Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Softball Places Third at Bixby Tournament

The Charles Page High School softball (15-9, 5-3) started a successful week with a pair of perfect games and ended it with a third-place finish at the Bixby tournament.

The Sandites celebrated Senior Night with a perfect double-header Tuesday against the combined team of Tulsa Memorial and Booker T. Washington (0-15, 0-7).

Kelsi Hilton (7-1) struck out 10 and the Sandites totaled 15 hits in a 20-0 game-one rout. Addie Hughes (8-8) struck out 10 and the Sandites recorded 13 hits in the 10-0 second game. 

The Sandites rode that momentum into a crucial 8-3 district win Thursday against Bartlesville (11-8, 3-4) behind a six-strikeout performance from Hughes. 

On Friday the Sandites rolled to a 14-0 shutout of Union (6-18) in the first round of the Bixby tournament. Hughes pitched a one-hitter with six strikeouts and Mikenna Stephens went 3-of-4 at the plate with four RBI.

Hilton struck out seven in a 4-2 win over El Reno (4-9) while also recording three RBI in the second game of the tournament.

The win streak came to a close in a 6-0 loss against Perry (24-5) Friday evening but the Sandites got back in the win column with a 5-1 victory over Raymore Peculiar (7-6) Saturday morning. 

To cap off the week, Hilton hit a walk-off RBI single to prevail 5-4 over Coweta (16-7) and pay back an August defeat. 

Hilton batted .583 on the week with a team-high 14 hits, three triples, 13 RBI, and 11 runs. Morgan Rector was .565 at the plate with 13 hits, six RBI, and 12 runs.

Hilton went 3-0 in the circle with a 1.44 ERA and Hughes was 4-1 with a 1.80 ERA.

Sand Springs will return to action Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. with a key district game at Jenks (19-3, 10-0), then will travel to Stillwater (14-6, 6-3) Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

Cross Country

Josie Grona led the Sandite elementary with a fourth-place finish at the Sapulpa Chieftain meet, Saturday, September 3rd. She ran the one-mile race in 6:23.36. Kellen Adkins was 18th to lead the boys in 6:47.05.

Kelsi Hilton led the varsity girls with a ninth place finish, running the two-mile in 13:29.31. Taigh Wright led the boys in 12:23.49.

Chloe Grona was runner-up in the junior high girls’ one-mile run, finishing in 5:59.85. Dax Wilcox was the top junior high boy, placing 14th in 5:54.46. 

On September 10th the Sandites took a depleted roster to Broken Arrow. 

Wright led the boys with a 50th place finish, running the 5K in 19:38.80. Gracie Gifford led the girls, finishing in 26:11.92 for 57th place. Melany Lamb led the junior high girls, placing 63rd in 37:08.79. 

Volleyball

The No. 15 Sandite volleyball team (7-6) snapped a five-match skid with a 3-0 sweep of Pryor (2-15) Tuesday night on the road. Sand Springs won 25-14, 25-10, and 25-14.

The Sandites will return to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. with a conference rivalry game at 5A No. 7 Sapulpa (13-10, 1-3). Sand Springs is 0-4 in conference action.

Football

The Sandite freshman class (2-0) continued an undefeated streak stretching back to its seventh grade season, winning 34-0 against Bartlesville. The eighth graders also moved to 2-0 with a 48-14 win against the Bruins. 

Wrestling

The first-year Lady Sandite wrestling program had a successful first meeting with prospective athletes. New coach Ty Bowling hopes to have as many as 20 girls in the program this season.

Spartan Football Train Runs Over Sandites, 67-3

If anyone was expecting a close rematch of the 2015 State Finals in Friday night’s game between 6A-II No. 5 Sand Springs (1-1) and Bixby, they were sorely disappointed.

The top-ranked Spartans (3-0) easily rolled to their 52nd consecutive win, 67-3, in their home opener against their former 6A-II rivals.

Austin Havens was 12-of-15 passing for 158 yards and three touchdowns, and starter Connor Kirby was 3-of-4 for 135 yards and two touchdowns, with another score on the ground.

“We’ve got packages for each of those guys,” said Spartan coach Loren Montgomery. “So it just kind of depends on what the defense is giving us, how they’re lining up to the different personnel packages. We try to roll in a lot of people.”

The Spartans took a 25-0 lead in the first quarter and steamrolled to a 53-0 halftime lead to put to bed any thoughts of an upset.

“I was pleased, obviously, with the way we played defense, particularly in the first half,” said Spartan coach Loren Montgomery.

Bixby held the Sandites to only 56 yards and three first downs in the first half, while coming away with two interceptions.

“I felt like we were clean early in the first quarter and a half or so, protected the football pretty well, executed our stuff,” said Montgomery. “I would have liked to have seen us run the ball a little bit better, but I was proud. We had a lot of guys step up and make plays.”

Bixby racked up 186 yards on 34 carries from 11 different backs, led by Jett Turner with 4 carries for 53 yards.

After forcing a punt on the Sandites’ opening drive, the Spartans needed only two plays to get on the board with a 62-yard pass from Connor Kirby to Kordell Gouldsby. Kirby ran in the PAT for an 8-0 lead.

Sam McCormick picked off Marek Matheson at the Sandites’ 12-yard line, setting up a 31-yard field goal from Levi Hoffman.

A quick three-and-out for the Sandites led to a 71-yard scoring strike from Kirby to Luke Hasz, followed by an encore on the two-point conversion.

Tyson Williams got the Spartan defense on the board with a 35-yard pick six, but the Sandites managed to block Hoffman’s kick to make it 25-0 after the first quarter.

Bixby opened the second stanza with a 10-play, 67-yard march, capped by a 1-yard run from Kirby. Joshua Newkirk recovered Hoffman’s onside kick and Austin Havens found Hasz for a 9-yard score three plays later.

Havens added a 31-yard touchdown strike to McCormick and Hasz scored on a 17-yard reverse to end the half.

In the second half Christian Kaiser scored on a 12-yard shovel pass from Havens to make it 60-0.

Kyle Morrall recovered a muffed punt to set up a 28-yard field goal from Jonathan Daniels to avert the shutout, and the Spartans scored their final touchdown on a 37-yard run by Turner.

Matheson ended the night 5-of-10 passing for 30 yards and two picks and the Sandites turned to freshman Easton Webb midway through the second quarter.

Webb was 6-of-11 for 59 yards. Jacob Blevins led the receiving corps with 5 catches for 50 yards.

The Sandites were limited to only 23 rushing yards on 27 carries.

Luke Hasz was the star for the Spartans with three catches for 93 yards and had 13 yards rushing for three total TDs.

Despite Bixby’s total dominance, there were still some mistakes to clean up before the Spartans start district play September 23rd at No. 9 Norman North (2-0).

“We put the ball on the ground a little too much,” said Montgomery. “We need to work better on protecting the football. I thought we did a little bit better job of it tonight, and got a little sloppy at times.”

“We need to become more efficient and continue to grow and develop an identity as a football team.”

The Spartans also expect to get back Arkansas-commit Dylan Hasz in time for the trip to Norman, who was out with a minor injury.

“We were missing three starters tonight, so hopefully this bye week will give us a chance to get a little bit healthy and get some guys back out on the field,” said Montgomery.

Sand Springs will return home next Friday with a non-district game against No. 10 Ponca City (0-2).

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup:

Softball

The Charles Page High School fast-pitch softball team (8-7, 2-2) picked up an 11-3 road win at Union (3-12) but stumbled in district action, falling 7-0 to Stillwater (10-2, 3-1) and 5-3 to Bartlesville (7-5, 3-1) last week.

Olivia Alexander hit two doubles, Jaden Jordan hit a triple, and the Sandites combined for 12 hits Monday against the RedHawks. Ashlyn Clark scored a team-high three runs, while Jordan brought in four RBI. Kelsi Hilton (4-1) struck out four for the win, surrendering seven hits.

Addie Hughes (4-6) struck out an impressive nine batters in Tuesday’s home game against the defending district champions, but surrendered 10 hits while the Sandites only accounted for three.

Sand Springs had a strong offensive showing at Bartlesville, out-hitting the Bruins 10 to six, but stranded nine in the loss. Abby Glasglow was 3-of-4 at the plate and Jordan hit her sixth home run of the season.

The Sandites will host Bixby (6-5, 3-3) on Monday at 5:30 for Youth Night. Any students wearing their youth team jerseys or softball camp shirts will receive free admission.

On Tuesday they will host Jenks (11-2, 6-0) at 5:30 for Alumni Night. Former players will receive free admission and will be recognized during the game with a group photo immediately following the game.

Volleyball

No. 14 Sandite Volleyball (6-4, 0-3) is still looking for its first conference win after a tough 3-0 loss to No. 6 Bixby (8-3, 3-1) on Tuesday.

The Spartans won sets of 25-17, 25-23, and 25-12 behind 21 kills and 8 aces from senior star Olivia Vance.

Leading the Sandites were Payton Robbins with six kills, Hannah McKelvey with 10 assists, and Olivia DeWitt with 12 digs.

Sand Springs will travel to No. 3 Broken Arrow (11-2, 3-0) on Tuesday before hosting 4A No. 1 Regent Prep (15-3) on Thursday.

Cross Country

The Sand Springs cross country teams competed in the Owasso Ram Relays Thursday at Mohawk Park.

Chloe Grona placed third in the junior high 1.5-mile run, finishing in 9:56.02, followed by Josie Grona in 13th place in 10:42.89.

The varsity teams ran in a relay-style 6-mile competition. The girls placed 34th out of 44 teams with a time of 50:43.42. The boys placed 35th out of 72 teams in 39:00.09.

The Sandites will return to action Saturday at the Sapulpa Westside Sports Complex at 8:15 a.m.

Kenneth Page scores 5 TDs in 35-21 win over Sapulpa

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This story was originally written for the Tulsa World.

Junior running back Kenneth Page blasted his way into the history books Friday night with 205 yards and five touchdowns to lead Sand Springs past Sapulpa, 35-21, in the American Heritage Bank Highway 97 Rivalry. 

The game was played before a maximum capacity crowd of over 3,500 at George F. Collins Stadium, with a state-wide broadcast from Cox YurView, and the Sandites took their first lead in the series since 1943.

It’s been 100 years since the two teams first met, and the Sandites now lead the series 46-45-5.

“A lot’s going through my head right now,” said Page. “My line did their job. I’m thankful they did their job. Without them, I wouldn’t have that.”

Highway 97 Rivalry football games are defined by chaos, and the 96th installment didn’t disappoint with five fumbles, two interceptions, and lots of big momentum swings.

On the third play from scrimmage, the snap bounced off Sandite quarterback Marek Matheson’s hands and was immediately recovered by Isaac Shelton.

One play later and Colton Howard found Marco Smith for a 37-yard touchdown and an early lead. 

Sand Springs responded with a methodical 15-play, 75-yard drive to score on Page’s 2-yard plunge. 

Chieftain quarterback Colton Howard put his team back ahead on a 15-yard scramble after shaking off a near-sack to end the first quarter 14-7.

The home team would only get three opportunities to make a play in the second quarter after an 18-play, 89-yard Sandite drive ate more than 9 minutes off the clock, capped by another 2-yard dive from Page.

A sack from Cash Lucas gave Sand Springs a quick three-and-out and they threatened again but Noah Ferguson picked off Matheson to end the half.

Jabe Schlehuber picked off Howard to give his team a red-zone opportunity in the third quarter but the Chieftains forced a turnover on downs to keep it tied. 

Sapulpa’s next drive was unsuccessful, however, and the Sandites took their first lead on a 5-yard Page run, set up by a 51-yard run on the first play of the drive. 

Smith tied it up for the final time on a 15-yard run, but Page added scores of 15 yards and 54 yards in the final stanza. 

“He’s only scratched the surface of what he can do,” said Sandites head coach Bobby Klinck. “He’s got a lot to work on, but there’s a lot to work with. I was very proud of him.”

The Sandite defense came away with eight tackles for loss, led by senior linebacker Drake Fain with 12 tackles. 

“He’s the leader of our defense,” said Klinck. “Him and Dominic Ornelas. We’re counting on those guys and we’re only gonna get better.”

Matheson also impressed in the fourth quarter, shaking off his early interception and completing two incredible Mahomes-ish completions to Jacob Blevins, including a crucial fourth-down conversion that set up the go-ahead score.

Matheson finished the night 11-of-21 for 154 yards. Howard was 7-of-13 for 111 yards for the Chieftains.

Despite Page’s performance, the Sandites were far from a well-oiled machine. 

“We’ve got to get better,” said Klinck. “Just got to clean some stuff up. I think we’re gonna be a good football team, but we’ve got to get a lot better in a hurry in the next couple of weeks before our next opponent.”

The next opponent being 6A-1 No. 3 Bixby (1-0), who is riding a 50-game win streak. The Sandites will get a bye week before traveling to Bixby Friday, September 9th. 

Sandites show promise in 24-7 preseason loss at Jenks

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

It would be easy to try and justify the Sandites’ 24-7 preseason loss to the defending 6A-1 State Champions from Jenks.

After all, the Trojan program has twice the enrollment of Sand Springs, a wealthier community, and a blue blood tradition that includes 18 gold balls. 

But third-year Charles Page High School coach Bobby Klinck doesn’t make excuses for his team and he doesn’t let them make excuses for themselves. 

“I was a little disappointed in the way we came out,” said Klinck. 

“Obviously it’s Jenks. They over-physicalled us a little bit, but what we’ve been trying to instill in these guys is a belief in themselves that no matter who we’re playing, you have an opportunity.”

Klinck doesn’t shy away from giants, hence why the Sandites eagerly scheduled Jenks in the preseason and 6A-1 No. 3 Bixby in the second game of the year. 

“We’re never going to back down and I want our guys to know what that looks like and feels like,” said Klinck.

“We’ve just got to keep grinding, keep pushing. We’re going to keep getting better. I’m never satisfied, but we’re gonna keep getting better.”

The Sandites enter next week’s season opener ranked fifth in Class 6A-2 at 5A No. 9 Sapulpa in the 96th installment of Highway 97 Rivalry. 

It still remains to be seen who will be under center for Sand Springs. 

The obvious front runner is Kiefer move-in Marek Matheson. The 6’2”, 225-pound senior showed confidence and promise as he led his new team on their first four series. 

Matheson was 2-of-4 passing for 15 yards and was sacked twice while the team primarily leaned on Kenneth Page’s 9 carries for 26 yards.

On the final drive of the game, they turned to freshman Easton Webb, who methodically led a 12-play, 65-yard scoring drive against a Trojan unit that had swapped out many of the starters. 

Webb was 6-of-9 for 43 yards and connected on a 14-yard touchdown to Brody Rutledge to avert the shutout. 

“(Matheson)’s been getting the majority of the reps with the ones, but just like anything, whoever’s the week one starter doesn’t mean they’ll be the starter the next week. That’s for every position. It’s a constant, competitive deal every week.”

Jenks’ quarterback Ike Owens was 7-of-10 passing for 98 yards and one score while Jaiden Carroll carried the ball nine times for 79 yards and two touchdowns. 

“We’ve got to become better tacklers, be more physical, and come better mentally prepared,” said Klinck. 

The Trojans scored on each of their drives in the two-quarter game that didn’t allow punt returns or rushing the kicker, and each team started their possessions at the 35-yard line in lieu of a kickoff. 

Jonathan Daniels averaged 38 yards per punt for the Sandites while Drake Fain, Carder Hoffman, Dallas Elifrits, and Dominic Ornelas led the defense. 

The Sandites played a clean game with no penalties or fumbles. 

“I think Kenneth (Page) did a better job running the ball and you know we’ve got two of the best receivers,” said Klinck, referencing Rutledge and Jacob Blevins.

“If we can give our quarterbacks time to get the ball off, we’ve got opportunities in jump ball situations. They’re going to make great catches for us this year.”

Sand Springs is coming off an 8-4 campaign and will see some new faces in district action. The Sandites’ district replaced Bixby, Ponca City, and Choctaw with Stillwater, U.S. Grant, and Tahlequah, while retaining Booker T. Washington, Muskogee, Bartlesville, and Putnam City West. 

The first home game of the year will be September 16th in a non-district battle against Ponca at 7:00 p.m.

Volleyball Wins 2022 Sandite Invitational

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Sandite volleyball team didn’t win its first match of the Skylar Jackson era, but it did win the next six in a row.

After falling 3-0 to Union (1-1) in Tuesday’s home opener, the Sandites bounced back with a 3-1 victory Thursday at Glenpool (4-2) before winning their home tournament over the weekend.

Sand Springs lost close sets of 27-25, 25-19, and 27-25 to Union but won 28-26, 23-25, 25-20, and 25-16 against the Warriors. 

“Union’s really good this year,” said Jackson. “To be new to a program but to have the girls buy in so much and be so close with such a good team, I think showed them that they really are capable of doing a lot of good things.”

Good things indeed. The Sandites won their home tournament for the third time in the past four years, and this time it was against all 6A teams.

Sand Springs (6-2) defeated Ponca City (3-3), Enid (1-6), Southmoore (4-3), Choctaw (5-2), and Lawton (0-7) before falling to Yukon (3-5) in the final match of the round-robin tournament.

“To come out ahead (at Glenpool) and then come in our own home gym and play four matches in one day and win all of those was a good testament to how hard the girls are working and how much they’re buying into what we’re doing,” said Jackson.

Jackson is in her first year at Sand Springs after taking over for her husband, Derek, who left for Claremore. She was previously an assistant coach at Broken Arrow. 

“We served really well yesterday,” said Jackson. “We received really well yesterday also. Today our middles really were able to get involved and when they were, we were firing on all cylinders.”

On Friday Sand Springs won 25-7 and 25-10 against Lawton and beat Ponca City 25-23 and 25-17. The matches against Enid and Choctaw were far closer.

Enid won the first set 26-24 before the Sandites rallied 25-23 and 25-21. They defeated the Yellowjackets 25-22 in set one before falling 25-17 and rallied to win the third 25-17.

On Saturday the Sandites won 2-1 against Southmoore, 25-19, 19-25, and 25-23, to clinch the tournament title by virtue of head-to-head against Choctaw, who also finished 5-1. 

In the final match, Yukon won the first set 25-19, Sand Springs won the second 25-21, and the Millers rallied to a 25-20 victory to spoil the home team’s streak.

“I still think we struggle a little bit with some confidence at times,” said Jackson. “Size-wise, we’re middle of the road 6A and I think just not having the winningest record all the time can be a confidence buster.”

Historically, the Sandites have been one of the lesser teams in 6A, but have finished with winning records in two of the past three seasons.

“I think playing so close with Union and then beating Glenpool and then playing as well as we did shows the girls that we can do those things. But I think that we had a little bit of a slip of confidence there in that first set.”

Senior middle blocker Layla Lenex was named the tournament MVP and senior libero Olivia DeWitt also made the All-Tournament team.

Payton Robbins, a senior outside hitter, was also one of the top contributors for the Sandites. 

“She gets the ball often and she does a good job not only swinging but also in defense and service too,” said Jackson. “She’s really stepped up her defensive game this season and that’s huge for her.”

Knocking off a bunch of 6A teams from the west side of the state should help the Sandites earn a decent place in the rankings next week, but more importantly it’ll help sharpen them up before a busy Week 2.

Sand Springs will travel to Owasso (1-0) for a conference battle on Tuesday before competing at the Muskogee tournament over the weekend.

“We’re going to really work on blocking,” said Jackson.”I think if we’d have been a little bit sharper up at the net today in that Yukon match we would’ve shut them down a lot sooner and gotten them a little bit more frustrated. So we’re going to definitely work on blocking, which will be a big deal against Owasso.They’ve got some big hitters.

“And then working our middles in transition. If we can get them involved, it’s a good day. So we’ve got to be able to get them involved a little more often, even on not the best passes.”

Sand Springs will look for its first win against the Rams since 2017 when the match kicks off Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.