CPHS Football Preview: Sandites travel to Del City for playoffs

For the second consecutive year the Sandites are headed to the playoffs, but despite a better season than last year they’ll have a tougher first-round opponent.

While the Sandites benefited from a bizarre COVID season last year that allowed them to host a fifth-seed Deer Creek in an extra playoff round, this time around they’ll play their first game on the road at District Champion Del City in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

In honor of Veterans Day, all veterans, either active duty, retired, reserve, or national guard, will receive free admission to the first round of the playoffs with free admission for one guest as well. Veterans must have either a Military ID card or driver’s license showing proof of military status.

The game will also utilize the GoFan Electronic Ticket process, with tickets priced at $8.35. Cash admission will be $10 per person. School-aged children and above will need to purchase a ticket but children ages three and younger are admitted free of charge.

The game will be played at 7:30 p.m. at Robert Kalsu Stadium at 1900 S. Sunnylane Rd, Del City, OK 73115. Formerly known as Eagles Stadium, it was rededicated in 2020 following a $17 million renovation.

The game will be livestreamed by Del City on the Oklahoma Sports Network.

The winner of the game will play the winner of No. 2 Choctaw (8-2) vs. No. 7 Deer Creek (8-2). On the other side of the bracket are No. 1 Bixby (10-0) vs. No. 8 Putnam City North (5-5) and No. 3 Booker T. Washington (8-2) vs. No. 5 Stillwater (8-2).

Sand Springs

The Sandites are in their second year under Head Coach Bobby Klinck, who holds an all-time coaching record of 27-20. While Sand Springs was a perennial playoff contender from 2012 to 2017, they hit a rough patch of three losing seasons before Klinck’s arrival spurred them from 2-8 in 2019 to 7-5 last year.

In the season opener they beat archrival Sapulpa 53-26, then they easily handled Bishop Kelley 34-13. Against defending Arkansas 4A State Champion Shiloh Christian they had to come from behind in a 40-33 shootout. In district action they won 30-13 against Ponca City and 48-34 against Muskogee before falling 37-32 to Booker T. Washington, 58-14 to Bixby and 41-28 to Choctaw.

The Sandites snapped the losing streak 41-20 at Bartlesville after jumping out to a 41-0 lead before sending in the backups. They then rolled Putnam City West 44-7, once again getting a first-team shutout before allowing the Patriots on the board in the final minutes.

“Definitely satisfied, glad we’re healthy, glad we were able to make some explosive plays,” Klinck said after the last game. “Little disappointed in the personal foul, that was a point of emphasis last week, so we need to do better because next week in Del City those are going to really hurt us. But all in all, happy for the win, happy for the seniors, but we’ve got a lot left to play for.”

As for the Eagles… “They do a really good job of running the football and then defensively they’re very sound, so we’ve got our work cut out for us,” said Klinck. “It’s going to be a physical football game, so we’ve got to bring our lunch pail and come ready to go.”

Players to Watch

Ty Pennington (Sr. QB) is 157-245-2311-3 passing with 25 touchdowns, and is 117-426 rushing with nine TDs. He holds the school records in career passing yardage at 5,935, career passing touchdowns at 52, single season passing touchdowns at 25, and career total touchdowns at 74.

Blake Jones (Sr. RB) is 131-858 rushing with eleven touchdowns.

Brody Rutledge (Jr. WR) is 4-10-58-1 passing with two touchdowns and 35-538 receiving with five TDs.

Keaton Campbell (Sr. WR) is 42-619 receiving with eight touchdowns and averages 18.6 yards per kick return.

Jacob Blevins (Jr. WR) is 54-818 receiving with six TDs and averages 16 yards per kick return.

Ryan Shoemaker (Sr. TE) is 20-261 receiving with five TDs.

Jabe Schlehuber averages 31.9 yards per kick return with a school record-setting 99-yard TD.

Landon Hendricks (Sr. DE) has 57 tackles, 19 for loss, 7.5 sacks, 6 pass breakups, 2 fumble recoveries, 3 forced fumbles, a safety, and a blocked PAT.

Brooks Dudley (Sr. LB) has 84 tackles, 5.5 for loss, 1.5 sacks, and 1 pass breakup.

Gabe Brown (Sr. LB) has 57 tackles, 9.5 for loss, 5 sacks, 1 pass breakup, and a 75-yard scoop and score.

Conner Light (Sr. LB) has 59 tackles, 5.5 for loss, 3 sacks, 1 pass breakup, and 1 forced fumble.

Drake Fain (Jr. LB) has 90 tackles, 6 for loss, 1 sack, 3 pass breakup, three fumble recoveries, an interception, and a 13-yard scoop and score.

Ryder Barnes (Sr. CB) has 52 tackles, 0.5 for loss, three interceptions, 6 pass breakups, and 1 fumble recovery.

Del City

The Eagles are in their first season under head coach Robert Jones, who spent the previous four years as defensive coordinator. He is the fourth head coach in the past seven years for Del City, who has historically been an above average team in the class.

Del City went 4-6 last year, but that was their first losing record since 2011. Three of those losses were by a touchdown or less, and four were non-district. Every loss came to a playoff-bound team, and the Eagles themselves went 1-1 in the playoffs with a 41-7 trouncing of Ponca City before falling 63-27 to State Champion Bixby.

After six years at 5A, the Eagles moved up to 6A-II in 2018 and are 29-14 since then.

This year, the Eagles lost their season opener 39-26 to No. 3 Booker T. Washington, but have won out since then despite some close scares that included three overtime trips.

They won 52-20 at Carl Albert, 27-21 against Bishop McGuiness in overtime, 62-0 against Northwest Classen, 30-7 at Stillwater, 27-6 against Midwest City, 20-14 at Putnam City North in overtime, 35-28 at Deer Creek in overtime, 59-7 at U.S. Grant, and 62-35 at Lawton.

Players to Watch

Virgil Yates (Sr. QB) is 31-69-541-4 passing with 7 TDs and 134-817 rushing with 17 TDs.

Ethan Lawrence (Sr. RB/SS) is 93-799 rushing with 5 TDs and has 28 tackles with 5 tackles for loss and an interception.

Jayson Smith (Sr. RB/MLB) is 85-540 rushing with 5 TDs and has 53 tackles with 16 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, and an interception

Jaylin Sweet (Jr. WR/CB) is 13-234 receiving with 2 TDs and has 4 interceptions.

Kanijal Thomas (Jr. WR/CB) is 6-158 receiving with 2 TDs and has 46 tackles. A three-star recruit according to 247Sports, Thomas has offers from Iowa State, Kansas, Memphis, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech.

Darius Hampton (Sr. DE) has 72 tackles, 33 tackles for loss, 18.5 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, and four forced fumbles.

Brian Stocker (Sr. MLB) has 67 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and a fumble recovery.

Aaron Carter (So. MLB) has 58 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, 2 interceptions, and a fumble recovery.

Jaedon Foreman (Jr. DE) has 31 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, and 11.5 sacks.

Braelon Adamah (So. FS) has 50 tackles and 4 interceptions.