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.”
