Sandite Weekly Sports Roundup: Wrestling Dominates Season-Opening Duals

The Ty Bowling era opened with a bang this week as the No. 13 Sand Springs wrestling team won its first two duals convincingly Thursday at the Ed Dubie Field House before placing sixth out of 35 teams at the Mid America Nations in Enid over the weekend.

In the first dual of the season the Sandites rolled to a 49-18 win over 5A No. 8 Duncan (1-1), going 10-4 in individual matches with six wins by fall.

The teams traded blows to an 18-18 tie after seven matches before Mitchell Smith won a 10-1 major decision to kick off a seven-match win streak.

That streak carried over into the next dual as the Sandites opened with three-straight wins in a 60-12 romp against the defending Arkansas Dual State Champions from Rogers Heritage (4-2)

Colt Hood won a 9-2 decision against defending State Champion Ethan McCrary at 120 pounds to take a 12-0 lead before the visitors got on the board.

The Sandites only lost three matches, all by close decisions, two of which were to returning State placers.

Jaden Allen and Mason Harris both pinned returning State placers and the Sandites totalled eight wins by fall.

At the Enid tournament the Sandites finished with four wrestlers in the top four of their brackets.

David Ritchey placed third at 113 with two pins, Smith placed third at 150 with three pins, Mason Harris finished third at 285 with five pins, and Ethan White finished fourth at 165 with four pins.

Jaxon Trotter placed 7th, Jayden Pait 10th, Ali McCoy 11th, Dawson Briscoe 18th, Allen 18th, Hood 18th, Jackson Burdge 19th, Preston Reyna 22nd, Jace Simms 23rd, Brody Ensten 25th.

The Keystone Kids wrestling club placed third at the Rumble in the Jungle tournament in Coweta over the weekend.

Hudson Waag, Hagan Wolfenberger, Sutton Hawley, Ryder Richardson, Ayreson Reiss, Ryker Dawes, Collin Randall, Brackton Upton, and Kydon Harness all won their brackets.

Dance

The Charles Page High School dance team took second place in 6A Small School Hip Hop at the OSDTDA State Championship on Saturday and the JV/JH team won its division.

Baseball

Sand Springs varsity baseball coach Matt Brown was recognized as the OBCA Region 7 Coach of the Year following the Sandites’ 31-8 season in 2022.

“Coach of the Year awards don’t happen without the best assistant coaches, great players, amazing families, and supportive administration,” tweeted Brown.

Football

Brody Rutledge was named the 6A-II District 2 Wide Receiver of the Year after catching 51 passes for 748 yards and eight touchdowns this season, averaging 14.7 yards per pass. He also had 18 carries for 131 yards and a score.

Jacob Blevins was also named an All-District receiver with 47 catches for 659 yards and four total touchdowns.

Drake Fain was named an All-District linebacker with 101 tackles. RJ Smittick was named an All-District defensive back with 64 tackles and two fumble recoveries.

Dominic Ornelas and Charles Gaylord made the All-District defensive line. Ornelas had 14 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. Gaylord had 33 tackles and two fumble recoveries.

Jabe Schlehuber (WR/DB) and Cody Cramer (DB) received Honorable Mentions. Schlehuber had 27 catches for 369 yards and three touchdowns, as well as two interceptions. Cramer also had two interceptions to go with 57 tackles.

Sandites Advance in Playoffs With 31-21 Win Over Putnam City

After watching a 21-7 first-quarter lead slip away, the Sandites needed fourth-quarter heroics to stave off an upset in the first round of the 6A-II playoffs Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

A pair of fourth-down stands, a pair of fumble recoveries, and the senior leadership provided by Brody Rutledge and Drake Fain led No. 6 Sand Springs (7-4) to a 31-21 victory over No. 10 Putnam City (4-7) in the Sandites’ fifth nail-biter win of the season.

“That’s kind of the identity of our team,” said third-year coach Bobby Klinck, whose teams have won a playoff game every year since his arrival.

“We have opportunities to really finish it up and break out and sometimes we don’t get that done. I think that just speaks to a little bit of our inexperience. But credit to our kids and our coaches of just finding ways to win.”

“That’s kind of been our MO this year. We found ways to win. It’s a lot better to find ways to win than to find ways to lose.”

Keagan Gilman found a way to win when he made a fourth-and-goal stop to open the fourth quarter.

Rutledge found a way to win when he broke off a 70-yard run two plays later to set up an eventual 26-yard go-ahead field goal from Jonathan Daniels.

And Fain found a way to win when he forced a fumble with 1:41 to play, which Charles Gaylord recovered.

The Sandites held the Pirates to negative yardage in the fourth quarter, but were out-gained 294 yards to 100 over the middle two stanzas and all the momentum was on Putnam City’s side.

“I’m 40 going on 50 right now with this team,” said Klinck. “I’d like to get some easier wins.”

“It’s Oklahoma high school football. There’s great coaches everywhere, great players. You’ve got to come correct every week, especially in the playoffs.”

Sand Springs got off on the right foot as Kenneth Page broke off an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage, but the Pirates responded with a 10-play, 62-yard march and tied it up on a 1-yard sneak from Jud Keefer.

Easton Webb threw a 4-yard fourth-down strike to Rutledge to reclaim the lead, and the two connected again from six yards out to open the second quarter.

Then the Pirates came surging back with a 42-yard touchdown throw from Keefer to Shawn Hill in the second quarter, and opened the second half with another score.

Putnam City found success with a wildcat package for Taje McCoy, who marched his team downfield and scored on a nine-yard run. He added a two-point conversion to make up for a PAT that was blocked by Gaylord in the second quarter.

McCoy continued to move the ball well throughout the third quarter, setting his team up at the 3-yard line before a third-down hike was fumbled and Gilman came up big to stop the fourth-down attempt.

The Sandites used their own wildcat option with Rutledge, who had 10 carries for 107 yards and a 10-yard touchdown run in the fourth.

“I’m just proud that we got a win,” said Klinck. “That Putnam City team has gotten so much better and kind of found out their identity and who they were, so they did a really good job.”

The Sandites will return to action Friday at 7:00 p.m. with a trip to No. 2 Choctaw (9-1), who received a bye this week.

Scoring Summary

CPHS;14;7;0;10–;31
PC;7;6;8;0–;21

First Quarter
CPHS - Page 80 run (Daniels kick), 11:40
PC - Keefer 1 run (Cervantes kick), 8:19
CPHS - Rutledge 4 pass from Webb (Daniels kick), 3:35

Second Quarter
CPHS - Rutledge 6 pass from Webb (Daniels kick), 8:57
PC - Hill 42 pass from Keefer (Kick blocked), 4:54

Third Quarter
PC - McCoy 9 run (McCoy run), 8:27

Fourth Quarter
CPHS - Daniels 26 field goal, 8:21
CPHS - Rutledge 10 run (Daniels kick), 3:57

Team Statistics

First Downs: CPHS 14, PC 21. Rushes-Yards: CPHS 35-258, PC 48-138. Comp-Att-Int: CPHS 11-19-0, PC 15-25-0. Passing Yards: CPHS 152, PC 212. Total Yards: CPHS 410, PC 350. Fumbles-Lost: CPHS 1-1, PC 6-3. Penalty Yards: CPHS 95, PC 84. Punts-AVG: CPHS 2-37.5, PC 2-24.5. Records: CPHS 7-4, PC 4-7.

Sandites Throttle U.S. Grant 83-0 in School-Record Win

The first-ever meeting between No. 6 Sand Springs (6-4, 4-3) and U.S. Grant (0-10, 0-7) wasn’t pretty.

The Sandites took a 48-0 lead in the first quarter on only eight offensive plays before coasting to a school-record 83-0 win - despite a running clock that didn’t stop for first downs, touchdowns, or anything else after the first quarter.

“I’ve been a part of some blowout losses before,” said Sand Springs head coach Bobby Klinck. “The way those kids carry themselves, it says a lot about the coaching staff and the type of people over there.”

Grant has been outscored 621 to 14 this season and arrived with only 19 players to a Senior Night affair that was moved forward a day due to impending inclement weather.

“It’s a big deal that they’re playing,” said Klinck. “High school football is more than just wins and losses.”

Every effort was made not to run up the score, as the Sandites went through four quarterbacks and five running backs while only running 26 offensive plays and three passes. 25 different defenders registered tackles.

“A lot of people got to play, so that’s really good for our program,” said Klinck. “Hopefully we carry some of this momentum going into the first round (of the playoffs).”

One player in particular got the crowd excited, as the entire student section was chanting “We want Chase” throughout the night. Chase Whittington, an undersized but wildly popular defensive lineman, entered the game to thunderous applause in the fourth quarter.

In honor of Senior Night, Brody Rutledge got the start at quarterback and scored on the first play from scrimmage with a forward pitch to Jabe Schlehuber, who took it 80 yards.

Charles Gaylord recovered the ensuing kick and Kenneth Page scored on a 36-yard run on the next play. Kyle Morrall recovered the next kick and Page added an 8-yard touchdown run to go up 21-0 before the Generals ever took an offensive snap.

After a turnover on downs, Ali McCoy scored on an 8-yard run, then Gatlin Gunn returned a punt 25 yards to go up 35-0.

Jacob Blevins scored on a 45-yard run and McCoy added a 65-yard touchdown to end the first quarter 48-0.

Blaine Phillips scored on a 42-yard run in the second quarter and Marek Matheson stiff-armed his way into the endzone on a 23-yard keeper to take a 62-0 lead into halftime.

Hudson Sheppard scored the record-breaking touchdown from three yards out to beat the Sandites’ previous best win of 67-0 against Collinsville in 1938.

Riley Kohlmeyer recovered his second fumble of the night to open the fourth quarter and Emory Smittick cashed in from 14 yards out soon after. The final touchdown was scored on a 7-yard keeper by Jace Arnold.

“We came out and did what we were supposed to do, so that’s a definite positive,” said Klinck. “It’ll be good that we got this game done on Thursday, so now we can start working ahead and planning for the next game.”

The Sandites finished the regular season with their third consecutive winning record while handing the Generals their 13th consecutive loss.

The win secured a fourth-place finish in district action and Sand Springs will get to host Putnam City (4-6) in the first round of the 6A-II playoffs next Friday. The Sandites are 2-0 all-time against the Pirates.

Scoring Summary

CPHS;48;14;7;14–;83

Grant;0;0;0;0–;0

First Quarter
CPHS - Schlehuber 80 pass from Rutledge (Daniels kick), 11:43
CPHS - Page 36 run (Daniels kick), 11:30
CPHS - Page 8 run (Daniels kick), 10:48
CPHS - McCoy 8 run (Daniels kick), 8:26
CPHS - Gunn 25 punt return (Daniels kick), 7:08
CPHS - Blevins 45 run (Daniels kick), 5:37
CPHS - McCoy 65 run (kick failed), 2:19

Second Quarter
CPHS - Phillips 42 run (Daniels kick), 6:54
CPHS - Matheson 23 run (Daniels kick), 0:05

Third Quarter
CPHS - Sheppard 3 run (Pucket kick), 1:12

Fourth Quarter
CPHS - Smittick 14 run (Pucket kick), 9:05
CPHS - Arnold 7 run (Pucket kick), 5:45

Team Statistics

First Downs: CPHS 7, Grant 3. Rushes-Yards: CPHS 23-331, Grant 22-31. Comp-Att-Int: CPHS 3-3-0, Grant 2-7-0. Passing Yards: CPHS 107, Grant 10. Total Yards: CPHS 438, Grant 41. Fumbles-Lost: CPHS 1-1, Grant 7-6. Penalty Yards: CPHS 60, Grant 18. Punts-AVG: CPHS 0-0, Grant 4-30. Records: CPHS 6-4 (4-3), Grant 0-10 (0-7).

Sandite Football rolls Bishop Kelley 34-13, Blake Jones has career night

A version of this story was originally published in the Sand Springs Leader.

Just a week after rushing for a career-high 177 yards against Sapulpa, Blake Jones was at it again Friday night at Angelo Prassa Field. The senior running back racked up 224 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries to lift Class 6A-II No. 5 ranked Sand Springs (2-0) to a 34-13 win against 5A No. 7 Bishop Kelley (0-2).

The Sandites took a 13-0 lead in the first quarter, scoring both of their touchdowns on back-to-back runs from Jones. After taking a handoff 36 yards to the house, he was set up for another 30-yard run after Ryder Barnes recovered the Sandites’ ensuing kickoff. 

Jones added his third score of the night on a 54-yard breakaway on the Sandites’ first play of the second half.

Senior quarterback Ty Pennington was held to an 11-19-123-0 passing performance with two touchdowns, connecting with Keaton Campbell on a five-yard toss to start the fourth quarter, then finding Kyle Morrall for 52 yards on the next possession.

Despite Jones’s big numbers, it was the defense that stole the show, holding the Comets to 209 yards overall. However, 96 of those yards came on a single run from quarterback Will Pickard in the third quarter. 

Outside of that run, the Comets averaged only 2.8 yards per play and accounted for only seven first downs, five of which came in the fourth quarter. In the first half the Comets managed only 34 yards.

The Sandite defense held Pickard to a 6-13-48-0 passing game and made eight tackles for loss while forcing seven punts, four three-and-outs, and a turnover on downs.

Gabe Brown led the team defensively with eight tackles, including three for loss with one sack. Charles Gaylord had seven tackles with three for loss, and Conner Light had six tackles with two for loss. 

Despite the end result, head coach Bobby Klinck still saw room for improvement.

“We’ve got to get much better,” said Klinck, postgame. “We’ve got to improve. Bishop Kelley’s a very good team and they caught us on a couple plays. We’ve got to get more physical and we can’t just give up long plays like that long touchdown.”

The Comet defense also showed strength with nine tackles for loss, and forced four punts. 

“They were bringing a bunch of guys off the line of scrimmage,” said Klinck. “They knew we were good at running the football, so they were bringing more than we had sometimes.”

Sandite football will get a bye week before traveling to Springdale, Arkansas Friday, September 17th. “We’re going to rest, heal up, and get ready to face a really tough Shiloh Christian team,” said Klinck.

Shiloh Christian will be looking for payback after the Sandites spoiled their otherwise perfect season last year. Sand Springs won the first-ever meeting between the two schools 27-26, but the Saints went on to finish 14-1 and won the Arkansas Class 3A State title. 

CPHS 34 BISHOP KELLEY 13

CPHS; 13; 0; 7; 14;-;34

Bishop Kelley; 0; 0; 7; 6;-;13

CPHS - Jones 36 run (Wolfe kick), 2:33

CPHS - Jones 30 run, 2:23

CPHS - Jones 54 run (Wolfe kick), 9:32

BK - Pickard 96 run (Davis kick), 9:16

CPHS - Campbell 5 pass from Pennington (Wolfe kick), 11:56

BK - Hensley 4 run, 7:44

CPHS - Morrall 52 pass from Pennington (Wolfe kick), 7:25

TEAM STATISTICS

First Downs - CPHS 13, BK 7. Rushes-Yards - CPHS 39-259, BK 28-157. Comp-Att-Int - CPHS 11-19-0, BK 7-14-0. Passing Yards - CPHS 123, BK 52. Fumbles-Lost - CPHS 0-0, BK 3-2. Penalty Yards - CPHS 4-20, BK 5-55. Records - CPHS 2-0, BK 0-2. Total Yards - CPHS 382, BK 209. Punts-Avg. - CPHS 4-30, BK 7-36.