Sandite Football Preview: Sand Springs travels to Bartlesville Friday

The Class 6A-II No. 6 ranked Charles Page High School varsity football team (5-3, 2-3) will travel to unranked Bartlesville (2-6, 1-4) Friday in a must-win district battle. The Sandites need to win their last two games in order to reach the playoffs.

The Game

The game will be played at Custer Stadium at 7:00 p.m., on the campus of Bartlesville High School at 1700 SE Hillcrest Drive, Bartlesville, OK 74003.

Tickets are $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for students.

Sand Springs

The Sandites are in their second year under Head Coach Bobby Klinck, who holds an all-time coaching record of 25-20. 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 have 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.

“We still control our own destiny,” Klinck said after the loss to Choctaw. “That’s what I tell these kids. It’s okay to be disappointed. Last week we got rolled at Bixby. I could tell the kids were disappointed.”

“We’ve got two weeks to get a lot better. I do feel we’re going to be a dangerous football team when it comes time for the playoffs.”

Players to Watch

Ty Pennington (Sr. QB) is 128-204-1827-3 passing with 20 touchdowns, and is 111-359 rushing with seven TDs. He has over 5,400 passing yards in his career and holds the school record in passing yardage. He also set the school record in passing touchdowns at 47.

Blake Jones (Sr. RB) is 110-742 rushing with seven touchdowns but has been battling injury since the Booker T. Washington game, and only took two reps last week.

Kenneth Page (Fr. RB) is 22-113 rushing with one TD as Jones’s backup.

Brody Rutledge (Jr. WR) is 2-3-49-0 passing with two touchdowns and 30-446 receiving with four TDs.

Keaton Campbell (Sr. WR) is 33-493 receiving with seven touchdowns and averages 20 yards per kick return.

Jacob Blevins (Jr. WR) is 41-585 receiving with five TDs and averages 16 yards per kick return.

Ryan Shoemaker (Sr. TE) is 18-230 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 52 tackles, 17 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 74 tackles, 5.5 for loss, 1.5 sacks, and 1 pass breakup.

Gabe Brown has 51 tackles, 6.5 for loss, 3 sacks, 1 pass breakup, and a 75-yard scoop and score.

Conner Light has 46 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 1 pass breakup, and 1 forced fumble.

Drake Fain has 76 tackles, 4 for loss, 3 pass breakup, two fumble recoveries, and a 13-yard scoop and score.

Ryder Barnes has 44 tackles, 0.5 for loss, two interceptions, 6 pass breakups, and 1 fumble recovery.

Logan Wolfe (Jr. K) is 28-of-33 on PATs and 2-of-2 on field goals with a long of 34 yards.

Bartlesville

The Bruins are in their third season under Head Coach Jason Sport, who was previously the defensive coordinator. Sport is 8-21 as head coach and is the third head coach for the Bruins in the past five years. They haven’t had a winning record since a 10-2 season in 2015.

Bartlesville won its season opener 15-14 at Claremore, but lost six in a row from there: 34-14 to Sapulpa, 42-7 to Collinsville, 71-0 to Bixby, 66-0 to Booker T. Washington, 49-14 to Muskogee, and 34-7 to Ponca City. Last week they snapped the skid with a 41-19 trouncing of Putnam City West, who has lost 32 consecutive games.

Players to Watch

Harrison Clark (Sr. QB) made his first career start last week after Simian Gilkey was injured against Ponca City. The backup was 13-of-20 passing for 196 yards and one touchdown.

Gage Keaton (WR) was 4-110 receiving against Putnam West.

Austin Zink (So. RB) was 20-118 rushing with two TDs against Putnam West.

The Series

Assigning an exact number to the Sand Springs vs. Bartlesville rivalry is difficult due to the number of different high schools in Bartlesville history. Bartlesville schools overall lead Sand Springs 40-25, but the current Bruins program, which unified two previous Bartlesville schools, only leads 21-16 since it opened in 1982.

Last year Sand Springs won 21-14 on Senior Night to snap a two-year losing skid. Ty Pennington had 142 rushing yards and two touchdowns with 180 passing yards in the game, while Blake Jones scored one touchdown with 43 rushing yards.

Bartlesville won the two years prior, but in 2017 Sand Springs throttled the Bruins 55-13 behind a school-record 507-yard, seven TD rushing performance from Payton Scott.

16-21 vs. Bartlesville High
2020: Sand Springs 21-14 (H)
2019: Bartlesville 54-34 (A)
2018: Bartlesville 29-27 (H)
2017: Sand Springs 55-13 (H)
2016: Sand Springs 47-28 (A)
2015: Bartlesville 24-7 (A)
2014: Sand Springs 28-27 (Homecoming)
2013: Bartlesville 40-27 (A)
2012: Sand Springs 27-25 (H)
2011: Sand Springs 34-0 (Homecoming)
2010: Bartlesville 48-16 (A)
2009: Bartlesville 45-14 (H)
2008: Sand Springs 52-24 (A)
2007: Bartlesville 27-26 (H)
2006: Bartlesville 24-14 (A)
2005: Sand Springs 22-3 (A)
2004: Sand Springs 28-18 (H)
2003: Bartlesville 35- (A)
2002: Bartlesville 34-7 (H)
2001: Sand Springs 13-8 (H)
2000: Sand Springs 21-0 (A)
1997: Sand Springs 31-0
1996: Bartlesville 20-16
1995: Sand Springs 28-12
1994: Sand Springs 27-7
1993: Sand Springs 28-6
1992: Bartlesville 40-33
1991: Bartlesville 21-0
1990: Bartlesville 7-0
1989: Bartlesville 23-20 OT
1988: Bartlesville 27-7
1987: Bartlesville 28-27 OT (Shared District Title)
1986: Bartlesville 20-6
1985: Sand Springs 35-15
1984: Bartlesville 17-6
1983: Bartlesville 24-21
1982: Bartlesville 14-0

4-10 vs. College High
1979: Sand Springs 8-0
1978: College 20-15
1975: College 21-0
1974: College 14-7
1973: Sand Springs 14-7
1972: College 43-15
1960: College 48-14
1959: College 16-6
1958: College 30-0
1957: College 19-0
1956: Sand Springs 6-0
1955: College 19-0
1954: College 28-6
1953: Sand Springs 13-7

2-6 vs. Sooner High
1977: Sand Springs 21-0
1976: Sooner 6-0
1975: Sooner 28-6
1974: Sooner 28-9
1973: Sand Springs 34-22 (Sooner)
1972: Sooner 41-7
1971: Sooner 21-6
1970: Sooner 29-0

3-3 vs. Central High
1930: Central 20-6
1929: Sand Springs 12-0
1922: Central 6-0
1921: Sand Springs 22-6
1920: Central 43-7
1919: Sand Springs 19-7

Things to do in Bartlesville:

Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve
1925 Woolaroc Ranch Road
Barlesville, OK 74003

Frank Phillips Historic Home
1107 South Cherokee Avenue
Bartlesville, OK 74003

Price Tower Arts Center
510 South Dewey Avenue
Bartlesville, OK 74003

Phillips Petroleum Company Museum
410 Keeler
Bartlesville, OK 74004

Bartlesville Union Depot
201 South Keeler Avenue
Bartlesville, OK 74003

Bartlesville Area History Museum
401 South Johnstone Avenue
City Center Building - Floor 5
Bartlesville, OK 74003