CPHS Football: Sandites end season 48-21 at Booker T. Washington

Luke Bratcher scored his first touchdown of the season Friday night at SE Williams Stadium. (Photo: Morgan Miller).

The Class 6A-II No. 10 ranked Charles Page High School football team (3-7, 2-5) gave the defending State Champions a run for their money, but ultimately couldn’t overcome an early deficit Friday night at SE Williams Stadium.

No. 5 ranked Booker T. Washington (7-3, 6-1) topped the Sandites 48-21 on a brisk Hornet Senior Night to finish second in district play and end the Sandites’ season.

The Hornets scored on six of nine drives and punted three times, averaging five plays for 34 yards per possession. The Sandites averaged five plays and 21 yards per possession, fumbling twice, scoring thrice, punting four times, and giving up one turnover on downs.

Senior quarterback Caden Pennington was 8-13-89-0 passing with touchdown passes to Daren Hawkins and Luke Bratcher. Hawkins caught seven passes for 78 yards and Bratcher caught one pass for eleven yards and his first score of the season.

Pennington carried 22 times for 68 yards and a twenty-yard touchdown, while senior running back Joel Mackey had twelve touches for sixty yards. Jaden Weiser was a perfect three-for-three on extra points, Hayden Cramer tallied sixteen tackles, and Aaron King averaged nineteen yards on five kick returns.

Though the 48-21 score looks lopsided from the outside, the Sandites actually kept pace with the Hornets for the middle half of the game. Unfortunately the 21-21 tie was sandwiched between a 0-20 start and 0-7 finish.

Thomas Grayson scored on the Hornets’ opening drive with a 32-yard fourth-down run for a 7-0 first quarter shutout. Freshman quarterback Gentry Williams scored on a nine-yard keeper on the first play of the second quarter, then Kiero Petross returned a Pennington fumble 25 yards for the 20-0 lead. Drew Wilkie kicked the first two extra points, but Cramer prevented a two-point run on the third score.

Pennington got the Sandites on the board with a thirteen-yard strike to Hawkins, capping a four-play forty-yard drive with four minutes left in the half. The home team used their longest drive of the game to drain the clock, marching 68 yards in ten plays for a 27-7 halftime lead, scoring on a sixteen-yard pass from Williams to Gentry Dalton.

The Sandites forced a punt on the opening drive of the second half, then scored on an eleven-yard pass to Bratcher to cut it to 27-14.

Williams responded with an eighteen-yard touchdown run and a 35-yard touchdown pass to Daxton Hill to make it 41-14.

Pennington added the Sandites’ final points of the night on a twenty-yard run with 6:58 to play.

Senior backup Dwight Hamilton took over for the Hornets and capped his senior night perfectly with a fifty-yard strike to Javian Hester. Wilkie kicked the final point to complete the rout.

The Sandites finished with their first regular-season losing record since going 3-7 in 2011 and snapped a six-year playoff streak. Booker T. Washington is headed to the playoffs for the seventh straight year and will host No. 4 Del City (7-3) Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Week 10 Results
No. 1 Stillwater 35-21 No. 4 Del City
No. 2 Bixby 51-7 No. 7 Muskogee
No. 3 Midwest City 50-7 No. 14 Putnam West
No. 6 Lawton 56-7 No. 16 Putnam City
No. 8 Sapulpa 48-24 No. 15 Ponca City
No. 13 Deer Creek 28-24 No. 9 Choctaw
No. 11 Bartlesville 58-51 No. 12 Shawnee

Post Season Qualifiers
District 1
7-0 Stillwater
6-1 Midwest City
5-2 Del City
4-3 Lawton
District 2
7-0 Bixby
6-1 Booker T. Washington
4-3 Muskogee
4-3 Sapulpa