Sandites Snap 7 Year Losing Streak to Booker T. Washington, 24-14 on Senior Night
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Kenneth Page (Pictured against Tahlequah) ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns against Booker T. on Senior Night. (Photo: Charity Emigh).
Class 6A-II No. 5 Charles Page High School (6-3, 4-2) snapped a seven-year losing streak against Booker T. Washington Friday night at Memorial Stadium, winning 24-14 on Senior Night against the No. 10 Hornets (2-8, 1-6) behind a powerful run game.
Senior Kenneth Page scored two touchdowns and ended the night with 17 carries for 130 yards to lead all players in his third triple-digit performance of the season.
“It feels great,” said Page. “This morning we found out it had been seven years, so I was like ‘Wow. We’ve got to get the job done, we’ve got to change the program and get it done tonight.’”
Sand Springs never trailed after jumping out to a 10-0 first quarter lead, but was never able to pull away from the pesky Hornets.
The Sandites forced a turnover on downs on the opening drive and cashed in six plays later on a career-long 42-yard field goal by Dawson Puckett.
The visiting Hornets marched as far as the Sand Springs 25-yard line before Hudson Sheppard, Gatlin Gunn, and Joseph Farmer combined to stuff Kuhron Ross on fourth-and-one.
The teams traded punts from there, but Page made it a two-score game with a 44-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter.
“That play we had a fake sprint out and I’m coming back, I’m getting the ball, and I just see Tank (Tyler Smith) pull, wide open,” said Page. “Then I had to make sure the corner didn’t get me, so I had to run zig zags, but it was a great moment.”
Washington’s next trip to Sandite territory ended in a 26-yard interception return by Gunn, but the visitors got the ball back two plays later on a fumble recovery from Koreon Williams.
That turnover resulted in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Levi Brooks to Daylinn Overstreet to open the second quarter.
Three punts later, the Hornets threatened again, but Landyn Barnes picked off Brooks in the Sandite red zone and the home team took a knee to enter halftime.
“It was huge,” said head coach Bobby Klinck. “We give our guys opportunities to make plays and for the most part they made them tonight.”
Ali McCoy lost two fumbles last week against Bartlesville, but his hands were glue traps on Friday after receiving the Darnell Jefferson treatment.
“If anyone else brings this ball back to me, you’ll wish you were never born,” Klinck told McCoy on Monday, tasking him with babysitting a football all day in the spirit of the 1993 cult classic “The Program.”
The ploy worked as McCoy ended the night with 12 carries for 53 yards and a one-yard touchdown plunge to open the second half.
“I had to teach them about the movie,” said Klinck. “They didn’t know about it yet, so that was kind of fun. He brought it back, he was sweating, it was great.”
Washington tried to convert on fourth down to open the fourth quarter but Keagan Gilman lit up Brooks as he threw and the ball darted harmlessly into the turf.
This time it was Page’s turn to cash in, scoring on a six-yard run to go up 24-7 with 7:49 to play.
But, the Hornets would not go gentle into that good night.
Stefon Williams recovered a muffed punt deep in Sandite territory and Brooks scored on a two-yard draw for the final touchdown of the game.
Sand Springs successfully fielded an onside kick attempt and ate the final 5:20 of clock on the ground, picking up a trio of first downs to enter the Hornet red zone behind the legs of wildcat quarterback Jace Arnold before assuming victory formation.
“It’s hard soaking it all in, but coming out with a dub - that’s all we want on senior night,” said Arnold, who had nine carries for 39 yards in the second half.
The trio of McCoy, Arnold, and Page combined for 229 yards behind an offensive line that has been fairly dominant against most teams it has faced this year.
“Those guys have an attitude,” Klinck said of his o-line. “I like that they’re getting into it…Our offensive line has been a strength for us all year and our tailbacks are just feeding off that.”
Defensively the Sandites were led by Owen Floyd with eight tackles, followed by Dallas Elifrits and Gunn with seven apiece. Elifrits had three tackles for loss and Waylon Jeffers had two sacks.
The win cemented a third-place finish in the district for the Sandites after finishing fourth the past three years.
“We’re slowly moving up in the right direction,” said Klinck. “I really feel this program’s in a great place. It just depends. I think we are going to be pretty dang successful around here. We’ve just got see how quickly we want to do it and if this senior class wants to be the group that breaks through.”
The Hornets are fighting through their worst season since 1997 but they can still make the postseason with a win against No. 9 Putnam City West (4-5, 1-5) next week.
“Booker T. will be back,” said Klinck. “Coach (Jonathan) Brown’s an unbelievable coach. They’re too good, but we’ll take it this year.”
Sand Springs will look to finish the regular season on a four-game win streak next Thursday when it travels to U.S. Grant (2-7, 0-6). The Generals were the victims of an 83-0 defeat last season in Sandites’ biggest win in school history.
“I think we’re going to be playing our best football coming into the playoffs and that’s all we really want,” said Klinck.
CPHS 24 BTW 14
First Downs: CPHS 15, BTW 10.
C-A-Y-I: CPHS 8-14-63-0, BTW 11-21-132-2.
Rushing: CPHS 45-223, BTW 27-87.
Total Offense: CPHS 59-286, BTW 48-219.
Fumbles/Lost: CPHS 4/2, BTW 2/0.
Penalties: CPHS 8-95, BTW 6-51.
Punts-AVG: CPHS 4-37.8, BTW 4-31.
Scoring Summary
1Q (9:18) Puckett 42-yard Field Goal, CPHS 3-0.
1Q (1:40) Page 44-yard Run, Puckett Kick, CPHS 10-0.
2Q (10:43) Overstreet 33-yard Pass from Brooks, Carpenter Kick, CPHS 10-7.
3Q (7:01) McCoy 1-yard Run, Puckett Kick, CPHS 17-7.
4Q (7:49) Page 6-yard Run, Puckett Kick, CPHS 24-7.
4Q (5:20) Brooks 2-yard Run, Carpenter Kick, CPHS 24-14.
Senior Night
Sandite Dance celebrated four seniors: Aubri Castillo, Kylie Colbert, Briley O’Dell, and Emma Warwick.
Cheer celebrated four seniors: Camrie Chatham, Abbigail Elder, Gabrielle Grubb, and Lillie Keim.
Football celebrated three senior trainers (Abby Bryant, Ava Durham, and Kiara Williams) and 17 senior players: Jace Arnold, Kayden Campbell, Jonathan Cruz, Dallas Elifrits, Owen Floyd, Keagan Gilman, Gatlin Gunn, Mason Harris, Kenneth Page Jr., Easton Pritchard, Wyatt Rutledge, Marcum Sims, Marcus Sims, Greer Simmons, Tyler “Tank” Smith, Evan Williams, and Hunter Wilson.
Band celebrated 19 seniors: Logan Baugher, Macy Beard, Mykaela Cole, Ava Duncan, Carsten Englestead, Thomas Fahland, Emily Gregory, Isabelle Hester, Byron Jarrett, Dillon Jones, Kaylah Morgan, Devyn Pearson, Caitlin Shipman, Joshua Simpson, Ty Sims, Garrett Sorenson, Miriam Wilbanks, Tatum Wright, and Shelby Young.
