Weiser

Field Goals
1-26 Weiser

Tackles
83 Cramer
36 Bratcher
29 Haley
24 Peterman
22 Adcock

For Loss
8-17 Cramer
5-9 Glass
5-9 Bratcher
5-9 Peterman
2-10 Myers

Sacks
1-6 Myers
1-5 Bratcher
1-3 Cramer
1-3 Peterman

Breakups
4 Adcock
3 Bratcher
1 Dudley
1 Haley
1 Jones
1 Mackey

Interceptions
1 Dudley

Forced Fumbles
1 Bratcher
1 Cramer

Fumble Recoveries
2 Glass
1 Peterman
1 Rutledge

Blocked Kicks
1 Mackey