Football State Championship Primer: Sand Springs vs. Choctaw
/It's game day!
No. 1 Sand Springs (10-2) is back in the State Championship finals for the first time since 2015 and only the third time in school history.
The opponent is a familiar foe, No. 4 Choctaw, the defending State Champions who ended the Sandites' seasons the last three years in a row.
The setting: Chad Richison Stadium on the University of Central Oklahoma campus in Edmond - 7:00 p.m.
Choctaw leads the series 9-2 since the two teams first met in 1992. The Yellowjackets have won seven in a row against Sand Springs, who last defeated Choctaw in 2001.
The last three meetings have been heartbreakers: 48-29 in the 2022 quarterfinals, 45-15 in the 2023 quarterfinals, and 31-21 in the 2024 semifinals. But, as Choctaw coach Jake Corbin stated in yesterday's presser, "the 2025 teams have never met so what happened in the past does not matter."
What does matter is what's happened in the 2025 season. And it has been beautiful. Following season-opening losses to Bixby and Owasso, who are both playing in the Class 6A-I Championship tomorrow night, the Sandites have won 10 games in a row for their longest win streak and first district championship since 1997.
And most importantly they are in the finals for the first time since 2015. That heartbreaker ended in a 38-28 loss to Bixby. And before that? The 1966 State Championship: a 14-7 triumph over El Reno in the Class 2A finals.
Some highlights of the season thus far:
This is now the highest-scoring team in school history with 460 points, surpassing last year's 434, averaging 38.3 points per game. The Sandites are allowing 16.2 points per game, the fewest since 2015.
Sand Springs has won five shutouts for the first time since 1951.
They've hung half a hundred on three different foes for only the third time in school history.
This is the Sandites' first 10-win season since 1997 and only our sixth in school history.
This is the fourth-longest win streak in school history.
Senior quarterback Easton Webb has been a big part of that. Here are some of his school records:
Single game passing yards: 447 against Bishop Kelley in 2024.
Playoff game passing yards: 351 against Piedmont in 2024.
Single season passing yards: 3,502 in 2024.
Career passing yards: 8,605.
Single game pass completions: 30 against Putnam City North in 2024.
Season pass completions: 218 in 2024.
Career pass completions: 618.
Single game passing touchdowns: 6 against both Capitol Hill and Bartlesville in 2024.
Playoff game passing touchdowns: 5 against Piedmont in 2024. That's also the playoff game total touchdowns record.
Single season passing touchdowns: 41 last year.
Career passing touchdowns: 83.
Winningest quarterback in school history with a 29-14 record as starter.
But he hasn't been alone in setting records.
Junior receiver Dom Forbes holds a mess of records of his own:
Single game receiving yards: 261 against Bartlesville in 2024.
Playoff game receiving yards: 160 against Piedmont in 2024.
Single season receiving yards: 1,551 as a sophomore.
Career receiving yards: 2,808.
Single game receptions: 17 against Bartlesville in 2025.
Single season receptions: 91 this year.
Career receptions: 161.
Single game receiving touchdowns: 4 against Bartlesville in 2024.
Playoff game receiving touchdowns: 3 against Piedmont in 2024.
Single season receiving touchdowns: 20 as a sophomore.
Career receiving touchdowns: 31.
Another stud receiver on this team is Paxton Salazar who set the playoff receptions record with 12 last week against Putnam City.
And don't forget Brock O'Dell who set the playoff rushing touchdown record with four scores against Piedmont two weeks ago.
And kicker Tanner Copeland tied the school's playoff game PAT record with 6 kicks against Piedmont in 2024.
The Class of 2026 is the winningest class in school history with a record of 33-15, winning 68.75% of their games. These same kids won the INFC Championship in seventh grade and the Frontier Valley Conference Championship in eighth grade, and many of them became varsity players as freshmen.
Regardless of what goes down in Edmond tonight - this has been a top-two season in school history and nobody will be forgetting it for a long time.
Just for fun - here are all of the Sand Springs playoff game records:
351 passing yards - Easton Webb vs. Piedmont (2024)
43 pass attempts - Eric Haines vs. McLain (1981)
22 pass completions - Ty Pennington vs. Deer Creek (2021) and Easton Webb vs. Piedmont (2024)
5 passing touchdowns - Easton Webb vs. Piedmont (2024)
160 receiving yards - Dom Forbes vs. Piedmont (2024)
12 receptions - Paxton Salazar vs. Putnam City (2025)
3 receiving touchdowns - Dom Forbes vs. Piedmont (2024)
36 carries - Payton Scott vs. Midwest City (2016)
183 rushing yards - Pedro Negron vs. Sapulpa (1997)
4 rushing touchdowns - Brock O'Dell vs. Piedmont (2025)
21 tackles - Drake Fain vs. Putnam City (2022)
4.5 tackles for loss - Dom Ornelas vs. Putnam City (2022)
3 sacks - Delvin Jordan Jr. vs. Midwest City (2016) and Dom Ornelas vs. Putnam City (2022)
6 pass deflections - Jamon Sisco vs. Deer Creek (2020)
2 interceptions - Kelly Smith vs. Union (1990) and Kevin King vs. Broken Arrow (1997))
55 interception return yards - Terry Connell vs. Nowata (1951)
2 forced fumbles - Gage Fain vs. Midwest City (2017) and Sango Whitehorn vs. Deer Creek (2020)
3 fumble recoveries - Billy Norris vs. Poteau (1951) and Jace Seals vs. Lawton (1987)
41 fumble return yards - Jason Shehan vs. Jenks (1993)
86 punt return yards - Jerald Jestice vs. Poteau (1951)
106 kick return yards - Trace Fleischman vs. Bixby (2015)
7 punts - Tony Bart vs. Jenks (1976)
250 punt yards - Kasey Bales vs. Bixby (2015)
6 PATs - Charles Hughes vs. Poteau (1951), Tanner Copeland vs. Piedmont (2024) and Dawson Puckett vs. Lawton (2023)
2 field goals - Doug Shinnerer vs. Idabel (1976), Jace Seals vs. Norman (1987), and Fleming Sorenson vs. Jenks (1990)
5 total touchdowns - Easton Webb vs. Piedmont (2025)
2 two-point conversions - Jacie Hill vs. Ada (1966)
All efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of these records but historic records are hard to find and often conflicting depending on sources. If you see any errors, please let me know.
