CPHS Football Preview: Sandites travel to No. 7 Booker T. Washington Friday

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The Class 6A No. 5 ranked Charles Page High School football team (4-1, 2-0) will ride a three-game win streak into Friday’s match-up with No. 7 Booker T. Washington (3-2, 1-1). The district road game will kick off at 7:00 p.m. at S.E. Williams Stadium.

As has become typical in the COVID-19 era, admittance to Friday’s game will be limited. The Sandite Athletic Department has been given 500 total tickets to disperse between visiting Sand Springs fans. 300 tickets are reserved for adults and 200 are for students/senior citizens (age 60+). Adult tickets are $7.00 and student/senior citizen tickets are $4.00.

Tickets will be sold for cash only and will be available at the Ed Dubie Field House beginning Tuesday from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday’s ticket sales will be reserved for students and parents of senior football, cheer, dance, and band members, with a limit of two adult tickets and two student/senior citizen tickets per family. CPHS students will be able to purchase one ticket apiece. All remaining tickets will be available to the general public Wednesday and Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

Both teams are in their first seasons under new Head Coaches. Sand Springs recruited Owasso Defensive Coordinator Bobby Klinck, while Washington promoted their Defensive Coordinator, Jonathan Brown. Brown helped coach the Hornets to a 6A-II State Title in 2017, while Klinck helped coach the Rams to 6A-I State Titles in 2017 and 2019. Sand Springs went 2-8 last season while Washington was 6-5.

Sand Springs started the season with a 21-17 win over 5A No. 9 Sapulpa (3-2). They narrowly lost 28-24 to 5A No. 1 Bishop Kelley (4-0) after leading till the final minute of the game, then bounced back with a huge 27-26 upset of Arkansas 4A No. 1 Shiloh Christian (4-1). In district play they won 35-10 against No. 13 Ponca City (1-3) and 45-14 against No. 11 Muskogee (0-4).

Washington won 28-10 against 6A-I No. 13 Southmoore (1-4) and 15-13 against No. 9 Del City (0-3) but lost 28-17 to 5A No. 3 Bishop McGuinness (4-1) and 26-22 to No. 6 Choctaw (3-2) before bouncing back 34-7 against No. 12 Bartlesville (1-4).

Sand Springs has the No. 7 ranked offense, No. 5 defense, and No. 6 margin of victory in Class 6A-II, while Washington has the No. 10 offense, No. 3 defense, and No. 8 margin of victory. Washington is also No. 3 in defensive scoring. If Sand Springs wins they’ll be 5-1 for the first time since 2014 while Washington will be 3-3 for the third straight year.

Sand Springs

Junior quarterback Ty Pennington is 77-136-1267-1 passing this season with eight touchdowns, and is 77-265 on the ground with another eight scores. He has scored 30 career touchdowns and amassed nearly 3,000 career offensive yards in under two seasons.

The Sandites struggled on the ground after Blake Jones was injured in the season opener, but he returned for the last two games and ran for a career-best 7.8 yards per carry against Muskogee. He is 36-234 on the season with three touchdowns.

The team has multiple capable kickers. Jonathan Daniels is 4-of-5 on PATs and 2-of-2 on field goals with a long of 26. Zach Heinen is 14-of-14 on PATs and 1-of-2 on field goals with a long of 28. Greg Reed has averaged 51.3 yards on kickoff and Heinen averages 31.2 yards per punt.

Keaton Campbell is 31-435 receiving with five touchdowns, Jamon Sisco is 16-371 with two scores, Jacob Blevins is 15-333 with one score, and Ryan Shoemaker is 11-111. Sisco also averages a team-best 31 yards per kick return with a 93-yard touchdown.

Drake Fain has 47 tackles, Sango Whitehorn has 46 tackles and three sacks, Landon Hendricks has 40 tackles and 3.5 sacks, and Brooks Dudley has 31 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

The team has excelled in turnovers this season. Brycen Peterman has two interceptions. Micah Calico and Dudley have one interception each. Campbell, Dudley, Fain, Peterman, and Bryson Chase have forced fumbles. Hendricks and Peterman have four fumble recoveries each. Chase, Daren Hawkins, and Dominic Ornelas have recovered one fumble apiece. Sisco has three blocked kicks, Whitehorn has two, and Chase has blocked one.

Booker T. Washington

The Hornets are great on defense. Ethan Grogan scored a pick six against Southmoore and Jahkobie Smith scored a safety against Del City. Jordan Drew made a pick against Choctaw, and returned a fumble 80 yards for a score against Bartlesville.

The team has been known to commit key errors on both offense and special teams. They allowed Del City and Bartlesville to return fumbles for touchdowns. Choctaw blocked two punts and returned one for a touchdown. Lathan Boone threw four interceptions to Bishop McGuinness and one was returned for a score. They also struggle with penalties.

Boone, receivers Micah Tease and Jalen Teague, and running back Jaiden Carroll are the guys to watch on offense. Arkansas-committed cornerback Keuan Parker leads the Hornet defense. They took a big loss in the season opener when five-star corner Gentry Williams tore his ACL.

The Series

The teams first met in 1986 and the Hornets doubled Sand Springs 42-21 on their way to a State Title, but the Sandites paid it back 15-12 the next year. The Hornets lead the series 16-7 overall and have won the past four meetings. The last time Sand Springs won was in 2015 when the Hornets won 17-14 in the regular season, but Sand Springs got revenge 30-23 in the State Semifinals.

The four-game streak for the Hornets is the longest in the series. Sand Springs has only won back-to-back games once against Washington, from 2012 to 2013. Washington’s biggest win was 48-7 in 1992, and Sand Springs’s biggest win was 21-7 in 2012.