CPHS Football: Comeback attempt falls short, Sandites fall 24-14 to Ponca City

Blake Jones is swarmed by defenders in a Thursday night loss to Ponca City.

The Class 6A-II No. 13 ranked Charles Page High School varsity football team (2-5, 1-3) was unable to overcome a rocky first half Thursday night against No. 11 Ponca City (4-3, 2-2), and fell 24-14. The win gave Ponca their best record since 2005, which was also the last time the Wildcats won at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The loss snapped a seven-year winning streak against Ponca.

Things could have gone very differently had the Sandites not gotten off to such a tough start. On their opening drive the home team marched 71 yards in only four plays to set up a first and goal at the 7-yard line. Trey Wilkerson had a touchdown run negated by holding, then Pennington threw a touchdown pass to Keaton Campbell that was also called back. Finally, a 32-yard field goal attempt by Zach Heinen missed, and the Sandites walked away scoreless.

The Sandite defense forced a quick three-and-out with tackles for loss from Alexa Favela and Lane Webster, but the Wildcat defense was equally potent. Nate Collins tackled Tyyee Atkison for a loss and Travaugh Tipton picked off Pennington’s pass, setting his team up for a seven-play 75-yard drive, capped by a two-yard scoring run from Kyter Welch. Spencer Ball kicked the PAT and the visitors never trailed.

Ponca got its third takeaway of the game midway through the second quarter and converted it into points only three plays later when Justin Andrews found Sam McKinney for a 48-yard touchdown pass and 14-0 lead.

The Sandites’ sixth possession of the night was a quick three-and-out, and Ponca spent the rest of the half draining the clock before kicking a 34-yard field goal and taking a 17-0 advantage into the locker room.

Sand Springs had a more productive second half, forcing a punt on Ponca’s opening drive and marching 80-yards in nine plays for a 14-yard touchdown pass from Pennington to Jamon Sisco. The Sandite defense held Ponca to negative yardage and a punt, and the offense put the game back in reach with a nine-play 48-yard drive and three-yard touchdown run from Wilkerson. Heinen kicked the PAT to make it 17-14 with 10:34 to play.

Ponca retaliated with a methodical eleven-play 52-yard march and two-yard touchdown run from Andrews to make it 24-14 with only 4:11 left.

Sand Springs converted one fourth down on their next drive, and went for a second from their own 36-yard line, but the pass was broken up, giving the Wildcats prime real estate. It was the home team’s turn to make a fourth-down stop, with Jerret Haley preventing a score from four yards out. By then only twelve seconds remained, and the Wildcats had secured the win.

Pennington broke 200 yards passing for the second-straight week, going 13-23-202-1, while Andrews was 8-16-92-0. Campbell was 6-134 receiving for his second-straight triple-digit performance, and accounted for 205 all-purpose yards. Sisco was 5-52 receiving for a career-high. Haley led the Sandite defense in total tackles. Lennox Sunneagle came up big for the Wildcats with two sacks, and Camdon Fleming had a fumble recovery.

The Wildcats will look to continue their historic turnaround season when they host No. 12 Bartlesville (1-6, 1-3) Friday at 7:00 p.m. The Sandites will take to the road Friday when they battle the defending State Champions in Bixby (7-0, 4-0).

POHI 24 CPHS 14
First Downs: POHI 13, CPHS 11.
Fumbles/Lost: POHI 0/0, CPHS 2/2.
Penalties: POHI 9-88, CPHS 9-85.
C-A-Y-I: POHI 8-16-92-0, CPHS 13-23-202-1.
Rushing: POHI 43-206, CPHS 25-55.
Offense: POHI: 59-298, CPHS 48-257.

District 2 Standings
4-0 Bixby (+60)
3-1 Muskogee (+39)
3-1 Booker T. Washington (+30)
2-2 Ponca City (-6)
1-3 Sapulpa (-30)
1-3 Bartlesville (-30)
1-3 Sand Springs (-38)
1-3 Shawnee (-25)