Sandites vs Hornets: Get to know your semi-finalists

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

There's only three games left in the race for the 2015 State Championship, and all three are rematches between District 1 rivals. 

#1 Booker T Washington (10-0, 7-0) District Champions

#3 Charles Page (6-4, 5-2) *2 Forfeitures

The week 9 opponents will get their rematch at Sapulpa's George F. Collins Stadium. The last time the two teams met was a rainy run-game with barely a hundred passing yards combined between the two teams.

Since then the Sandites squashed Stillwater 49-14 thanks to a marvelous run game that saw both Lane Lettich and Payton Scott rack up over 100 yards each, complemented by QB Hunter Greathouse's perfect night passing for 181 yards.

Meanwhile, the Hornets did nearly as much damage to Choctaw in a 47-17 rout that saw Justice Hill run up 191 yards, complemented by Dakari Willis's 11-13-134 in the air. 

While the stadium is technically neutral territory, it can be noted that Sand Springs has a long history of battling it out on the Cheiftain turf due to their long-standing rivalry with Sapulpa. 

While the hornets have a 10-win streak going into the game, the Sandites' win at Stillwater was only the second time since 1997 that they've won in the post season, and with all their starting lineup in tact, the Minutemen will be out to prove that they have what it takes to be a major contender for the first time in the current century. 

The two teams have met only 12 times till now; the Hornets lead the series 8-4.

The first time the teams met was during a mediocre 1986 season in which the Sandites went only 2-8. However, the 42-21 loss was the most points anyone had scored on the Hornets all season. 

The next meeting in 1987 saw a narrow 15-12 Sandite win on their way to the semi finals.

The Hornets walked away with the next three wins before Sand Springs managed to edge them out 15-14 in 1991 to clinch a playoff berth. 

The next year, the Hornets put the biggest beat down of the series on Sand Springs in a 48-7 rout. The most Sand Springs has ever beaten the Hornets by was 21-7 in 2012.

The highest scoring game of the series came in 2006 when the Hornets handled the Sandites 62-28.

For the current class of seniors, the series is an even split. 2012 saw a 21-7 Sandite upset at SE Williams Stadium, followed by a 42-38 home shoot out that the Sandites came out on top of. 

The Hornets walked away with the next two, however, spoiling a Sandite Halloween Senior Night in 2014 in a come-from-behind 42-35 victory, then kicking a tie-breaking field goal this year with 14 seconds left.

This will be the first time the two teams have met twice in one season. 

The pick: CPHS 35, BTW 24

Sandite All-Stars: Your leaders in Special Teams

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

It's been a tremendous season for the Sandites. While they're technically 5-4, on the field they're 7-2, not even including the Guthrie game that we were leading 18-7 when it was called off due to lightning. Two of our losses come from forfeitures (due to an ineligible player) that were actually wins of 61-8 and 33-7. So while the books say otherwise--we all know that realistically Sand Springs is 8-2, which (were it official) would make it our best record since 1997.

Not to mention we beat Booker T in total yardage of 232-217 and we're the only team to score first on them all season. We're also one of only two teams to lead them at any point all season. We also dealt Bixby their first shut out in seven years.

So who are the incredible players that have made all this impossible?

The following stats include both forfeitures and the Guthrie game. Whether officially recognized or not, they did happen.

Kicking

Sand Springs has tried out three kickers at this spot but it seems like junior Kasey Bales is the one who stuck. Bales has kicked off 18 times this season, averaging 39.3 yards. He's had 1 touchback, 4 inside the 20, and 5 that were 50+. 

Senior Jacob Fortune has done the brunt of the kicking this season, but hasn't appeared in the last two games. He sits at 23 kicks for an average of 47.8. He's had 1 touchback, 8 inside the 20, and 14 that were 50+.

Cade Loomen hasn't been seen since week 4, but in that time kicked off 17 times for an average of 52.18 with 2 touchbacks, 2 inside the 20, and 14 that were 50+.

Punting

Bales is the primary Sandite punter this season, and has 23 punts for an average of 25 yards. His long is 57 against Bixby. He has 3 touchbacks, 4 in the 20, and 3 that were 50+

Fortune kicked one punt against Hale for 45 yards..

PATs and Field Goals

Bales leads the team in total PATS, connecting for 25 of 29. He's kicked the only two field goals of the season, one from 29 yards and one from 36 yards. He also nailed a season-best 38-yard goal against Booker T, but it was negated due to an illegal procedure. Sand Springs had only 10 men on the field. 

Loomen is a perfect 7-for-7 on PATs.

Kick Returns

Senior Trace Fleischman is the leader with 6 returns for 212 yards. He averages 35 and has longs of 57 against both Guthrie and Muskogee. 

Bales is close behind with 9 returns for 193 yards and a best of 31 against Bartlesville.

Punt Returns

Senior Parker Taylor leads on punt returns with 4 for 128 and a long of 62 against Hale for a touchdown. 

Sophomore Bryson Denton has 1 return against Hale for 40 yards and a touchdown. 

Bales has 1 return for 3 yards.

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#3 Sand Springs (5-4, 5-2) will enter the playoffs for the fourth-consecutive season tonight at #8 Stillwater (5-5, 3-3) and is the favorite to win. 

Sandite All-Stars: Your leaders in offense

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

It's been a tremendous season for the Sandites. While they're technically 5-4, on the field they're 7-2, not even including the Guthrie game that we were leading 18-7 when it was called off due to lightning. Two of our losses come from forfeitures (due to an ineligible player) that were actually wins of 61-8 and 33-7. So while the books say otherwise--we all know that realistically Sand Springs is 8-2, which (were it official) would make it our best record since 1997.

Not to mention we beat Booker T in total yardage of 232-217 and we're the only team to score first on them all season. We're also one of only two teams to lead them at any point all season. We also dealt Bixby their first shut out in seven years.

So who are the incredible players that have made all this impossible?

The following stats include both forfeitures and the Guthrie game. Whether officially recognized or not, they did happen.

Passing

The leader in passing is first-year starting junior quarterback Hunter Greathouse who has completed 71 of 140 for 1271 yards and 13 touchdowns, averaging 9 yards per pass attempt and 18 per completion. His season long is 70 yards against Guthrie, but has connected for huge throws in every game he's been in, including 63-yarders against Booker T and Bixby, and a 60 against Claremore. His best game this season was against Sapulpa when he threw 10-18-0-204 for 3 touchdowns. He is currently third in 6A-II.

• Multi-purpose junior Kasey Bales also has a 37 yard pass against Enid and is 1 for 2 this season.
• Freshman QB Caden Pennington connected on 1 of 2 passes at Hale for 8 yards. 
• Senior holder Jacob Taber has had to throw a couple of passes this season due to bad snaps and is 1 of 2 for 5 yards.

Receiving

Senior Trace Fleischman is the go-to-guy on receptions with 26 catches for 593 yards and 4 touchdowns. His longest reception of the season was 70 yards against Guthrie. He is the #4 receiver in class 6A-II.

Kasey Bales is the only Sandite with both passing and receiving yards this season. He has 17 catches for 265 yards and 3 touchdowns. His longest reception of the season was 63 yards against Bixby.

Sand Springs has several other talented receivers.

• Lane Lettich 10-165 and 2 touchdowns, long 44.
• Ty Fain 7-107 and 1 touchdown, long 37.
• Payton Scott 2-74 and 1 touchdown, long 59.
• Josh Taber 4-50 and 1 touchdown (on his first play of the season), long 27.
• Jake Ward 4-34, long 13.
• Dalton Honneycut 2-26, long 13.

Rushing

Senior Lane Lettich is the clear leader on the ground for Sand Springs. He currently has 172 carries for 813 yards, averaging 4.73. He has 13 touchdowns and a long of 29 yards against Muskogee. His best game of the season was against Sapulpa where he carried 23 times for 133 yards and two touchdowns, though he had three touchdowns against Hale as well as Claremore. Lettich is #7 in 6A-II at rushing.

Trailing Lettich is sophomore Payton Scott who will likely be the starting tailback next season. He sits at 93 carries for 705 yards and 7 touchdowns with a long of 45 against Ponca City. He averages 7.58 yards-per-carry and his season-best was a breakthrough 17-200 and 2 touchdowns against Ponca. Scott is #9 in 6A-II at rushing. 

Lawton is the only other team with two players in the top-10 for rushing yards. 

Other Sandites with rushing yards are

• Trace Fleischman 16-86, long 31.
• Ben Norte 14-79, long 36.
• Hunter Greathouse 50-25 and 2 touchdowns, long 23.
• Tony Chinchilla 2-21 and 1 touchdown, long 11.
• Kasey Bales 3-9, long 16.
• Jaxon Starling 1-1.

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#3 Sand Springs (5-4, 5-2) will enter the playoffs for the fourth-consecutive season tonight at #8 Stillwater (5-5, 3-3) and is the favorite to win. Sand Springs's offense averages 3.5 touchdowns per game.

CPHS ruins Enid's homecoming with 33-7 win

 By: Scott Emigh, Sand Springs Leader Sports Correspondent

ENID — Sand Springs picked up their second win of the season, ruining the Plainmen’s homecoming festivities.

The Charles Page High School football team beat the Enid Plainsmen 33-7 Friday night on the road, jumping out to a 20-0 lead before the Plainsmen could put any points on the board.

Click here for the full story.

Division 6A-II District-1 Week 1 Roundup

2014 6A-II State Champions Bixby fell to the top-ranked 6A-I Champions from Jenks at home Friday in a 58-24 beat-down that may cause many to rethink their ranking of Bixby as the #2 team in the state. Then again, the Spartans lost to the Trojans 66-20 in their season-opener last year, so maybe there really is just that much of a gap between the top teams. Bixby managed only 14 first downs to Jenks’s 20, and managed only 310 total yards, and punted an average of only 32.8 yards. Add to that 2 fumbles and they didn’t exactly perform like state champions. I’d be surprised if Bixby falls more than a spot in the Division2 rankings, if at all, but I expect them to fall behind Union and Southmoore in MaxPreps State rankings.

Booker T Washington had a solid victory over Midwest City in their season opener, winning 28-16 at Midwest City whom they only defeated 17-12 at their home field last year. Their next five games were won 227-0 last year, so it’s not unreasonable to think the upcoming season will be even more impressive. BTW is led by a new, but far from inexperienced Quarterback, in Senior Dakarai Willis. Midwest City may have been clearly defeated, but they were far from destroyed. After being caught off guard with two 90-yard kick-off returns by BTW’s Rylan McQuarters, MWC held BTW scoreless for the second half and rallied for two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Washington will easily handle the 4A Central Braves next week and the Bombers should have no problem taking down 5A #10 Carl Albert.

The 5A East Central Cardinals had a score of impressive seasons, culminating in a 2005 State Title, but haven’t had a winning season since 2012.  They’ve only managed a 7-13 record over the last two seasons, so they’re not exactly a big deal to beat. However, Bartlesville hasn’t had a winning season in even longer, so improving from a 48-27 win in 2014 to a 47-0 shutout in 2015 is a good way to kick off the season. Next week the Bruins face Cascia Hall, and though they’re only 4A, they’ve put up impressive records the last few seasons, and claimed 3 consecutive state titles from 2007-2009. It should be a good match for a rebuilding 6A team.

Muskogee lost 33-22 to 5A semi-finalists McAlester, which was actually an improvement over their 35-7 season debut last year—which ended in a 3-7 season record. At one point they even led 22-19, a marked improvement from their last several season openers. It’s quite possible that they’ll make a legitimate playoff run this year. Muskogee takes on Owasso next week, and despite a 21 point shutout by Union, the Rams should still make quick work of the Roughers.

Charles Page lost a lot of big names from 2014, including their starting QB, Kicker, and star RB/WR. They also put into place some young new talent in Junior QB Hunter Greathouse who had an excellent debut in Page’s 61-8 domination of 5A Nathan Hale. Though the Sandites have Enid next week; their first real test will be in two weeks against Guthrie.

Ponca City devastated Enid 42-14 on the Plainsmen’s home field in a full reversal from their 14-13 loss last year. Ponca has Guthrie for week two, which will be a real test of their season to come. Guthrie came into the season ranked fourth in 5A, but time will tell if their 28-27 loss to unranked Duncan was a fluke or foresight of the season to come.

The Claremore Zebras entered the season unranked by Tulsa World polls but won their first matchup against Pryor 21-20. After a 4-6 losing season in 2014, this could be a good sign for the season to come. Next week the Zebras have Rogers, Arkansas at home.

Finally, Sapulpa is in a major rebuilding year after a season of drama and devastating losses that amounted to a 1-9 record. With a new Head Coach in former Broken Arrow offensive coordinator Jake Corbin, the Chieftains can only move up from here. They suffered a 38-12 loss in their season opener at Choctaw, but considering their previous-season loss of 50-13, they already seem to be on the up and up.  Next week Sapulpa takes on Hale at home and can be expected to hang half a hundred on them easily.