Sandite Football upsets defending Arkansas State Champions 40-33

A version of this story was originally written for the Tulsa World.

For the first time since 2012, the Sand Springs Sandites are 3-0.

The Class 6A-II No. 5 ranked Charles Page High School football team rolled into Springdale with a big task in front of it. Repeating its last year’s win against the defending 4A State Champions from Shiloh Christian (2-1) wouldn’t be an easy task, but even down 14-0 early in the fourth quarter, the Sandites kept their cool and showed toughness.

“Our kids are from Sand Springs, so we know all about toughness,” said second-year head coach Bobby Klinck. “That’s a really freaking good football team that we just beat. I think we’re lucky to get away with a win, so we’re really pleased.”

As they should be. The Saints are ranked No. 1 in their class, and their only loss last season was 27-26 on the Sandites’ homefield. This time the visiting Sandites prevailed 40-33 behind a monumental effort from senior quarterback Ty Pennington.

Pennington finished the night with a career-high 331 yards and five touchdowns, passing 21-of-32 with one interception. The lone pick was only a tad high of his receiver, who tipped it up into Dax Widger’s hands to set up the Saints’ third score late in the first quarter.

“I’ve said it over and over again,” said Klinck. “He’s the best dang quarterback in the state. He suffers through drops sometimes with our guys, but he never flinches. That guy’s a dang winner. I’m constantly just saying, ‘put the ball in that dude’s hands. We’ve got the best dang quarterback in the state, let’s go get the dang first down.”

The Saints took a 14-0 lead behind a 2-yard run from Eli Wisdom and an 11-yard pass from Wisdom to Ben Baker, but the Sandites soon settled down and found their rhythm. It wasn’t Pennington who gave them their first score, however.

After running back Blake Jones did most of the work to move the chains, it was Brody Rutledge who tossed the first touchdown pass on a 23-yard trick play to Jacob Blevins.

“That’s all Coach (Lee) Kizzar,” said Klinck. “The trick play, that’s all our coaches. I’ve been really hands-off this year. I know I’ve hired great coaches so I let them coach. That’s all them.”

The backup quarterback and leading receiver finished the night with seven catches for 132 yards and one touchdown, a 33-yard pass from Pennington to make it 21-14 late in the first quarter.

“I’ve challenged that kid all through 7-on-7, he kind of had drop-itis during the summertime, and we challenged him,” Klinck said of Rutledge. “Now that guy’s become one our top receivers and I’m freaking proud of that kid.”

Keaton Campbell was the Sandites’ other top receiver with seven catches for 112 yards and two scores, a 49-yarder in the second quarter and a 21-yarder in the third. 

Also collecting passes for the Sandites was tight-end Ryan Shoemaker, who had three catches for 59 yards and two scores. 

Sand Springs trailed 21-20 in the second and stalled out in their own territory, but Kenneth Page recovered a muffed punt to extend the drive, and Pennington found Shoemaker for an eight-yard score. 

The Sandite defense got a turnover on downs to close the half 26-21.

Campbell’s next touchdown made it 32-21 but the Saints negated it three plays later on a 78-yard pass from Wisdom to Cooper Hutchinson, then took a 33-32 lead on a 14-yard screen to Arkansas-commit Kaden Henley. 

The Sandites got back on top with a 34-yard pass from Pennington to Shoemaker to start the fourth quarter, and Shoemaker also caught the two-point pass for the final points of the game.

“We’ve watched film, we knew they were going to come out with stuff we haven’t seen, so we just had to weather the storm,” said Klinck. “We’ve been down big before, so great job by our kids.”

“That’s an unbelievable football program. That’s a good team, they’re going to win it again. So for us to come here and really steal one from a really well-coached football team, that’s huge for our program.”

“That offense is great,” said Klinck. “They’ve been doing that for a long time. We knew it was going to be a slug fest. We knew it was last year. We had to just make one more play. ‘One more play,’ that’s what we kept saying.”

Sandite Football will return to action Friday at 7:00 p.m. with a district homecoming game against Ponca City (1-2) as the team looks to keep its winning streak alive.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Softball Rolls at Bixby Tournament

Down 5-4 and riding a four-game losing streak, the Sandites needed a spark in the first round of the Bixby tournament Friday morning.

JoLee McNally stepped up to the plate with two runners on and smacked a ground ball single to center field in the top of the sixth, bringing in Morgan Rector and Kinzie King to kick off a great weekend for the Charles Page High School softball team (9-7).

After taking down Newcastle 6-5, the Sandites got a huge 5-4 upset against title contender Edmond Memorial then steamrolled Union 17-2 and El Reno 11-2 before falling 4-1 to Broken Arrow in the final game. 

“They had an awesome weekend, I thought,” said head coach Shelli Brown. “The turnaround from Bartlesville where we left a lot of runner-on-base opportunities, I felt like this weekend they were able to get the runners on and push them across the plate. That was the difference.”

Prior to the tournament, the Sandites had a rough stretch of district road games at Stillwater, Jenks, Bixby, and Bartlesville. 

Thursday was a tough loss, as the Sandites had previously beaten Bartlesville 12-3 at home, and led 5-0 early before the Bruins surged back with seven runs in the bottom of the third.

Friday’s win over Edmond Memorial (19-4), however, showed that this team is still capable of beating anyone in the state on any given day. 

The Bulldogs took a 4-2 lead in the third inning, but the Sandites rallied in the bottom with RBI doubles from Lauren Hammock and Nataley Crawford, and Kelsi Hilton scored on a passed ball for the lead.

Crawford got the wins in the pitching circle against Edmond and Newcastle, Hilton got the win against Union, and Addie Hughes got the win against El Reno.

“Team effort for sure on the pitching,” said Brown. ”We’ve been kind of double-teaming, so I thought our pitchers did a really good job with that.”

The team’s bats also came alive during the tournament, with McNally, Hammock, Hilton, and Crawford all hitting over .500. McNally scored eight runs and four RBI and Hammock had seven runs and seven RBI over the five games.

“I’m just happy with them,” said Brown. “I told them let’s keep moving forward. I felt like we’ve made the turn a little bit here.”

The Sandites are currently 3-4 in district action, sitting fifth in the standings. They’ll be heavily favored in four of their remaining seven district games, and they’ll have home-field advantage in their rematches with Jenks, Stillwater, and Bixby.

The Sandites have hosted Regionals seven consecutive years but that streak could be in jeopardy if they don’t finish strong in district action.

“We need to focus one game at a time, win those games, and get ourselves in a good situation,” says Brown. “Whether we host or we go travel, we’re going to have to play good teams, and we’ve just got to be ready. I think it’s going to be about timing - peaking at the right time. We’re starting to get everybody back, starting to get everybody healthy, and starting to have that team chemistry that takes some time to develop.”

“I’ve seen both districts. Whether you host or you travel, you’re going to face some really good teams so I just want us to be ready for that.”

Cross Country

Sandite Cross Country traveled to the Sapulpa Chieftain meet on Saturday, September 4th.

Chloe Grona led the elementary girls to a second place finish in the one-mile, finishing in 5:54 for first place, a full 21 seconds ahead of the runner-up, and Josie Grona placed third in 6:23.

The elementary boys placed eighth, led by Canyon Carnahan in 25th place with a time of 7:26.

Junior high boys placed fifth in the one-mile, led by Taigh Wright in 11th with a time of 5:51.21. Junior high girls didn’t have a full team, but Maddyx Hampton placed 18th in 6:38.

The varsity girls didn’t have a full team, but Jazmin Lopez placed fifth in the two-mile run with a time of 13:57.

The varsity boys finished sixth, led by Alejandro Lopez in 11:52 for 25th place, and Dalton Wilcox in 11:55 for 26th.

On Saturday, September 11th, the high school and junior high teams traveled to Broken Arrow. The junior high boys placed sixth in the 1.5 mile run, but were the only team with a full lineup. 

Lopez led the varsity girls in 26th place with a 5K time of 22:22. Noah Hanlon led the boys in 18:56 for 42nd place. Hampton led the junior high girls with a 12:01 1.5-mile run for 33rd, and Wright led the junior high boys in 9:52 for 13th.

Football

The Class 6A-II No. 5 ranked Sandite football team (2-0) will look to remain undefeated when they travel to Arkansas 3A No. 1 Shiloh Christian (2-0). Both teams will be well-rested after bye weeks.

Last year Sand Springs hosted the first-ever meeting of the two teams and topped the Saints 27-26. It would be Shiloh’s only loss of the season as they went on to earn their eighth State Championship.

Volleyball

Class 6A No. 15 ranked Sand Springs (7-11) is riding a tough nine-match losing streak after traveling to the prestigious Heather Harkness Invitational in Edmond, one of the toughest tournaments in the state.

Sandite Volleyball fell 2-0 to No. 6 Deer Creek, 2-0 to No. 4 Edmond Memorial, 2-0 to OKC Storm, 3-2 to No. 10 Edmond North, and 3-0 to No. 16 Moore. 

Sand Springs will compete at the Owasso tournament this weekend with pool matches against Owasso, Edmond Memorial, and Ponca City.

Matthew Shelton is one of Sandite Football's secret weapons

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Matthew Shelton isn’t a very intimidating guy, six days a week. Sure he’s 6’2” and 245 pounds, but he’s also quiet, polite, and respectful. 

Except on Fridays. On Fridays, he’s the last person you want to see in front of you.

“He’s one of the quietest, most soft-spoken people I’ve ever met,” says Head Coach Bobby Klinck. “He just turns it on on gameday. It’s pretty neat to see. It’s kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The kid does everything right, but on Friday’s he just turns it on.”

The senior lineman is one of the secret weapons of the highly ranked Charles Page High School football team, and his work paves the way for skill-position players to put up big numbers.

But he’s not a lifelong football player. The senior star and second-year starter didn’t take to the gridiron until his freshman year, but despite the late start, football success is in his blood.

“My dad was All-State Oklahoma at Kiefer. He was a pretty good linebacker,” says Shelton. “I loved watching it as a kid growing up and all my friends played.” It wasn’t easy getting a late start, however, and his first year spent a lot of time learning the ins and outs of football that lifelong players already had a handle on.

Shelton hopes to see his football career extend past this season if he gets an offer he likes at a good school. He’s interested in engineering, particularly computer engineering.

As far as the rest of the season goes, his goals are simply to “Get better, have a great team, have a good brotherhood.”

“I think we’re doing pretty good this year,” says Shelton. “I’ve gotten a lot better since last year.”

The Sandites are 2-0 to start the year, having beaten Sapulpa and Bishop Kelley convincingly. Now they look forward to a road trip at Shiloh Christian (Arkansas).

Sandite Football rolls Bishop Kelley 34-13, Blake Jones has career night

A version of this story was originally published in the Sand Springs Leader.

Just a week after rushing for a career-high 177 yards against Sapulpa, Blake Jones was at it again Friday night at Angelo Prassa Field. The senior running back racked up 224 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries to lift Class 6A-II No. 5 ranked Sand Springs (2-0) to a 34-13 win against 5A No. 7 Bishop Kelley (0-2).

The Sandites took a 13-0 lead in the first quarter, scoring both of their touchdowns on back-to-back runs from Jones. After taking a handoff 36 yards to the house, he was set up for another 30-yard run after Ryder Barnes recovered the Sandites’ ensuing kickoff. 

Jones added his third score of the night on a 54-yard breakaway on the Sandites’ first play of the second half.

Senior quarterback Ty Pennington was held to an 11-19-123-0 passing performance with two touchdowns, connecting with Keaton Campbell on a five-yard toss to start the fourth quarter, then finding Kyle Morrall for 52 yards on the next possession.

Despite Jones’s big numbers, it was the defense that stole the show, holding the Comets to 209 yards overall. However, 96 of those yards came on a single run from quarterback Will Pickard in the third quarter. 

Outside of that run, the Comets averaged only 2.8 yards per play and accounted for only seven first downs, five of which came in the fourth quarter. In the first half the Comets managed only 34 yards.

The Sandite defense held Pickard to a 6-13-48-0 passing game and made eight tackles for loss while forcing seven punts, four three-and-outs, and a turnover on downs.

Gabe Brown led the team defensively with eight tackles, including three for loss with one sack. Charles Gaylord had seven tackles with three for loss, and Conner Light had six tackles with two for loss. 

Despite the end result, head coach Bobby Klinck still saw room for improvement.

“We’ve got to get much better,” said Klinck, postgame. “We’ve got to improve. Bishop Kelley’s a very good team and they caught us on a couple plays. We’ve got to get more physical and we can’t just give up long plays like that long touchdown.”

The Comet defense also showed strength with nine tackles for loss, and forced four punts. 

“They were bringing a bunch of guys off the line of scrimmage,” said Klinck. “They knew we were good at running the football, so they were bringing more than we had sometimes.”

Sandite football will get a bye week before traveling to Springdale, Arkansas Friday, September 17th. “We’re going to rest, heal up, and get ready to face a really tough Shiloh Christian team,” said Klinck.

Shiloh Christian will be looking for payback after the Sandites spoiled their otherwise perfect season last year. Sand Springs won the first-ever meeting between the two schools 27-26, but the Saints went on to finish 14-1 and won the Arkansas Class 3A State title. 

CPHS 34 BISHOP KELLEY 13

CPHS; 13; 0; 7; 14;-;34

Bishop Kelley; 0; 0; 7; 6;-;13

CPHS - Jones 36 run (Wolfe kick), 2:33

CPHS - Jones 30 run, 2:23

CPHS - Jones 54 run (Wolfe kick), 9:32

BK - Pickard 96 run (Davis kick), 9:16

CPHS - Campbell 5 pass from Pennington (Wolfe kick), 11:56

BK - Hensley 4 run, 7:44

CPHS - Morrall 52 pass from Pennington (Wolfe kick), 7:25

TEAM STATISTICS

First Downs - CPHS 13, BK 7. Rushes-Yards - CPHS 39-259, BK 28-157. Comp-Att-Int - CPHS 11-19-0, BK 7-14-0. Passing Yards - CPHS 123, BK 52. Fumbles-Lost - CPHS 0-0, BK 3-2. Penalty Yards - CPHS 4-20, BK 5-55. Records - CPHS 2-0, BK 0-2. Total Yards - CPHS 382, BK 209. Punts-Avg. - CPHS 4-30, BK 7-36.

Chieftains take down Sandites 3-1 in Highway 97 Rivalry

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A version of this story was originally published in the Sapulpa Times.

Just four days after the Sapulpa football team suffered a 53-26 defeat at the hands of their archrivals, the volleyball team found themselves in a similar position Tuesday night. 

Down 10-1 in the first set of a Highway 97 rivalry matchup at Sand Springs, the Chieftains could have counted themselves out, but instead they surged back with a seven-point streak to make it competitive. And even when the Sandites ultimately won the first set 25-20, the Chieftains didn’t let it get them down. They stayed focused and rallied to win the next three.

“I think Sapulpa and Corey (Harp) just did a really good job,” said Sandite head coach Derek Jackon after the game. “The Heard sisters played really well, both offensively and defensively.”

Stailee Heard, a 5’11” junior, led the Chieftains offensively with 13 kills, as well as three blocks and three aces, while 6’0” sophomore Tyla Heard added eight kills and two blocks.

Even with all that firepower, it was a close match and the Chieftains trailed late in each of the last three sets

Down 24-23 in game two, they scored three straight points for the win on Sandite errors.

In game three Amauri Pratt served two aces and Hoey scored a block and a kill en route to a 5-0 start, and the Chieftains held that margin till 19-14 when the Sandites’ Kasidy Holland kicked off a six-point run for the lead. Down 22-20, Tyla Heard scored a kill to get the visitors back on track, and Sapulpa won 25-23. 

It looked like Sand Springs might tie things up in game four after a pair of Chieftain errors put them up 23-21, but this time it was Stailee Heard’s time to shine, scoring a kill to launch a 4-0 run, and capping the 25-23 win with an ace.

5’10” uncommitted senior Ryann Hoey was the heart and soul of the Chieftains, scoring 11 kills with two blocks, two aces, and countless impressive digs while firing up her team at every opportunity with energetic cheers and unbridled passion.

Sapulpa, ranked No. 5 in Class 5A is 12-9 on the season after falling 3-0 to 6A No. 5 Jenks (8-1) on Thursday. They are 2-2 in Frontier Valley Conference action, having beaten Muskogee 3-0 last week to snap a 15-game conference losing streak dating back to 2019. 

Last season saw a successful 18-15 outing that was one win shy of matching their win total for the previous five seasons combined. They even won a Regional Championship and made a State Tournament appearance, despite not winning any conference matches. With two conference wins already under their belts this year, it’s safe to say the Chieftains are aiming for even greater heights.