Jaden Jordan Named to All-State Softball Team

The Sandite volleyball program donated $450 worth of non-perishables to Sand Springs Community Services on Tuesday, November 8th. Students from 7th through 12th grade collected more 262 pounds of food at its annual team banquet.

Softball

Charles Page High School senior Jaden Jordan was named to the All-Region, All-District, and All-State teams last week, and was named the district’s Offensive Player of the Year.

Jordan batted a team-best .493 this season with a .944 slugging average, .584 on-base percentage, 8 home runs, 39 RBI, 26 runs, and a .984 fielding percentage.

Jordan is the 49th All-State selection for Sand Springs. The Sandites have had an All-State player five years in a row.

Also receiving postseason accolades were Kelsi Hilton, who was named an All-District utility player, and Olivia Alexander, who made the All-Region team.

Bowling

Sandite softball star Olivia Alexander will be trading her cleats for bowling shoes when she enrolls at Oklahoma State University next fall. The senior signed a college letter of intent this week to bowl for OSU.

The Cowgirl bowling team just formed in 2021 and competes in the United States Bowling Congress.

Wrestling

Sandite wrestlers Mitchell Smith and Jaxon “Scout” Trotter were selected to wrestle for Oklahoma in the annual Red River All-Star Dual in Dallas on November 6th. Sandite alum Cody Karstetter was also selected as one of the coaches.

Texas won the dual 36-12 but Smith won his match 6-4, while Trotter fell to Angelo Ferrari, who was a State Champion at Stillwater this past season before moving to Melissa, Texas.

Smith is entering his senior year with a 74-27 record while Trotter is 20-12 entering his sophomore season. Both are returning State qualifiers.

Sand Springs took ninth place in the Joe Zamora / Skyler Holman preseason tournament at Broken Arrow on Saturday with three champions.

In high school action, Kelsi Hilton won the 140-pound girls bracket, Gracie Young placed third at girls’ 105, and Addison Tuttle was fourth at 125. Smith was the 157-pound boys’ runner-up and Ethan White was runner-up at 165.

Kaden Pope won the 119 junior high bracket, Jaxon Grigsby was second at 106, and Colt Chambers was fourth at 126.

Evan Sartin won the 6th/7th-grade 170-pound bracket, Kellen Foster was second at 98 pounds, and Lyla Waldren was second in girls’ 99-pounds.

Football

Sand Springs freshman star Riley Kester has accepted an invitation to play in the Football University Freshman All-American Bowl on December 19th in Naples, Florida.

Since its 2009 inception, the prestigious event has featured notable talents like Trevor Lawrence, JT Daniels, Christian McCaffrey, Bryce Young, and more.

The 6’4”, 265-pound freshman dominated both sides of the ball in junior high and is a starting offensive lineman on the varsity unit.

Sandites Advance in Playoffs With 31-21 Win Over Putnam City

After watching a 21-7 first-quarter lead slip away, the Sandites needed fourth-quarter heroics to stave off an upset in the first round of the 6A-II playoffs Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

A pair of fourth-down stands, a pair of fumble recoveries, and the senior leadership provided by Brody Rutledge and Drake Fain led No. 6 Sand Springs (7-4) to a 31-21 victory over No. 10 Putnam City (4-7) in the Sandites’ fifth nail-biter win of the season.

“That’s kind of the identity of our team,” said third-year coach Bobby Klinck, whose teams have won a playoff game every year since his arrival.

“We have opportunities to really finish it up and break out and sometimes we don’t get that done. I think that just speaks to a little bit of our inexperience. But credit to our kids and our coaches of just finding ways to win.”

“That’s kind of been our MO this year. We found ways to win. It’s a lot better to find ways to win than to find ways to lose.”

Keagan Gilman found a way to win when he made a fourth-and-goal stop to open the fourth quarter.

Rutledge found a way to win when he broke off a 70-yard run two plays later to set up an eventual 26-yard go-ahead field goal from Jonathan Daniels.

And Fain found a way to win when he forced a fumble with 1:41 to play, which Charles Gaylord recovered.

The Sandites held the Pirates to negative yardage in the fourth quarter, but were out-gained 294 yards to 100 over the middle two stanzas and all the momentum was on Putnam City’s side.

“I’m 40 going on 50 right now with this team,” said Klinck. “I’d like to get some easier wins.”

“It’s Oklahoma high school football. There’s great coaches everywhere, great players. You’ve got to come correct every week, especially in the playoffs.”

Sand Springs got off on the right foot as Kenneth Page broke off an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage, but the Pirates responded with a 10-play, 62-yard march and tied it up on a 1-yard sneak from Jud Keefer.

Easton Webb threw a 4-yard fourth-down strike to Rutledge to reclaim the lead, and the two connected again from six yards out to open the second quarter.

Then the Pirates came surging back with a 42-yard touchdown throw from Keefer to Shawn Hill in the second quarter, and opened the second half with another score.

Putnam City found success with a wildcat package for Taje McCoy, who marched his team downfield and scored on a nine-yard run. He added a two-point conversion to make up for a PAT that was blocked by Gaylord in the second quarter.

McCoy continued to move the ball well throughout the third quarter, setting his team up at the 3-yard line before a third-down hike was fumbled and Gilman came up big to stop the fourth-down attempt.

The Sandites used their own wildcat option with Rutledge, who had 10 carries for 107 yards and a 10-yard touchdown run in the fourth.

“I’m just proud that we got a win,” said Klinck. “That Putnam City team has gotten so much better and kind of found out their identity and who they were, so they did a really good job.”

The Sandites will return to action Friday at 7:00 p.m. with a trip to No. 2 Choctaw (9-1), who received a bye this week.

Scoring Summary

CPHS;14;7;0;10–;31
PC;7;6;8;0–;21

First Quarter
CPHS - Page 80 run (Daniels kick), 11:40
PC - Keefer 1 run (Cervantes kick), 8:19
CPHS - Rutledge 4 pass from Webb (Daniels kick), 3:35

Second Quarter
CPHS - Rutledge 6 pass from Webb (Daniels kick), 8:57
PC - Hill 42 pass from Keefer (Kick blocked), 4:54

Third Quarter
PC - McCoy 9 run (McCoy run), 8:27

Fourth Quarter
CPHS - Daniels 26 field goal, 8:21
CPHS - Rutledge 10 run (Daniels kick), 3:57

Team Statistics

First Downs: CPHS 14, PC 21. Rushes-Yards: CPHS 35-258, PC 48-138. Comp-Att-Int: CPHS 11-19-0, PC 15-25-0. Passing Yards: CPHS 152, PC 212. Total Yards: CPHS 410, PC 350. Fumbles-Lost: CPHS 1-1, PC 6-3. Penalty Yards: CPHS 95, PC 84. Punts-AVG: CPHS 2-37.5, PC 2-24.5. Records: CPHS 7-4, PC 4-7.

Corbin Wooley Wins Bixby Open, Seven Sandites Medal

Wrestling

Corbin Wooley won first place and six other Sandites medalled at the Bixby Open on Saturday.

Wooley pinned his way through the junior high bracket without giving up a single point, and even took an 11-0 lead in the 132-pound finals before pinning Hayden White in 2:10.

Rylee Allen lost her first match to the eventual champion in junior high 117 but pinned her next three opponents to finish third. Colt Chambers took third in 126 with two pins, only losing to the bracket winner.

In high school action, Dawsen Briscoe placed fourth at 106 with one pin.

David Ritchey placed fourth at 120, losing his opening match to defending State Champion Christopher Kiser before pinning his next four opponents. He had to medical forfeit in the consolation finals, however.

Peyton Callis placed third at 165, outscoring his opponents 24-8 with one pin. His only loss came to the tournament champion and he won a 16-5 major decision in the consolation finals.

Kelsi Hilton placed third in the high school girls 140-pound bracket. She took a 4-2 lead against Broken Arrow’s Alexandrea Coombs but got stuck in the third period. She pinned her next two opponents and earned a rematch with Coombs in the finals, this time prevailing 10-4.

Youth Football

The Sand Springs sixth grade team wrapped up a successful 8-3 season Saturday, falling 35-20 at Verdigris (10-0). The Sandites won a 19-7 upset at Stillwater Gold (6-4) in the first round of the Indian Nations Conference AA playoffs on Tuesday before falling to the undefeated Cardinals.

The seventh-grade Sandites went 4-6 in the tough A division of the INFC this season, falling to top-seeded Jenks White (9-1) in the first round.

The fifth-grade Black team (5-6) won its first playoff game against Owasso Black on Thursday but fell to Lincoln Christian on Saturday. The Sandites are still alive in the consolation bracket and will play Bixby White Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Jenks.

Soccer

Sand Springs 2022 graduate Karsen Lynch has been named a recipient of the West Side Alliance’s $1500 SoccerCity Senior Scholarship. Lynch was an All-State selection for the Sandites last season and is currently a freshman on the Rogers State University team, studying nursing.

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).

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).

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).