Sandites roll Bartlesville 41-20, Pennington scores four touchdowns

A version of this story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

After three weeks of brutal competition against the top three teams in the state, the Class 6A-II No. 6 Charles Page High School varsity football team (6-3, 3-3) got a much-needed win Friday night at Bartlesville (2-7, 1-5).

Sand Springs rolled to a 41-0 lead against the unranked Bruins before sending in the backups, and picked up a 41-20 win in district action. 

“We certainly expected to win,” said Sand Springs head coach Bobby Klinck. “The biggest thing I wanted to see was us get off to a good start. We hadn’t really gotten off to good starts this year. So we definitely emphasized that with our players and I was very proud that we came out and got on them really fast.”

After forcing a punt to start the game, the Sandites marched 85 yards and scored on a 27-yard pass from Ty Pennington to Jacob Blevins. 

Blevins added a ten-yard TD run with 2:23 in the first quarter, and Pennington ran in the PAT to make up for a missed kick on the first drive. The quarterback added a 17-yard scamper and Jonathan Daniels’s kick made it 21-0 to end the first quarter.

Things slowed down in the second quarter as the Bruins controlled the clock and forced two three-and-outs. A change in quarterbacks and costly Sandite penalties helped the home team move the chains, but Braylon Flores forced two turnovers on downs with pass deflections, including a goal-line stand. 

“We pride ourselves on not having those stupid penalties,” said Klinck. “I was a little disappointed in that, but all-in-all it was a good win for us.”

Sand Springs restarted its momentum with a 21-yard TD throw from Pennington to Blevins late in the half, then Blake Jones scored on a one-yard run to start the third quarter.

Jones has seen limited action the past three weeks after an injury against Booker T. Washington, but carried the ball nine times for 53 yards against the Bruins.

“It’s just day to day,” said Klinck. “This was the first time that he’s kind of looked good, so we wanted to give him that opportunity. Hopefully with each week he’ll be getting better and better in time for the playoffs.”

Jones remains the team’s leading rusher with 795 yards and eight scores.

Pennington hooked up with Keaton Campbell for the final score early in the third quarter on a 57-yard reception.

From there it was all about getting meaningful reps for the backups and running out the clock.

Pennington finished the game 11-of-19 passing for 187 yards and had three carries for 46 yards. Kenneth Page led on the ground with 69 yards on eight carries, while Blevins led the receiving corps with five catches for 111 yards. 

Defensively, the Sandites tallied seven tackles for loss, three sacks, and three turnovers. Brooks Dudley recorded nine tackles and Drake Fain had eight. Ryder Barnes had a 31-yard interception return, Fain and Trevor Stone recovered fumbles, and Dallas Elifrits forced a fumble.

“When you come off of three tough losses, it’s always good to get a win,” said Klinck. “We want to be playing our best football come November. So we need to have a great practice session this week and get after Putnam City West.”

The Sandites will wrap up the regular season at home against the Patriots (0-9, 0-6), who have lost 33 consecutive games.