CPHS Football Preview: Booker T. Washington and the Sandites' playoff prayer

Lane Lettich ran for 131 yards and a touchdown in a 2015 Semifinal victory over Booker T. Washington. (Photo: Austin Evans).

Class 6A-II No. 10 ranked Charles Page High School (3-6, 2-4) travels to No. 5 Booker T. Washington (6-3, 5-1) to wrap up the regular season, but despite their losing record, their season might not end there.

This will be the Sandites’ first losing season since 2011, but thanks to circular losses, there’s still a slim chance that they could extend their six-year playoff run with a little help from Ponca City. Technically they could also finish with a winning record if they win out for the gold ball. Stranger things have happened.

Bixby, Booker T., and Muskogee have the top three spots on lock, but the bottom berth is still open for discussion. Sapulpa will more than likely win it, but with two key upsets the Sandites could sneak past them.

First, Sand Springs has to beat Booker T. Second, Ponca City has to knock off Sapulpa. Neither is likely, and the latter is far less likely than the former, but neither is impossible.

Sapulpa owns the No. 5 offense and the Wildcats are tenth in defense. Sapulpa has the No. 9 defense against Ponca’s No. 13 offense. Far from an even matchup.

In the long shot chance that Ponca City upsets Sapulpa, it’ll drop the Chieftains to 3-4 in district play. If Sand Springs beats Booker T., they’ll improve to 3-4. Bartlesville and Shawnee will play each other in Week Ten, and the winner will improve to 3-4, creating a three-way tie for the playoff berth.

Sapulpa beat both Bartlesville and Shawnee. Sand Springs beat Sapulpa but lost to Bartlesville and Shawnee. The head-to-head record will be 1-1 for all three teams, leaving the tie-breaker to district points. That’s where Sand Springs has the edge. Bartlesville could only finish with -19 at most. Shawnee could only finish with -33 at most. If Sapulpa loses by only a single point they’ll have -24. If Sand Springs wins by only a single point they’ll have -3 to clench the playoff berth.

The Sandites won’t have any say on what goes down in Sapulpa, but they can do their part by upsetting the defending State Champions at 7:00 p.m. in Tulsa.

SE Williams Stadium
1514 East Zion Street
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74106

OSSAA 6A-II District 2 Standings
6-0 Bixby (89 district points)
5-1 Booker T. Washington (61)
4-2 Muskogee (32)
3-3 Sapulpa (-23)
2-4 Bartlesville (-34)
2-4 Shawnee (-48)
2-4 Sand Springs (-4)
0-6 Ponca City (-73)

Last Week

Sand Springs put together four quarters of good football for the third time this season thanks to a dominant performance from the offensive line, propelling Caden Pennington to a career-best performance. Pennington was 8-9-123-0 by air for one touchdown and 28-212 on the ground for six scores.

The Sandites amassed 474 yards, 351 on the ground, in their highest-scoring performance of the season. The defense surrendered 303 yards to the No. 5 offense in 6A-II, forcing three punts and one turnover on downs to hold the Chieftains to their season average.

Booker T. Washington had a lackluster performance against a winless Ponca City, suffering a 7-0 first half shutout before rallying with 27 unanswered points in the second half. Defensively they gave up only 91 yards on four receptions and 50 yards on 38 carries.

This Season

The Sandites have had a tough year with 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. They led Muskogee to start the fourth quarter, led Bartlesville till the final five seconds, and lost to Shawnee in overtime. Despite the rough start, they have been heavy competitors in the majority of their games and their hard work paid off with a Week Nine Senior Night rivalry upset. They could just as easily be 6-3, 5-1 right now.

The Hornets got off to a rough start and didn’t improve to a winning record till Week Seven, though only one of their losses came at the hands of an Oklahoma team. A major second-half team, they average only two points in the first quarter, ten in the first half, and 22 in the second half. They’ve suffered seven first-quarter shutouts and came back to win four of those. They suffered four first-half shutouts and came back to win one of those.

No. 10 Sand Springs (3-6, 2-4)

28-41 vs. Mansfield Summit (4-4)
45-24 @ Putnam City (0-9)
13-49 @ Greenwood (8-1)
35-14 @ Ponca City (0-9)
20-23, OT @ Shawnee (2-7)
27-45 vs. Muskogee (6-3)
27-29 vs. Bartlesville (3-6)
0-35 vs. Bixby (8-1)
48-34 vs. Sapulpa (6-3)

No. 5 Booker T. Washington (6-3, 5-1)

28-29 @ North Little Rock (9-0)
24-14 vs. Bishop Kelley (7-2)
7-36 vs. Horn Lake (10-0)
27-7 @ Ponca City (0-9)
54-0 vs. Shawnee (2-7)
47-26 vs. Muskogee (6-3)
43-6 vs. Bartlesville (3-6)
7-21 @ Bixby (8-1)
20-3 @ Sapulpa (6-3)

Average Sandite Box Score
Opponent 33 CPHS 27
First Downs: Opp 16, CPHS 16.
Fumbles/Lost: Opp 2/1, CPHS 2/1.
Penalties: Opp 9-85, CPHS 7-63.
Passing: Opp 11-18-145-0, CPHS 9-16-124-1.
Rushing: Opp 39-215, CPHS 42-238.
Offense: Opp 57-361, CPHS 58-363.

The Programs

Sand Springs is coming off a 5-6 season, led by twelfth-year Head Coach Dustin Kinard with a 63-66 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 and made it to the finals in 2015. The Sandites hold one gold ball, winning the 2A State title in 1966.

Booker T. Washington went 12-1 last year, ending Bixby’s reign as 6A-II State Champs. Head Coach Brad Calip is in his third-year at the helm with a 32-13 career record. The Hornets are also on a six-year playoff streak. Last year was their first trip to the 6A-II finals. They own nine State titles, coming in 2017, 2010, 2008, 1984, 1973, 1971, 1969, 1968, and 1967.

The Series (Booker T. Washington 14-7)

The Sandite-Hornet rivalry is a short one, dating back to only 1986 overall and 2012 in its current series. The Hornets won 8-4 from 1986-1997, won back-to-back in 2006-2007, and are 4-3 in the current series.

Booker T. holds the record for most points scored in a game with a 62-28 win in 2006, which was also the highest-scoring game overall. Their biggest win came in 1992 at 48-7. Sand Springs’s highest-scoring game was a 42-38 win in 2013. Their biggest victory was 21-7 in 2012.

The Hornets’ longest win-streak is three games (1988-1990 and 1992-1994) and the Sandites have only won back-to-back once from 2012-2013. Washington owns two shutouts, including a 40-0 beat down last season. The Sandites have never shut out the Hornets.

Sand Springs and Booker T. have only met twice in the same season one time in series history and that was in 2015. The Hornets won 17-14 in the regular season, but Sand Springs prevailed 30-23 in the semifinals at Sapulpa’s George F. Collins Stadium.

1986: Booker T. Washington 42-21
1987: Sand Springs 15-12
1988: Booker T. Washington 28-14
1989: Booker T. Washington 35-0
1990: Booker T. Washington 31-16
1991: Sand Springs 15-14
1992: Booker T. Washington 48-7
1993: Booker T. Washington 21-14
1994: Booker T. Washington 28-6
1995: Sand Springs 14-10
1996: Booker T. Washington 34-6
1997: Sand Springs 23-15
2006: Booker T. Washington 62-28
2007: Booker T. Washington 23-7
2012: Sand Springs 21-7
2013: Sand Springs 42-38
2014: Booker T. Washington 42-35
2015: Booker T. Washington 17-14
2015: Sand Springs 30-23 (Semifinals)
2016: Booker T. Washington 17-12
2017: Booker T. Washington 40-0

2018 State Leaders

Passing
78-139-1076-6, 12TD Pennington
1-1-41-0 Foster

Receiving
22-360, 5TD Hawkins
20-224, 3TD Snodgrass
11-166, 1TD Foster
10-157, 2TD Roberts
2-70, 1TD Roe

Rushing
124-882, 7TD Mackey
127-661, 12TD Pennington
95-471, 4TD Wilkerson
15-71 McCallie
7-23 Jones

Kick Returns
13-196 Snodgrass
2-59 Mackey
2-38 McCallie
2-31 King
3-31 Roe

Kick-Avg
45-33 Weiser

Punt-Avg
2-39 Pennington
17-32 Smith
1-16 Weiser

PAT
27/30 Weiser

Field Goals
1-26 Weiser

Tackles
96 Cramer
43 Bratcher
37 Haley
32 Peterman
30 Adcock

For Loss
9-19 Bratcher
8-17 Cramer
6-23 Myers
6-16 Peterman
5-9 Glass

Sacks
4-17 Myers
3-11 Bratcher
1-3 Cramer
1-3 Peterman

Breakups
6 Adcock
5 Haley
4 Bratcher
2 Mackey

Interceptions
1 Dudley
1 Hawkins

Forced Fumbles
1 Bratcher
1 Cramer

Fumble Recoveries
2 Glass
1 Peterman
1 Rutledge

Blocked Kicks
2 Mackey