CPHS Football: Sandites hold off Sapulpa 21-17 in season opener

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The Class 6A No. 12 ranked Charles Page High School varsity football team won its season-opener Friday night at George F. Collins Stadium, 21-17 against 5A No. 10 Sapulpa. Not only was the game a big rivalry match, it was also the first of the Bobby Klinck era at Sand Springs.

The Sandites took a 14-6 lead in the first quarter and only briefly trailed in the third. Both teams were inundated with errors, combining for 22 penalties and eight fumbles.

Sand Springs scored on the opening drive of the game, marching 73 yards in ten plays. Junior quarterback Ty Pennington found Jamon Sisco on a 44-yard pass to break into the red zone, and four plays later Blake Jones punched it in from one yard out.

Sapulpa responded with a ten-play 74-yard drive and scored on a 17-yard run from Conner Rose. Sango Whitehorn blocked the kick, and the Sandites held the lead. The two teams traded punts, and the Sandites hit pay dirt again on a 51-yard strike from Pennington to Sisco.

A bad hike over the Sandite punter’s head gave Sapulpa great field position in the second quarter, but they stalled out at the eight-yard line and Bryson Chase blocked Dalton Fox’s field goal attempt. Sapulpa got another try on the final possession of the half, but the Sandites broke up two end zone pass attempts and an apparent touchdown was ruled an illegal forward pass on the final play.

Sapulpa’s bad fortune continued in the second half as they marched to the Sandite eight-yard line, only for Chase to force and recover a fumble. They finally caught a break when another bad hike sailed out the back of the Sandite endzone for a safety.

Te’Zohn Taft returned the ensuing kick 74 yards but dropped the ball at the Sandites’ two-yard line. He made up for it three plays later and punched it in from two yards out. This time Fox made the kick and the Chieftains took their only lead at 15-14.

Sand Springs didn’t stay down for long, however. Jones made a 31-yard run then Pennington connected with Keaton Campbell for 29 yards before keeping the ball for the final yard and a touchdown. Zach Heinen connected on his third and final PAT of the night.

The Sandites’ next possession was filled with adversity as Kyle Edmondson made a sack, a pass was called back for an ineligible receiver, a false start was called, then Jones went down on a run and had to be helped off the field. To cap it all off, another bad hike resulted in Heinen punting from the 7 instead of the 31, giving the Chieftains the ball on Sandite turf. Sapulpa failed to capitalize though, and Sisco blocked their ensuing punt.

D’Angelo Mitchell punched out a fumble on the first play of the fourth quarter and Ethan Esparza recovered to stop a Sandite threat at the four-yard line. Neither team managed to score on their next possessions, but Sapulpa marched to the Sandite nine-yard line with 1:43 left to play. Dominic Ornelas recovered a fumble for the Sandites to prevent a Chieftain comeback.

Sand Springs failed to get a first down on the final possession, and Pennington was tasked with evading defenders until the clock ran out. He gave up a sack for another safety on the final play of the game, but the visitors escaped with a 21-17 win.

Pennington finished the evening 10-18-183-0 with one passing touchdown, and was 18-49 on the ground for another. Chieftain quarterback Zac Mason was 8-16-53-0 by air and 9-21 on the ground with no scores. Sisco was the top receiver with six catches for 135 yards for the Sandites, while Taft was the leading rusher with 22 carries for 117 yards for the Chieftains.

The Sandite Defense, which has struggled in recent years, showed remarkable improvement under new Defensive Coordinator Shane Ingram. The team came away with six tackles for loss, one sack, three pass breakups, and three fumble recoveries. Landon Hendricks and Drake Fain had 10 tackles apiece, and Hendricks added two tackles for loss and a pass breakup.

Sandite Football will play its first home game next Friday at 7:00 p.m. against 5A No. 3 Bishop Kelley (1-0), who beat 4A No. 3 Poteau 28-7 in their season opener. Sapulpa will travel to Edison Prep Friday at 7:00 p.m.

CPHS 21 SHS 17
First Downs: CPHS 10, SHS 19.
Fumbles/Lost: CPHS 5/1, SHS 4/3.
Penalties: CPHS 11-99, SHS 11-72.
C-A-Y-I: CPHS 10-18-183-0, SHS 8-16-53-0.
Rushing: CPHS 36-139, SHS 47-213.
Offense: CPHS 54-322, SHS 63-266.

(Sand Springs Stats)
Passing: Pennington 10-18-183-0, 1TD.
Receiving: Sisco 6-135, 1TD. Campbell 2-31. Jones 2-17.
Rushing: Jones 10-62, 1TD. Pennington 18-49, 1TD. Sisco 2-21. Atkinson 6-7.
PAT: Heinen 3/3.
Punt-AVG: Heinen 2-49.
Kick-AVG: Heinen 5-44.
Kick Return: Sisco 1-9. Campbell 1-3.
Solo Tackles: Fain 8, Evans 6, Hendricks 5, Chase 5, Harris 3, Light 3, Dudley 2, Whitehorn 2, Webster 2, Campbell 1, Stone 1, Turner 1, Fisher 1.
Assisted Tackles: Hendricks 5, Dudley 3, Light 3, Fain 2, Harris 1, Chase 1, Brown 1, Stone 1, Whitehorn 1.
Tackles For Loss: Hendricks 2-8, Dudley 1-4, Light 1-3, Evans 1-3, Whitehorn 1-3.
Sacks: Whitehorn 1-3.
Pass Breakups: Hendricks 1, Chase 1, Calico 1.
Fumble Recoveries: Chase 1, Hawkins 1, Ornelas 1.
Blocked Kicks: Chase 1, Whitehorn 1, Sisco 1.

(Sapulpa Stats)
Passing: Mason 8-16-53-0.
Receiving: Kahmeyer 2-23. Mitchell 1-20. Hall 1-8. Morton 2-4. Taft 2-(-2).
Rushing: Taft 22-117, 1TD. Rose 8-56, 1TD. Mason 9-21. Boykin 7-19. Mackey 1-0.
PAT: Fox 1/2.
FG: Fox 0/1.
Punt-AVG: Hall 5-27.
Kick-AVG: Carr 3-31.
Kick Return: Taft 4-148. Carr 2-34.
Solo Tackles: Rose 6, Diaz 5, Mitchell 4, Taft 3, Wick 3, Willingham 3, Esparza 3, Boykin 3, Lloyd 1, Kahmeyer 1, Roberts 1, Edmonson 1, Fox 1.
Assisted Tackles: Wick 2, Diaz 2, Roberts 1, Rose 1, Willingham 1, Mitchell 1.
Tackles For Loss: Diaz 2-3, Edmonson 1-5, Rose 1-2.
Sacks: Edmonson 1-5.
Fumble Recoveries: Esparza 1.
Forced Fumbles: Mitchell 1.

CPHS Football: Sandites lead Sapulpa 14-6 after first half in season opener

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The Oklahoma high school football season kicked off with a bang Friday night at George F. Collins Stadium as two of the fiercest rivals in the region are going head-to-head. Charles Page High School from Sand Springs is visiting Sapulpa and currently holds a 14-6 lead after the first half.

The Sandites are in the first season under Head Coach Bobby Klinck, and the former Owasso Defensive Coordinator has his team firing on all cylinders against a Chieftain squad that is ranked No. 10 in Class 5A. Sapulpa won last year’s meeting, but the Sandites won five in a row before that.

All three scores came in the first quarter and it looked like it was shaping up for a shootout, but neither team found the endzone in the second quarter.

Sand Springs scored on the opening drive of the game with a ten-play 73-yard march. Junior quarterback Ty Pennington made a 44-yard pass to Jamon Cisco to cross the red zone, and four plays later Blake Jones punched in the one-yard run.

Sapulpa responded with a ten-play 74-yard drive, capped by a 17-yard dash by Conner Rose, but Sango Whitehorn blocked the PAT to prevent the tie score.

The two teams traded punts, then Sand Springs needed only two plays to score again after Pennington followed a nine-yard run with a 51-yard throw to Cisco. Heinen made both of his PAT kicks in the half.

The Chieftains threatened twice more, but both trips to the red zone came up dry. After a bad hike sailed over Heinen’s head on the punt attempt, Sapulpa had great opportunity from the Sandites’ 20 yard line. Five plays later they settled for a field goal attempt from the 8, but Bryson Chase made the Sandites’ second blocked kick of the night.

Sapulpa threatened again in the final seconds of the half, but Chase and Micah Calico broke up a pair of pass attempts. The final play appeared to be a touchdown strike from Zac Mason to D’Angelo Mitchell, but it was ruled an illegal forward pass from beyond the line of scrimmage, and the Sandites escaped with the advantage.

Pennington was 6-10-123-0 passing in the first half, while Mason was 6-11-43-0. Sapulpa will get the ball to start the second half.

CPHS Softball: Shawnee shuts out Sandites 5-0

The Charles Page High School varsity softball team (12-3, 3-2) brought a .430 season batting average into their Thursday evening game at Shawnee, and that powerful hitting record made Anneca Anderson’s pitching performance all the more remarkable. The Shawnee sophomore (4-0, 10-4) struck out fifteen Sandites, walked none, and only allowed two hits in the 5-0 shutout.

The Wolves hit a hiccup in their first season at the 6A level last year, going 13-21, but they’ve got their feet beneath them now and are off to an undefeated 11-0 start with a 4-0 mark in district action. Oklahoma State University-committed senior Tatum Sparks has been an important part of that success, and she scored two runs and one RBI.

Anderson struck out the side in the top of the first and Shawnee came in to claim a 4-0 lead. Seminole State-commit Hallie Wilson singled and scored on Sparks’s hit. Kali Kasterke was hit by pitch and Carly Torbett doubled to score both runners. Torbett scored the final run of the inning on a ground out from Stormee Reed.

Both Anderson and Aliyah Taff struck out three batters apiece in the second inning. Sparks reached on an error in the third and scored the final run of the game on a fly out from Anderson. Shawnee stranded singles in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.

The Sandites tried to rally in the seventh with singles from Madison Lee and Raegan Rector, but Lee was caught stealing and Anderson threw a pair of strikeouts to secure the win.

Taff (7-3, 24-17) took the loss on the mound, throwing seven hits, six strikeouts, and one walk in six innings.

Sandite Softball will return to action Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. with a district road game against Ponca City (3-11, 2-4). Shawnee will host its home tournament this weekend, beginning with a 2:00 p.m. game against Durant (3-2) on Friday.

District 6A-3 Standings
4-0 Owasso (11-1)
4-0 Shawnee (11-0)
4-1 Jenks (7-4)
3-2 Sand Springs (12-3)
2-4 Ponca City (3-11)
0-4 Sapulpa (0-5)
0-6 Muskogee (1-7)

CPHS Volleyball: Sandites fall 3-0 to Owasso

The Class 6A No. 18 ranked Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (8-9, 1-3) traveled to No. 9 Owasso (7-2, 3-1) Thursday and lost 3-0 in Frontier Valley Conference action. The Sandites nearly stole set two against the Rams, but were handily defeated in the first and third games.

Olivia Dewitt scored the opening kill for Sand Springs, but the visitors quickly fell behind after giving Owasso six of their first seven points on errors. Then the Rams got hot on offense and surged to a 14-4 lead behind a trio of kills from Madi Mercer, two from Sabrina Green, and an ace from Stella Franklin.

The Sandites scored four in a row with a pair of hard-hit kills from Jacelyn Smith, a tipped ball from Jentry Hughes, and another kill from Madison Blaylock. Rylee Martin broke up the run, but Payton Robbins and Sophie Singleton responded with kills. Sand Springs cut it as close as 20-14 but Owasso closed on another hot streak for the 25-15 win.

In game two the Sandites surged back from a 7-5 deficit to a 21-14 lead before Owasso scored six in a row. Layla Lenex and Kasidy Holland combined on a block at 23-20, but the Rams rattled off five more points and Gabby Guerrero served an ace for the come-from-behind win.

Game three was the most lopsided defeat of the season for the Sandites, who initially took a 5-2 lead with an ace from Smith before Owasso went on a 14-1 run to make it 16-6. Sand Springs was awarded three points on Owasso errors, but the home team closed on a nine-point run to end the match.

Sandite Volleyball will aim to get back to a winning record Saturday when they host 5A No. 14 McAlester (5-8) at noon and North Rock Creek (4-0) at 3:00 p.m. Owasso will travel to No. 12 Bixby (8-2, 1-1) Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

Owasso 3-0 CPHS (25-15, 25-23, 25-9)
Kills: OHS 35, CPHS 17.
Blocks: OHS 3, CPHS 4.
Aces: OHS 9, CPHS 4.
Errors: OHS 24, CPHS 28.

(Sand Springs)
Kills: Robbins 4, Smith 3, Holland 2, Lenex 2, Singleton 2, Dewitt 1, Johnson 1, Blaylock 1, Hughes 1.
Assists: Hughes 6, Johnson 4, Blaylock 1.
Assisted Blocks: Smith 3, Holland 2, Lenex 1, Singleton 1, Robbins 1.
Digs: Blaylock 15, Robbins 8, Dewitt 5, Fahland 5, Johnson 3, Hughes 3, Smith 2, Richey 2, Holland 1, Lenex 1, Morrow 1.
Aces: Blaylock 1, Smith 1.

(Owasso)
Kills: Franklin 8, Martin 6, Walters 5, Butler 4, Bishop 3, Mercer 3, Green 3, Hendricks 3.
Solo Blocks: Butler 1.
Assisted Blocks: Butler 2, Berry 1, Mercer 1.
Aces: Franklin 2, Martin 2, Guerrero 2, Williams 2, Hendricks 1.

Frontier Valley Conference Standings
3-0 Jenks (5-0)
3-0 Broken Arrow (6-3)
3-1 Owasso (7-2)
2-1 Bartlesville (7-4)
1-1 Bixby (8-2)
1-2 Union (4-6)
1-2 Muskogee (6-5)
1-3 Sand Springs (8-9)
0-2 Booker T. Washington (0-3)
0-3 Sapulpa (7-10)

CPHS Football: Sandites start new era Friday at Sapulpa

The Sand Springs high school football team will kick off its 101st season Friday at 7:00 p.m. with the 93rd installment of Highway 97 Rivalry. Class 6A-II No. 12 ranked Charles Page High School will travel to 5A No. 7 Sapulpa to kick off the season.

This will be the first time since 1969 that the two towns have been in different classifications. In that year it was Sapulpa that was slightly larger than its rival up north. Fifty years later and Sand Springs has pulled ahead in population, while Sapulpa has slipped back into Class 5A. This will be the first time in six years that the game has been non-district, and the first time since 1953 that the teams are meeting in the season opener.

The Highway 97 Rivalry dates back to 1922 and has been played annually since 1930. Sapulpa holds a narrow lead in the series at 45-43-5 and just snapped a five-game losing streak last season with a 31-19 victory. Both teams’ longest win streaks sit at five games.

It’s a rarity that the two schools both field winning teams in the same year. The last time both teams finished with a positive record in the same season was 2013, which was also Sapulpa’s last win before Sand Springs hit its hot streak.

The Chieftains won only five games over four years, and none were against Sand Springs. They finally got back to a winning record in 2018, which happened to be the first year since 2011 that Sand Springs failed to make the playoffs. Despite being a major underdog, the Sandites still managed to win 48-35 that season, but they were unable to repeat the upset last year.

The Sandites are hoping this Friday will kick off a new era of success as they play their first game under Head Coach Bobby Klinck. Klinck spent two years as Head Coach at East Central, where he earned a 13-12 record, won a district title, and made the State finals. He spent the next six seasons as Defensive Coordinator for Broken Arrow, Southlake Carroll, and Owasso. In his three seasons with the Rams they won two State Championships.

Sapulpa holds a 15-27 record after four seasons under former Sandite Defensive Coordinator Robert Borgstadt. After two 1-9 seasons, Sapulpa put together winning records the past two years and qualified for the post season. They have yet to get past the first round, however.

Friday’s game will also be unique as it is the first game of the COVID-19 era. While Sand Springs isn’t planning on reducing ticket sales at its home games yet, Sapulpa has elected to restrict attendance to half capacity. The Sandite fandom was only allotted 650 tickets for what would normally be a packed house at George F. Collins Stadium, and the tickets sold out in pre-sale.

CPHS Softball: Sandites run-rule Muskogee 16-6

The Charles Page High School varsity softball team (12-2, 3-1) rolled to a 16-6 district win against Muskogee (1-7, 0-5) Tuesday night, run-ruling the Roughers in five innings behind a season-best 22-hit performance. Aliyah Taff was a perfect four-for-four at the plate.

Drew Hawkins reached on an error and Madison Lee and Raegan Rector hit singles to load the bases in the top of the first. Jaden Jordan hit a two-run single, followed by RBI singles from Taff and Makenzie Burks. Rector and Jordan hit back-to-back doubles in the second inning, then Avery Tanner hit an RBI single for the 6-0 lead. Hawkins added an RBI double in the third and Jordan brought her in on a single.

Muskogee got on the board in the bottom of the third as Katlyn Clark and Nyia Green hit RBI singles to score Jordan Simmons and Haidyn Henry.

Nataley Crawford hit an RBI double in the fourth and Hawkins sacrificed to bring her in. Rector hit an RBI single, then Taff smacked a two-run triple to make it 13-2. Lee hit an RBI single in the fifth, Hawkins hit an RBI double, and Lee scored on a ground out from Rector for the final Sandite run of the game.

The Roughers tried to rally in the bottom of the fifth with a double from Clark, a single from Green, and an RBI single from Hannah Cawthon. Simmons walked to load the bases and Karsyn York hit an RBI single. A pair of walks gave the home team two free runs, but Clark hit a line drive to Hawkins in center field to bring the game to a close.

Crawford (5-0, 8-2) continued her undefeated season in the pitcher’s circle, tossing ten hits, five strikeouts, and three walks in four innings. Rector threw one strikeout and three walks in an inning of relief. Teegan Moffett threw all five innings for Muskogee and recorded 22 hits, no strikeouts, and one walk.

Sandite Softball will return to action Thursday at 5:00 p.m. with a big district road game against undefeated Shawnee (10-0, 3-0). Muskogee will compete at the Shawnee Tournament this weekend.