Volleyball Places Second at Sandite Invitational, Evyn Morrow Named All-Tournament

View fullsize

The Charles Page High School volleyball team (5-3) failed to defend its home tournament for a third consecutive year, but it did take second place at the Sandite Invitational with a 4-2 record.

“I feel like we’re doing pretty good,” said senior libero Evyn Morrow, who was named to the All-Tournament team. “I think our team chemistry is pretty great this year and I feel like we’re off to a great start.”

Morrow was also named to the All-Camp team at the Licking Summer Camp in Branson where the girls went 8-2 for second place.

“She’s All-Tournament team for good reason,” said second-year head coach Skylar Jackson. “She’s the heart and soul into volleyball and into this team. She’s just a great leader. She’s a ball of energy. It’s just one of those things that comes naturally to her and she’s never going to give you less than 110-percent.”

“We graduated four starters last year that were pretty big for us and the eight seniors that we have this year are really filling in those shoes,” said Jackson.

“They’re each willing to shoulder their part of the load and they’re committed.”

Sand Springs opened the season with a trip to Bartlesville where they won a 3-0 sweep of Enid (0-8) in sets of 25-7, 25-16, and 25-20. But in the second match they lost 3-0 to the home team (2-0) in conference action, falling 25-6, 25-23, and 25-23.

In the Sandite Invitational the girls won 2-0 in a rematch with Enid and 2-1 against Yukon (3-4) before falling 2-1 to Choctaw (3-4) on Friday. After winning the first set 25-17 they lost a pair of close ones 25-23 and 25-23 to end day one.

“The match we lost was a hard-fought match,” said Jackson. “Both teams played really great volleyball and the scores were all close. I told the girls ‘there’s nothing to hang your head about. We played good ball and they played good ball. They just got us this time.’”

On Saturday they lost 2-0 to tournament newcomer Mustang (7-0), who went undefeated to win the title.

The first set was neck and neck with the Sandites leading as late as 17-16 before the Broncos pulled away to win 25-20. Mustang won the second set 25-14.

“We played a good Mustang team and didn’t play as well as we would’ve like to but I think that they rebounded well,” said Jackson.

Jayden Smith let the team offensively with 5 kills while Adelynn Ray, Alia DeBerry, Claire Day, and Averi Tippit scored 3 apiece. Ray also had 7 assists and Morrow recorded 8 digs in the loss.

They bounced back in the final match with a 2-0 sweep of Ponca City (2-5), however, winning 25-16 and 25-17.

The Sandites maintained complete control over the first set and also stormed out to 14-5 lead in the second before the Wildcats rallied to make it as close as 14-12 with a seven-point streak.

Then senior blocker Patience Pearce tipped the tide with a crucial block to kick off a four-point run for the home team and from there the girls never let off the gas.

“It was huge, especially for a kid who’s never played varsity middle,” said Jackson. “She played right side for us last year some and this year she’s in the middle. She’s still learning and asking questions all the time and getting better. She’s got that natural athleticism.”

Smith and Tippit led the attack with 6 kills apiece while Hannah McKelvey recorded 8 assists and Morrow made 9 digs. Tippit, Morrow, and Smith also served up 2 aces apiece.

“I think that we’re going to keep growing through the season and we’ll be pretty great,” said Morrow.

Sand Springs has now placed within the top three all five years of the tournament’s history.

The Sandites will return to action Tuesday at home with a 6:30 p.m. conference match against Booker T. Washington (0-0) in a rematch of last year’s Regional elimination game, which the Hornets won.

“We are really working on being aggressive regardless of who’s across the net from us, because that’s how we’re going to win” said Jackson. “We’re going to be aggressive from the serving line, we’re going to attack big, we’re going to play big defense. So we’re excited to see them Tuesday.”

Full Tournament Results

Matches

Mustang 2-0 Sand Springs (25-20, 25-14)
Mustang 2-0 Enid (25-18, 25-17)
Mustang 2-0 Choctaw (25-20, 25-14)
Mustang 2-0 Ponca City (25-10, 25-13)
Mustang 2-0 Yukon (25-12, 25-16)
Mustang 2-1 Southmoore (25-19, 16-25, 25-17)
Sand Springs 2-0 Enid (25-21, 25-14)
Sand Springs 2-0 Southmoore (25-19, 25-23)
Sand Springs 2-1 Yukon (23-25, 25-22, 25-23)
Sand Springs 2-0 Ponca City (25-16, 25-17)
Southmoore 2-0 Choctaw (25-10, 27-25)
Southmoore 2-1 Yukon (25-13, 22-25, 25-20)
Southmoore 2-1 Enid (18-25, 25-20, 28-26)
Yukon 2-0 Ponca City (25-15, 25-14)
Yukon 2-0 Choctaw (25-22, 25-23)
Yukon 2-1 Enid (23-25, 25-22, 25-23)
Choctaw 2-1 Sand Springs (17-25, 25-23, 25-23)
Choctaw 2-0 Enid (25-22, 25-20)
Choctaw 2-0 Ponca City (25-12, 25-17)
Ponca City 2-1 Enid (30-28, 23-25, 25-16)
Ponca City 2-0 Southmoore (25-19, 25-22)

Standings

6-0 Mustang
4-2 Sand Springs
3-3 Southmoore
3-3 Yukon
3-3 Choctaw
2-4 Ponca City
0-6 Enid

Sandite Weekly Sports Roundup: Basketball Sweeps Roughers, Athletes Sign LOIs

Sandite basketball swept the Muskogee Roughers Friday night with the varsity boys winning 72-65 while the girls won 63-41.

The 6A-East No. 6 Lady Sandites (12-5, 5-3) never trailed against No. 14 Muskogee. It was still a close game at 39-31 entering the fourth but the Sandites steamrolled the Roughers 24-10 in the final stanza.

Hailey Jackson scored 24 points to lead all scorers, Taiona “Yanni” Morris added 13, Sakauri Wilson had 9, and three different Sandites scored 5 apiece.

“We’re starting to play better as a unit,” said head coach Josh Berry. “We have more people stepping up.”

Sand Springs will have to cover six games over the final two weeks after meetings with Bartlesville and Booker T. Washington were postponed due to weather. This is the second time the Washington game has been rescheduled.

“This is our second game in 17 days,” said Berry. “It’s a bit different from when we start the season out with eight games in like 14 days.”

“We’re rested and we’re ready to go. It’s nothing that we can control so we just try to get better.”

The No. 11 Sandite boys (9-8, 2-6) snapped a five-game conference skid and got back above .500 overall with a win over the No. 15 Roughers (3-13, 0-9).

The Sandites led 34-27 at halftime but a seven-point run put the Roughers up 45-44 entering the final stanza.

Jamarian Ficklin tied it for the final time at 52-52 but Kooper Kelly hit a pair of free throws and layed up on a steal to put his team ahead for the final three minutes of the game.

Kelly tied his career-high with 20 points to lead all scorers while Luke Hooper also had a career night with 15 points.

“Any conference win, especially on the road, is a good feeling,” said head coach Eric Savage.

“In the past we’ve kind of lost our composure. A couple of times this wear we gave up the lead and never got it back. We showed some growth tonight and were able to weather the storm and get back in control late in the fourth quarter.”

Sand Springs will travel to Bixby on Tuesday and Bartlesville on Thursday before hosting Sapulpa Friday night.

Signing Day

School may have been canceled, but the festivities couldn’t be stopped Wednesday morning at the Ed Dubie Field House. Sand Springs celebrated 10 student-athletes who signed letters of intent to continue their careers at the collegiate level.

Many of the players will get to enjoy Sand Springs connections on their new rosters.

Kyle Morrall, Jacob Blevins, and Drake Fain signed with Northwestern Oklahoma State University to play Division II football. There they will be reunited with former Sandite assistant coach Jason Medrano, who recently took over as Offensive Coordinator for the Rangers.

Brody Rutledge signed to play Division II football at Northeastern State University. There he will join former Sand Springs teammates Gabe Brown, Landon Hendricks, and Blake Jones.

Dominic Ornelas and Jabe Schlehuber signed to play junior college baseball together at Northern Oklahoma College in Enid.

Carson Sargent signed to play Division II soccer at Rogers State University, where she will join former teammates Ali Day and Karsen Lynch.

Payton Robbins signed to play NAIA volleyball at Friends University in Kansas, where she’ll be reunited with Sandites Tehya Johnson, Charley Fahland, and Kasidy Holland.

Madori Bland signed with the stunt team at Drury University, a Division II program in Missouri.

Coleman Hight signed to play NAIA golf at Southwestern College in Kansas.

Baseball

Freshman quarterback Easton Webb has been getting lots of attention as a football prospect, but on Friday he announced his commitment to Oklahoma State University as a baseball player before ever playing a varsity minute.

Sand Springs will kick off the preseason with a home scrimmage against Sapulpa on the 16th at 4:30 p.m.

Girls Powerlifting

The Sand Springs girls powerlifting team took second place at the All-American Lift-a-thon in Shawnee Saturday with two champions. The Sandites had 137 team points, just behind Choctaw with 141.

Madison Thompson won the 220 weight class, sweeping all three events. She benched 140, squatted 285, and deadlifted 295.

Jaden Jordan won at heavyweight, taking first in squat at 335 pounds, first in deadlift at 375, and third in bench at 155.

Melani Skelly placed third, Gracie Worthington placed fourth, and Bailey Doughty and Kiyah Dover placed fifth.

Sandite Football Falls 48-29 to Choctaw in Playoffs

The No. 6 Charles Page High School football team (7-5) saw its season come to an end Friday night in Choctaw as the No. 2 Yellowjackets (10-1) prevailed 48-29 in the 6A-II quarterfinals.

The last time Sand Springs visited Bill Jensen Field, in 2020, the Sandites took a 9-6 lead before surrendering 28 unanswered points to end the game in a 34-9 loss.

Friday’s rematch briefly looked like it might go the same way. The visiting Sandites took a 9-0 lead and Choctaw surged back to another 34-9 advantage, but this time the Sandites wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“We’re not going to quit; we’re not ever going to give up,” said third-year head coach Bobby Klinck. “That’s ingrained in this community and our town. It shows in our football team and I’m very proud of these guys.”

The Sandites went toe to toe with the Yellowjackets in a 21-20 second half but couldn’t overcome six turnovers and 156 yards in penalties.

“I put every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears into this and I’m just sad we came up short,” said senior linebacker Drake Fain, who led the team with 9 tackles on Friday and 101 this season.

Choctaw quarterback Steele Wasel took an intentional grounding penalty for a safety late in the first quarter to avoid a sack by Dom Ornelas, and the Sandites opened the second quarter with a touchdown.

Easton Webb connected with senior receiver Jacob Blevins, who broke a tackle and bullied his way into the endzone for a 25-yard touchdown.

Then the wheels fell off the wagon.

Wasel, an Akron-commit, scored on throws of 4 yards to JuJu Smith and 30 yards to La’Trell Ray to take the lead.

The Yellowjackets recovered two muffed kicks and two interceptions in the second quarter and Wasel and Smith connected for two more touchdowns from 25 and 21 yards.

The home team opened the second half with a 10-yard scoring run by Ray and it was starting to look like 2020 all over again before the Sandites rallied.

Gatlin Gunn picked off a fake punt pass attempt by Smith to set up a 5-yard scoring strike from Webb to Brody Rutledge.

Fain blocked a field goal attempt to open the fourth quarter and the Sandites threatened deep in Choctaw territory before Drake Fittro snagged the Yellowjackets’ third interception of the night.

Wasel found Connor Stover wide open for an 84-yard score on the next play, but the Sandites responded with a 12-yard touchdown strike from Webb to Blevins.

Choctaw returned the favor with a 22-yard scoring toss from Wasel to Nathan Keiffer, but the Sandites had the final say of the night with a 57-yard toss from Webb to Jabe Schlehuber.

“I’ve been here three years, so I remember when these seniors were puppies,” said Klinck.

“We’re not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. We’ve got some things we’ve got to do better, but just the heart and the attitude and the love that these kids showed each other; it was pretty cool.”

The class of 2023 saw its team go 2-8 as freshmen, but since Klinck’s arrival in 2020 they’ve finished in the top half of the district and won playoff games all three years.

“You spend more time with these kids than your own family, especially during football season,” said Klinck. “You have no choice but to get close.”

“It stinks right now. It happens every year. Only one team can not lose at the end. But I told them, the cool thing that happens is when I get invited to their weddings and meet their kids and see how they become successful men; because ultimately that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Webb was 19-of-33 passing for a career high 257 yards. Schlehuber had five catches for 74 yards, Rutledge had six catches for 72 yards, and Blevins had five catches for 67 yards.

Kenneth Page ended the night with 11 carries for 29 yards, surpassing 1,000 in his junior season.

Wasel was 23-of-33 passing for 453 yards and six total touchdowns for the Yellowjackets. Smith was his top receiver with 13 catches for 173 yards. Ray ended the night with 18 carries for 105 yards and also had two catches for 43 yards.

Choctaw will advance to the semifinals for the third time in the past four years and the seventh time in school history. The Yellowjackets will play No. 4 Muskogee (10-1) at a location to be determined.

Scoring Summary

Choctaw;0;27;7;14–;48
SS;2;7;7;13–;29

First Quarter
SS - Ornelas safety, 2:05

Second Quarter
SS - Blevins 25 pass from Webb (Daniels kick), 7:59
CHO - Smith 4 pass from Wasel (Yousey kick), 6:37
CHO - Ray 30 pass from Wasel (Yousey kick), 4:36
CHO - Smith 25 pass from Wasel (run failed), 4:20
CHO - Smith 21 pass from Wasel (Yousey kick), 0:38

Third Quarter
CHO - Ray 10 run (Yousey kick), 9:28
SS - Rutledge 5 pass from Webb (Daniels kick), :01

Fourth Quarter
CHO - Stover 84 pass from Wasel (Yousey kick), 5:24
SS - Blevins 12 pass from Webb (Daniels kick), 4:48
CHO - Keiffer 6 pass from Wasel (Yousey kick), 3:25
SS - Schlehuber 57 pass from Webb (pass failed), 2:31

Team Statistics:

First Downs: CHO 16, SS 15. Rushes-Yards: CHO 26-129, SS 26-109. Comp-Att-In: CHO 23-33-1, SS 19-33–3. Passing Yards: CHO 453, SS 257. Total Yards: CHO 582, SS 366. Fumbles-Lost: CHO 2-0, SS 4-3. Penalty Yards: CHO 157, SS 156. Punts-AVG: CHO 0-0, SS 2-44. Records: CHO 10-1, SS 7-5.

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.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Volleyball Sweeps Bartlesville on Senior Night

Cross Country

Freshman Taigh Wright led the varsity boys to a 10th place finish at the Holland Hall invitational, Saturday, September 17th. Wright ran the 5K in 19:45.14 for 37th place.

The varsity girls finished in 11th place, led by Kelsi Hilton with a 15th place performance in 22:47.78.

Wyatt Shaw led the junior high boys to a 9th place finish, running the two-mile in 12:59.93 for 30th place. Alliyah Watts placed 100th for the girls in 17:56.76.

The elementary boys took 8th place in the one-mile run, led by Kellen Adkins with a time of 6:35.03 for 8th. The elementary girls took 9th, led by Sophie Grona with a 7:33.32 mile for 10th place.

The Sandites competed at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree on Saturday, September 24th. Neither the boys nor girls had enough finishers to earn a team place.

Gracie Gibson led the girls with a time of 25:04.6 for 162nd place. Rafi Huff led the boys, finishing in 20:48.1 for 200th place.

Softball

The Charles Page High School softball team (20-14, 8-6) went 5-3 in a busy week, improving to third in district play.

The Sandites lost 8-4 to Bixby (12-15, 7-6) on Monday after committing an uncharacteristic six errors, but paid the Spartans back with a 7-2 road win on Thursday.

Addison Hughes (11-10) pitched both games, striking out eight on Monday and 11 on Thursday.

On Tuesday the Sandites won a district double-header against Putnam City North (8-22, 3-11). Kelsi Hilton (9-4) got the win in game one with four hits and five strikeouts and Hughes tossed eight strikeouts with two hits in the sequel.

Sand Springs played at the Tahlequah festival over the weekend, opening with a 5-2 loss to Edmond Deer Creek (25-9) but won the second game 4-2 against Moore (21-7).

Kenzie King was 2-for-3 at the plate against Moore with a run and two RBI.

On Saturday they won 9-2 against Fort Gibson (14-17) but lost 6-4 to Grove (20-7). Kelby Little was 3-for-3 against Fort Gibson with three RBI, and King had a team-high three runs.

Hilton and Little were both .474 at the plate on the week. Hilton led in slugging average at .789 with two doubles and two triples, and had a team-high five RBI. Morgan Rector led the team in runs with six.

Hughes maintained a 2.57 ERA in 32 ⅔ innings while Hilton had a 2.23 ERA in 15 ⅔ innings.

Sand Springs has two games left in the regular season: Monday at Sperry (21-7) and Thursday at home against Oologah (9-18). Regional tournament assignments should be released on Friday.

Volleyball

Sand Springs (11-14, 2-4) picked up its second conference win of the season on Tuesday in a 3-0 Senior Night sweep of Bartlesville (9-9, 2-4) but ended the week on a five match losing streak.

The Sandites competed in the Bishop McGuinness tournament over the weekend and lost to Edmond Deer Creek, Bishop McGuinness, Choctaw, and Yukon, with a second loss to Choctaw in the seventh place match.

Sand Springs will travel to Muskogee (8-7, 0-6) Tuesday and Booker T. Washington (8-11, 3-3) on Thursday.

Football

The junior high football teams continued their undefeated seasons with wins against Sapulpa on Tuesday. The freshmen won 48-6 and the eighth graders won 46-6 as both teams moved to 4-0.

Wrestling

The Church That Matters tailgate party raised $2660 for the wrestling program at Friday night’s Homecoming football game and the wrestling program pledged 50% to the family of Ethan Gibson to help with his funeral.

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.