CPHS Football: Sandites take down Arkansas No. 1 Shiloh Christian, Hendricks gets 3 turnovers

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Jamon Sisco scored the lone receiving touchdown for the Sandites.

Defense shined and Landon Hendricks made three fumble recoveries as the Class 6A-II No. 10 ranked Charles Page High School football team (2-1) took down Arkansas 4A No. 1 Shiloh Christian (3-1) Friday night at Memorial Stadium. The Saints went 14-1 last season and only lost their State Finals game, but the Sandites put a stop to their hopes of a second undefeated regular season with a 27-26 home upset.

Shiloh came ready to play and Cam Wiedemann snagged a short pass and took it 75 yards to the house on the second play of the game. Cale Slaba kicked the PAT for the 7-0 lead just 49 seconds into the game.

Sand Springs responded with a 12-play 66-yard march and fourth-down two-yard touchdown run from Ty Pennington. The Sandites attempted to kick a PAT but a bad snap resulted in Pennington tossing an incompletion.

Hendricks got his first recovery on the Saints’ next drive, setting up the Sandites in Shiloh territory, but the offense stalled out and the teams exchanged a trio of punts. The Sandite defense got another takeway just before the end of the first as Brycen Peterman made a pick at the Shiloh five-yard line, and Jonathan Daniels kicked a 22-yard field goal for the 9-7 lead.

The Sandites pushed their lead to 15-7 with a 52-yard touchdown pass from Pennington to Jamon Sisco, but the PAT failed. A failed onside kick gave Shiloh good field position at the 50, but Hendricks made another fumble recovery at the Sandites’ 22-yard line.

Shiloh responded with a defensive three-and-out and scored on a 61-yard touchdown pass to Drew Dudley, but Daren Hawkins stopped a two-point run attempt. Braden Tutt made a big play for the Saints on the Sandites’ corresponding drive with a blocked punt and returned it for a touchdown and a 20-15 lead after Slaba kicked the PAT.

Sand Springs had the final say of the half, however. Pennington found Jacob Blevins for 61 yards to enter the red zone and six plays later the quarterback punched it in from a yard out. His two point run attempt was stopped, but the home team took a 21-20 lead into the locker room.

The Saints took the lead again on their second offensive play of the second half, as Wisdom ran it in from 70 yards out, but Caden Harris stopped Kaden Henley’s two-point run. Both teams committed turnovers in the third quarter. Hendricks got his third fumble recovery and Ben Baker snagged Pennington’s first interception of the season, but neither team capitalized.

Pennington scored his third rushing touchdown from two-yards out early into the fourth quarter but his two-point pass to Ryan Shoemaker fell incomplete. Cooper Hutchinson recovered a muffed punt to give his team another possession deep in Sandite territory, but Sango Whitehorn sacked Wisdom on a fourth-down play for the turnover on downs.

The Sandites marched as far as Shiloh’s 29-yard line with 2:02 to play before stalling out and Zach Heinen’s 46-yard field goal attempt fell short. Brooks Dudley appeared to sack Wisdom for a safety, but the Saints retained the ball on forward progress. Their fourth-down pass attempt fell incomplete, however, and the Sandites took a series of knees in the Shiloh red zone.

Pennington finished the game 20-32-271-1 passing with one touchdown by air, and was 24-42 rushing for three scores. Blevins was his top receiver with six catches for 145 yards. Wisdom paced the Saint offense with a 9-18-172-1 passing mark and was 14-85 on the ground for three total scores.

Sandite Football will kick off district action next Friday at No. 13 Ponca City (1-1). Shiloh will host Berryville, AR (0-2).