Sand Springs Football falls 58-14 to No. 1 Bixby

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

It’s hard to look for a silver lining in a 58-14 loss, but when your opponent is Bixby High School, you have to take what you can get.

The No. 1 Spartans (7-0, 4-0) won their 43rd consecutive game, a streak which includes three State Championships, and their eighth consecutive meeting with No. 4 Charles Page (5-2, 2-2) Thursday night at Spartan Stadium.

The Sandites held Bixby to an unusually low 9-0 lead after the first quarter, but the home team soon hit the gas for a 30-0 halftime advantage and never looked back.

“The biggest thing is that we didn’t give up in the second half,” said Sandites head coach Bobby Klinck. “I told them ‘hey I want it 0-0 this half, let’s see what happens.’ You go by that, it’s 28-14, so I was proud of our guys for not giving up.”

“This is Coach (Loren) Montgomery’s 12th season here so their culture is pretty ingrained and that’s what we’re trying to do,” added Klinck. Montgomery, a Charles Page alumnus, earned his 100th win as the Spartans’ head coach. 

Bixby outgained Sand Springs 555 yards to 81, forced ten punts, got a turnover on downs, sacked Ty Pennington five times, and totaled 16 tackles for loss.

“They were definitely more physical than us,” said Klinck. “That comes with off-season weight room stuff. We’ve just got to really grind and get into that to where we’re not missing weeks during the summer. That’s got to be our culture.”

Bixby has out-physicaled everyone they’ve played this year, including No. 2 Choctaw who they beat 70-7 the week prior. The Sandite defense actually held up well, considering their world-class opponent. 

Sand Springs forced one punt and three turnovers on downs, and got two takeaways deep in their own territory. Ryder Barnes picked off Spartan senior quarterback Christian Burke on Bixby’s first possession, and Trevor Stone recovered a fumble on the Spartans’ last possession. 

“I think that in the first quarter we showed some fight,” said Klinck. “Defensively we showed some fight. We kind of got off to a rocky start offensively, which hasn’t happened all year so that was pretty surprising.”

A quick three-and-out ended in a punt snap out the back of the end zone for a safety, followed by five more Sandite punts before they successfully moved the chains.

“I thought we had some good matchups,” said Klinck. “So we just need to watch the tape and see where we can get our playmakers in spots to get the ball. Because that’s what Bixby does. They’ve got some pretty good playmakers and do an unbelievable job of getting it to them in space.”

The Sandite defense matched up well against a loaded Spartan backfield, holding Bixby to a season-low 4.8 yards per carry.

“That’s kind of our staple here that we’re going to defend the run,” said Klinck. “We’ve just got to do a better job of pursuing the ball. You got guys like the Presley kid, I mean he’s going to OSU for a reason. When they put him in positions to make plays then that’s all about pursuit and effort and we’ve got to try to get that guy down.”

Oklahoma State-committed senior Braylin Presley accounted for 151 yards receiving and 51 yards rushing with four total touchdowns. Burke passed for 326 yards and four touchdowns against the Sandites.

Pennington passed 14-of-28 for 106 yards and two touchdowns for the Sandites, with both scoring throws going to Keaton Cambell, who was 6-82 receiving.

“I was proud of our guys’ fight,” said Klinck. “We’re a better team than that. That’s a really good football team, they’ve got some really good players. They’re well coached. But we’re better than that. I’m proud of our guys for the most part. We’ve just got to become more physical.”

“We’re going to reset this, we’re going to give the kids some time, we’ll see them on Sunday.  Let them kind of recover. Then we’re going to get right back at it. We’ll put it to bed, make corrections, and then we’ll come up with a brand new game plan and we’re gonna see what happens.”

The Sandites have one more big test in the regular season when they host No. 2 Choctaw (5-2, 3-1) Friday at 7:00 p.m. 

“It’ll be a measuring stick for our program to see how we respond to something like this” said Klinck.

Sand Springs Football Preview: Looking to Topple Bixby

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Throwback file: Sand Springs packed Union-Tuttle Stadium at the 2015 State Championship game vs. Bixby.

This Thursday marks a pivotal game in the trajectory of Sandite Football in a lot of ways.

If Class 6A-II No. 5 ranked Charles Page High School (5-1, 2-1) pulls off an upset of No. 1 Bixby (6-0, 3-0), it’ll without a doubt be the biggest win for the program since the 1966 State Championship. And although it won’t come with a gold ball, such a win could even be considered of far more importance to the program.

Even if they don’t win, if they’re at least competitive, it’ll show everyone around the state that this year’s Sandites are for real.

The Spartans aren’t just another top-ranked divisional program. They’re elite. Nationally elite. Bixby has won 42 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in Oklahoma history, and the fourth-longest active streak in America. Last week they rolled over No. 2 Choctaw 70-7 on statewide television to improve to the No. 20 ranking in the country according to MaxPreps.

This game will also be on statewide television, broadcast by Yurview on Cox Channel 3. To say that Sand Springs isn’t supposed to win would be an understatement. After the beating that Bixby put on Choctaw in a rematch of their last year’s State Championship, few even expect the Sandites to be competitive.

Few outside of Sand Springs, anyways.

But Bixby’s lofty resume won’t be intimidating the Sandites.

“We’re going to show up,” Sand Springs head coach Bobby Klinck said in a Sunday interview. “Our kids aren’t going to back down, our coaches certainly won’t. We’re going to try to put a game plan together where it gives our guys a chance to be successful, but it’s really up to them to go make the plays.”

Last year the Sandites lost 51-20 to the Spartans, after getting routed 49-0 by the Booker T. Washington Hornets the week prior. This year they held their own against the Hornets and only lost 37-32.

Of course, the law of transitive property doesn’t always apply in football, but if the Sandites play Bixby as hard as they played the Hornets, then the Spartans could have their hands full.

“I do hope and I do feel like we got a confidence boost from playing a really good Booker T. Washington team that’s very fast, has really good skill players, and I think we found some things out defensively and offensively and kind of figured out who we are and what our identity is,” said Klinck. “We’re going to take this next week and really push that on our kids. We’ll see what happens on Thursday, we’re excited.”

The Game

Spartan Stadium (Lee Snider Field) - Capacity 5,800, is located at 601 S. Riverview Drive in Bixby. Tickets are $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for students and can be purchased at this link.

Sand Springs

The Sandites saw their five-game undefeated streak snapped last week against Booker T. Washington but they’re still very much in the hunt this year, and could force a three-way tie for first place in the district with an upset of the Spartans.

The Sandites are in their second year under Head Coach Bobby Klinck, who holds an all-time coaching record of 25-18. 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 have won 30-13 against Ponca City and 48-34 against Muskogee before falling to the Hornets.

Players to Watch

Ty Pennington (Sr. QB) is 95-147-1437-1 passing with 15 touchdowns, and is 84-335 rushing with six TDs. He has over 5,000 passing yards in his career and holds the school record.

Blake Jones (Sr. RB) is 108-746 rushing with seven touchdowns but was injured against Booker T. Washington and his status is unknown going into Thursday’s game. Backup Kenneth Page was 12-49 with one TD in relief.

Brody Rutledge (Jr. WR) is 2-3-49-0 passing with two touchdowns and 23-413 receiving with three TDs.

Keaton Campbell (Sr. WR) is 23-291 receiving with four touchdowns and averages 22.8 yards per kick return.

Jacob Blevins (Sr. WR) is 32-511 receiving with five TDs and averages 19 yards per kick return.

Ryan Shoemaker (Sr. TE) is 13-154 receiving with four TDs.

Jabe Schlehuber averages 45 yards per kick return with a school record-setting 99-yard TD.

Landon Hendricks (Sr. DE) has 43 tackles, 12 for loss, 6 sacks, 5 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery, 3 forced fumbles, a safety, and a blocked PAT.

Brooks Dudley (Sr. LB) has 48 tackles, 3.5 for loss, and 1.5 sacks.

Gabe Brown has 35 tackles, 4 for loss, 2.5 sacks, and a 75-yard scoop and score.

Conner Light has 38 tackles, 4 for loss, 1 pass breakup, and 1 forced fumble.

Drake Fain has 53 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 pass breakup, two fumble recoveries, and a 13-yard scoop and score.

Ryder Barnes has 29 tackles, 0.5 for loss, one interception, 4 pass breakups, and 1 fumble recovery.

Logan Wolfe (Jr. K) is 22-of-27 on PATs and 2-of-2 on field goals with a long of 34 yards.

Bixby

Bixby’s 42-game win streak includes three consecutive State Championships, six overall, and six of the last seven since the 6A split. Since their 2018 season-opening loss to Jenks, they have recorded nine shutouts and have scored 50+ points on 23 occasions. They have scored 70+ points on nine occasions, including three in a row this year.

The Spartans opened the year 69-14 against Mansfield Timberview, then won 23-15 at Jenks, 42-14 against Stillwater, 71-0 at Bartlesville, 81-6 at Putnam City West, and 70-7 at Choctaw. 12th-year head coach Loren Montgomery, a Sand Springs alumni, holds a career record of 99-39 at Bixby.

Players to Watch

Christian Burke (Sr. QB) is 97-145-1409-2 passing with 18 TDs.

Conner Kirby (Jr. QB/LB) is 6-9-61-0 passing, 56-355 rushing for 10 TDs, and 1-18 receiving. He also has 10 tackles and two two-point conversions.

Oklahoma State University-commit Braylin Presley (Sr. RB) is 53-616 rushing with 9 TDs and 30-362 receiving with 3 TDs.

Zach Blankenship (Sr. RB) is 31-199 rushing with 5 TDs and 3-60 receiving with 1 TD.

Preston Solomon (Sr. WR) is 7-268 receiving with 2 TDs.

University of Oklahoma commit Luke Hasz (Jr. TE) is 18-229 receiving with 1 TD.

Jack Puckett (Sr. LB) has 53 tackles, 9 for loss, 6 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 2 forced fumbles,

Connor Stacy (Sr. LB) has 38 tackles, 8 for loss, 3 sacks, 1 interception,

Miles Hill (Sr. LB) has 32 tackles, 14 for loss, 5.5 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries (one for a touchdown), and 1 forced fumble.

Connor Nolan (Sr. K) is 38-of-41 on PATs and 2-of-2 on field goals with a long of 37.

The Series

The Spartans lead the series 19-12, and have won the last seven consecutive meetings. At the beginning of the 6A split, the two teams met in the playoffs for three-straight years. Bixby beat the Sandites in the 2014 and 2016 semifinals. The Sandites shut out Bixby 20-0 in the 2015 regular season, but the Spartans got revenge 38-28 in the State Championship.

Bixby’s current seven-game streak is the longest win streak in series history. Sand Springs has won three in a row on two separate occasions. Sand Springs’s biggest win was 33-7 in 1994, and Bixby’s was 75-0 in 2020. The lowest-scoring game was a 5-3 Sandite win in 1984, and the highest-scoring game was a 48-35 Spartan win in 2010.

1922: Bixby 19-14.
1926: Sand Springs 30-12.
1927: Sand Springs 20-6.
1980: Sand Springs 10-7 (A).
1981: Bixby 14-12 (H).
1982: Bixby (Score unverified).
1983: Bixby 21-4 (A).
1984: Sand Springs 5-3 (H).
1985: Bixby 14-3 (A).
1992: Bixby 20-17 (H).
1993: Sand Springs 26-20 (A).
1994: Sand Springs 33-7 (A).
1995: Bixby 17-10 (H).
1996: Sand Springs 28-7 (A).
1997: Sand Springs 19-0 (H).
1998: Sand Springs 30-6 (A).
1999: Bixby 23-7 (H).
2010: Bixby 48-35 (H).
2011: Bixby 43-23 (A).
2012: Sand Springs 21-7 (H).
2013: Bixby 35-21 (A).
2014: Bixby 34-31 (A).
2014: Bixby 41-14 (N, State Semifinals).
2015: Sand Springs 20-0 (H).
2015: Bixby 38-28 (N, State Finals).
2016: Bixby 35-19 (A).
2016: Bixby 35-21 (N, State Semifinals).
2017: Bixby 41-21 (H).
2018: Bixby 35-0 (H).
2019: Bixby 75-0 (A).
2020: Bixby 51-20 (H).