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 Junior High Teams Shut Out Sapulpa in Season Finale

The Sand Springs junior high football teams ended successful seasons Thursday night at George F. Collins as both the eighth and ninth grade teams won lopsided shutouts against their rivals from Sapulpa.

For the second year in a row, Thomas Parks’s eighth grade unit finished the season atop the conference. The Sandites defeated Sapulpa 38-0 to end the year 7-1 and outscored their opponents 272 to 77.

Their only blemish was an 18-12 week-seven loss to Carver, who they previously defeated 16-6 in week three.

The Sandites had a rough opening drive, but Dawson Jamison forced a turnover on downs for the defense and Sutton Cook got the visitors on the board with a one-yard wildcat sneak.

They started the second quarter with a 65-yard scoring strike from Dom Forbes to Cook, and Forbes ran in the two-point conversion to make it 14-0.

Forbes was 7-of-7 passing for 191 yards and two touchdowns on the night and scored another on the ground.

“He’s an unbelievable leader,” said Parks. “He shows up every day, he works hard, he wants to get better. Nobody’s harder on him than himself, but he can really reel it in and lead this football team.”

Brody Wilson hauled in a 33-yard reception to set up a two-yard scoring plunge from Cook and the Sandites led 22-0 at the half.

Gabe Harris scored on a 20-yard reception to open the third quarter and Kendell Page added a two-point run.

Kaden Pope forced a fumble on the Chieftains’ next drive and Kasen McAffrey recovered it to set up Forbes’s one-yard touchdown dive. Jesse Jordan connected with Pope on the two-point toss for the final points of the night.

Cook finished with two catches for 98 yards and also carried the ball six times for 49 yards. Harris had two catches for 43 yards and rushed seven times for 60 yards.

The defense totalled nine tackles for loss, two sacks, two turnovers on downs, two fumble recoveries, and an interception.

Nikyllien Crisp was the top man on defense with six tackles for loss and two sacks. Page almost had a 98-yard pick six on the final play of the game but it was called back for a penalty.

“That whole group is really solid,” said Parks. “It’s team defense all the way around. They fly to the ball, they know how to create turnovers. It’s been a fun group to coach this year.”

The ninth grade ended the season at 5-4 after a 30-0 win against Sapulpa. The team struggled all season with how good it was, as it kept hemorrhaging players to the varsity unit.

Gage Kaiser’s freshmen won the Indian Nations Conference as seventh graders and went undefeated in eighth grade. With eight freshmen on the varsity roster, they were short-handed for the tougher games this season.

“Different dynamic with this group,” said Kaiser. “No matter what, these guys responded to adversity. They were tough.”

Easton Webb was the quarterback the past two years but earned the starting job on varsity this season. Alex Dudley took over from there, but even he was called up for varsity action.

Emory Smittick got to lead the freshmen for the first time against Sapulpa and he delivered with 16 carries for 262 yards and three touchdowns.

“Ninth grade’s kind of different,” said Kaiser. “We mix it up every week. You don’t know who you’re going to have all the time.”

“Emory Smittick had a huge game today. He’s played a little bit of running back for us before. We came out tonight in a kind of wildcat offense and he was great in it.”

Isaac Sensintaffar scored on a one-yard plunge on the opening drive and Smittick added a 41-yard touchdown soon after.

After falling behind 12-0 Sapulpa threatened with a fourth-and-goal from the five-yard line, but Sensintaffar preserved the shutout with a tackle for loss.

Cooper Guardado added another turnover on downs early in the second half and Ge’Vauri Hill scored with a nine-yard run on the next possession.

Smittick added a 17-yard touchdown run to open the fourth, Tatum Wells forced a turnover on downs, and Smittick scored the final points on an eight-yard scamper.

Sensintaffar had three tackles for loss and Guardado totaled five tackles as the defense surrendered only 82 yards.

“(Seinsintaffar and Guardado) are great kids, hard workers. Show up every day, want to get better, and love football,” said Kaiser.

The junior high success bodes well for the varsity program as it’s infused each year with players who know what winning feels like.

“It injects excitement into the program,” said Parks. “Everybody in town knows what’s coming up.”

“I told them from day one, the standard’s the standard. You’ve got to meet the standard that coach (Bobby) Klinck sets for our varsity program, and we’ve got to hold it down here. They did.”

“The Tulsa area has taken notice that Sand Springs is going to get rolling here and we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

Sandites Fall 41-14 to Booker T. Washington in Second Half Shutout

At halftime it looked like the district meeting between No. 5 Booker T. Washington (5-4, 4-2) and No. 6 Sand Springs (5-4, 3-3) would end up in a down-to-the-wire battle.

Instead, the Hornets held the Sandites to 48 yards in a second-half shutout to clinch third place in District 6AII-2.

The Hornets prevailed 41-14 on Senior Night behind a dominant defensive effort and a typical performance from Arkansas-commit Micah Tease, who finished the night with four catches for 162 yard and four touchdowns.

“He’s just an outstanding player,” said third-year head coach Jonathan Brown. “That’s why he’s committed to Arkansas. He’s a D1-caliber player. We’ve just got to find good ways to get him the ball. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”

The Hornets took a 14-0 lead into the second quarter after Lathan Boone flipped a 12-yard shovel pass to Tease as he was getting tackled on a designed keeper. Then Boone ran in the second score from 10 yards out.

The Sandites scored on a 20-yard pass from Easton Webb to Jabe Schlehuber early in the second, but Tease responded with a 58-yard reception to go up 20-7.

RJ Smittick blocked the point-after and the Sandites made it a one-possession game with an 11-yard pass from Webb to Brody Rutledge with 1:55 in the half.

It looked like momentum was on the Sandites’ side after Dallas Elifrits made a huge sack on the Hornets’ ensuing possession, but Boone responded by airing out a 49-yard completion to Grayson Chalk and soon scored on an 11-yard toss to Tease. Boone added a two-point scamper on a fake kick.

“(At halftime) we just told our guys to play harder and play tighter,” said Brown.

“We were making a few little mistakes throughout the first half. We just tidied those up as far as playing tight and getting our hands on the receivers. We were just letting them run so I thought we did a really good job of getting them off their lanes and making it tough for them.”

The Hornets ended the night with 14 tackles for loss and Elias Sherman had three sacks in crucial moments.

“Elias has been doing a good job for us all year,” said Brown. “He’s one of our captains. He’s a big time player for us and I think he’s one of the most unstoppable players in Oklahoma right now. He dominates up front and we’ve just got to make sure we get him in one-on-one situations.”

Washington held a typically lethal Sandite run game to negative yardage in the second half.

“Our whole philosophy on defense is to make them one dimensional or take what they do well and take it away from them. I thought we did a good job on defense of taking away the run and forcing them to pass.”

Midway through the third quarter Daylin Mayes blocked Jonathan Daniels’ punt in the end zone and Jayden Oates recovered it for the touchdown. Then Tease added an 81-yard scoring reception late in the third for the final points of the game.

“We’ve just got to keep getting better,” said Brown. “Just keep grinding.”

Washington will return to action Friday at Putnam City West (3-6, 1-5) while the Sandites will host U.S. Grant (0-9, 0-6) in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

BTW;14;14;13;0--;41

CPHS;0;14;0;0--;14

First Quarter
BTW - Tease 12 pass from Boone (Patel kick), 9:59
BTW - Boone 10 run (Patel kick), 5:38

Second Quarter
CPHS - Schlehuber 20 pass from Webb (Daniels kick), 9:28
BTW - Tease 58 pass from Boone (kick failed), 8:48
CPHS - Rutledge 11 pass from Webb (Daniels kick), 1:55
BTW - Tease 11 pass from Boone (Boone run), 0:29

Third Quarter
BTW - Oates blocked punt return (Patel kick), 6:17
BTW - Tease 81 pass from Boone (kick failed), 3:10

Fourth Quarter

Team Statistics

First Downs: BTW 16, CPHS 9. Rushes-Yards: BTW 24-146, CPHS 33-41. Comp-Att-Int: BTW 18-33-0, CPHS 14-22-0. Passing Yards: BTW 355, CPHS 126. Total Yards: BTW 501, CPHS 167. Fumbles-Lost: BTW 1-0, CPHS 1-1. Penalty Yards: BTW 85, CPHS 26. Punts-AVG: BTW 3-33.3, CPHS 9-32.5. Records: BTW 5-4 (4-2), CPHS (5-4, 3-3).

Case DiscGolfPark Hosts First Major Event in Oklahoma Open

Sand Springs held its first major event at Case DiscGolfPark Saturday, hosting six amateur divisions of the Oklahoma Open on its white (short) tees.

Tara Royal shot a 66 in Recreational Women. Samantha Cooper and Kelsi Snook shot 64s in Intermediate Women. Del Wytovak shot a 48 in Recreational Men, Jarrod Harris shot a 54 in Novice Men, and Eric Savage scored a 53 in Amateur Masters 60+.

Matthew Brown scored a 55 in 18U Juniors, Canton Taylor scored a 54 in 15U Juniors, and Jaxton Taylor scored a 63 in 10U Juniors.

The three-round Oklahoma Open is also being played on five other Tulsa-area courses and will conclude on Sunday.

Cross Country

Chloe Grona took first place in the Frontier Valley Conference junior high track meet at Muskogee, leading the girls to a program-best seventh place finish.

Chloe Grona ran the two-mile race in 12:39 to earn the conference title while Josie Grona placed 7th in 13:15 to also earn All-Conference honors.

The junior high boys also had a historically good seventh place finish, led by Wyatt Shaw in 12:38 for 36th place.

The varsity girls placed eighth, led by Kelsi Hilton with a 5K time of 22:09 for 26th. The varsity boys didn’t place but were led by Taigh Wright in 19:48 for 43rd.

At the 6A Regional meet in Ponca City Hilton placed 44th in 22:38.49 but the girls were one runner shy of earning a team place. The boys finished 15th, led by Wright in 19:59.32 for 74th.

Football

The Sand Springs seventh grade football team improved to 4-2 in its division with a 40-0 rout of Broken Arrow Orange on Saturday. They will play at Bixby White on Saturday.

The eighth grade team suffered its first loss of the season, 18-12 against Carver. The Sandites are 6-1 overall.

Drake Fain and Sandite Football Stave Off Late Bartlesville Rally, Win 36-29 in OT

The sixth-ranked Sandites survived a scare Friday night at Custer Stadium and needed overtime to win 36-29 against No. 8 Bartlesville after squandering a 22-point lead during the Bruins’ Homecoming.

With ten seconds left in regulation, all the momentum was behind the Bartlesville Bruins and PJ Wallace.

The Bruins had out-gained the Sandites 250 yards to 100 in the second half and Wallace was sitting just over 200 yards rushing.

On a fourth-and-five from the Sand Springs’ 37-yard line, Wallace took his 27th handoff of the night and was hammered in the backfield by senior linebacker Drake Fain.

The momentum shifted back to Sand Springs.

“I knew they were gonna run it,” said Fain. “They had about five yards left and I knew that they had the balls to run it and I was just there for it. I just read it perfect.”

Fain had a big night all around, scoring touchdowns on both sides of the ball while recording a team-high seven tackles. He opened the game with a 20-yard pick six on the first play from scrimmage.

“My buddy Dom (Ornelas) actually tipped the ball and it just landed right in my hands,” said Fain. “I’m living right, I guess.”

Dallas Elifrits scooped the Sandites’ second takeaway late in the first quarter, and they cashed in on a one-yard bruiser from Kenneth Page to make it 12-0.

Sand Springs went for two on each of its first two touchdowns and failed to convert on either.

Bartlesville got on the board with a 98-yard kick return from Noah Darnell, but Sand Springs went right back to scoring.

After a quick three-and-out, Owen Floyd recovered a muffed punt and soon after Easton Webb connected with Fain for an eight-yard score.

Keagan Gilman stopped Kaden Brown a yard shy of moving the sticks on a fake punt and the Sandites went back to Page for their ensuing score - this time a two-yard plunge for a 26-7 halftime advantage.

Jonathan Daniels added to the lead with a 29-yard field goal to open the second half, but from there it was all Bruins.

81 yards in second-half penalties derailed the Sandites and fueled the Bruin fire as Nate Neal found Damien Niko for a 36-yard touchdown and a two-point conversion.

Wallace broke off a 63-yard scoring run that put him over 1,000 yards on the season, then Neal added a four-yard toss to Eli Lino with 2:16 left to play to tie it up.

Sand Springs got the ball to start overtime and Page put the visitors back on top with a three-yard plunge.

Gilman put the game to bed, drilling Neal as he threw on fourth-and-nine to cement the win.

“We’re back to our old ways of stupid, personal foul penalties,” said head coach Bobby Klinck.

“That’s been a point of emphasis for what we’ve done. But to get lucky enough for it not to cost us a win, especially in district, and to have a chance to have a home playoff game, that’s huge that it didn’t cost us.”

The game marked the first overtime outing for the Sandites since a 2018 loss at Shawnee.

“It’s always fun,” said Klinck. “To have that type of second half and a lot of chips stacked against us, and for us to step up right there says a lot about our team. I’m very proud of them.”

Webb finished the night 21-of-32 passing for 175 yards, with Brody Rutledge hauling in 9 catches for 100 yards. Page added 55 yards on 24 carries.

Bartlesville will return to action Friday at No. 4 Muskogee (8-0, 5-0) while the Sandites will travel to No. 5 Booker T. Washington (4-4, 3-2).

CPHS;12;14;3;0;7–;36.

BHS;7;0;8;14;0–;29.

First Quarter
CPHS - Fain 20 interception return (pass failed), 11:48
CPHS - Page 1 run (run failed), 0:07
BAR - Darnell 98 kick return (Gordan-Bernstein kick), 0:00

Second Quarter
CPHS - Fain 8 pass from Webb (Daniels kick), 7:30
CPHS - Page 2 run (Daniels kick), 0:39

Third Quarter
CPHS - Daniels 29 field goal, 5:58
BAR - Niko 36 pass from Neal (Niko pass from Neal), 1:34

Fourth Quarter
BAR - Wallace 63 run (Gordan-Bernstein kick), 10:31
BAR - Lino 4 pass from Neal (Gordan-Bernstein kick), 2:16

OT
CPHS - Page 3 run (Daniels kick)

Team Statistics

First Downs: CPHS 18, BHS 14. Rushes-Yards: CPHS 41-107, BAR 31-195. Com-Att-Int: CPHS 21-33-0, BHS 12-28-1. Passing Yards: CPHS 175, BHS 173. Total Yards: CPHS 282, BHS 368. Fumbles-Lost: CPHS 1-0, BHS 4-2. Penalty Yards: CPHS 126, BHS 40. Punts-AVG: CPHS 7-36.9, BHS 1-16. Records: CPHS 5-3 (3-2), BHS 3-5 (2-3).

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Softball Ends Season at Broken Arrow Regional

The Charles Page High School softball team ended a successful season Wednesday afternoon with a Regional loss to Broken Arrow (28-10). The Sandites went 25-16, a seven-win improvement over last year.

Kelsi Hilton pitched a one-hitter with five strikeouts to start the Regional tournament Tuesday, and the Sandites won 2-0 against Muskogee (15-24).

The Sandites were derailed in a 9-0 loss to the host Tigers (27-10), but got back to work in their elimination rematch with Muskogee and prevailed 10-0 to stay alive.

Addison Hughes struck out 11 in a three-hitter while the Sandites combined for 14 hits. Ashlyn Clark was 4-for-4 at the plate with three runs in the five-inning run-rule victory.

The Sandite bats couldn’t keep up with Broken Arrow in the rematch, however, ending in a 16-6, five-inning loss. The Tigers took a 16-0 lead before Jaden Jordan hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth.

Jordan ended the season with a team-best .493 batting average, followed by Kelby Little with a .433 and Hilton with a .407. Jordan had a .944 slugging average with eight home runs.

Hughes went 14-11 in the circle with 139 strikeouts and a 3.05 ERA, while Hilton was 11-5 with 94 strikeouts and a 3.11 ERA.

Fishing

Hayden Lowrance and Hunter Spencer took 21st place at the Oklahoma Bass Nation trail event on Ft. Gibson Lake, Sunday, October 2nd. The duo caught four fish totaling 6.79 pounds.

Jonathan Isley and Jaxon Trotter placed 29th, Nate Griffin and Eli Rogers placed 42nd, Caden Strawn and Drew Turner placed 44th, and Decana Plummer and Gunner Beasley placed 51st.

Volleyball

The Sand Springs volleyball team ended the regular season with a 3-0 loss to the conference champions from No. 1 Jenks (28-4, 9-0). The Sandites are 16-17 overall and 3-6 in conference play.

Next up is the Regional tournament at Jenks, where the Sandites will play No. 16 Booker T. Washington (11-15) in a Tuesday elimination game. The winner of that match will play either Jenks or Ponca City (13-20) in the finals.

Cross Country

The varsity girls team placed sixth at the Cleveland meet Thursday, led by Kelsi Hilton in seventh place. Hilton ran the two-mile race in 13:28.

The varsity boys placed fifth, led by Rafi Huff in 11th and Taigh Wright in 12th. Huff ran the 5K in 19:22 and Huff finished in 19:24.

Football

The eighth grade Sandites improved to 5-0 on the season with a 48-20 win over Muskogee Green on Thursday.

E-Sports

Sand Springs Public Schools announced Thursday the addition of an eSports program at Charles Page High School. eSports became an OSSAA-sanctioned activity last school year. The school acquired new gaming computers through partnership with an unnamed donor and will be competing in Rocket League.

UFC

Sand Springs fighter Jimmy “The Brick” Flick (16-5) will officially be coming out of retirement with a flyweight bout against Jeff Molina (11-2) Saturday, January 14th.