After rallying from a 21-0 halftime deficit with two third-quarter touchdowns, momentum was on the side of the Ponca City Wildcats.
But Sand Springs had an answer. After rushing the ball for only 64 yards through the first three quarters, the Sandites finally put together a methodical 15-play, 95-yard march to chew up more than seven minutes of clock in the fourth quarter.
The three-pronged attack of Ali McCoy, Kenneth Page, and Jace Arnold combined for 63 yards on the ground, capped by a four-yard plunge from Page to restore the two-score lead with only 2:12 remaining.
Then it was time for the defense to do what it had been doing all night.
Wildcat star quarterback Tay Moore juked and jived his way as far as the Sand Springs 22-yard line before the magic ran out. Owen Floyd and Hudson Sheppard combined on one sack, then Waylon Jeffers wrapped up another.
Moore tried to dump a pass off on Brody Wicker, but Dallas Elifrits drilled the senior receiver to make it 4th and 13. Finally, under pressure from Sheppard and Marcum Sims with nowhere to go but Elifrits’s open arms, he chucked the ball out of bounds for the turnover on downs and the game was secure.
Final score 27-13 - the Sandites earned their fourth consecutive win against the Wildcats (0-3).
6A-II No. 5 Sand Springs (2-1) entered the game on uncertain footing after losing starting quarterback Easton Webb to a shoulder injury last week against Bixby, but senior backup Jace Arnold showed his moxie, going 9-of-10 for 153 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.
“I felt pretty good,” said Arnold. “I wasn’t nervous coming in. I felt way more prepared this week. We got a good game plan - couldn’t have done it without the coaches’ game plan and everything worked out how we wanted it to work out.”
Arnold, an Allen County Community College baseball commit, ended the night 13-of-23 for 207 yards with another 17 yards on four carries.
“That’s a young man that played as a freshman, quit as a sophomore to concentrate on baseball, but decided he missed it too much and came back,” said head coach Bobby Klinck.
“And now he’s able to come out here and help us win a football game. That kid’s an outstanding young man - I’m so proud of that kid.”
Arnold’s first touchdown pass of the season came on a 40-yard wheel route by Page on the Sandites’ opening drive.
Early in the second quarter he connected on a 56-yard toss to Caleb Goodman to set up a 1-yard dive from McCoy. Then he added a 22-yard dime to Goodman to go up 21-0 with 1:05 in the half.
“I played (quarterback) fairly often when I was younger, so I know a lot of these guys on the starting lineup,” said Arnold. “We’ve had that (connection) for a while, so I feel pretty good getting out there again and throwing it around.”
His primary target was Goodman, who had six catches for 88 yards, followed by Page with four catches for 66 yards. Wyatt Rutledge had 41 yards on a single reception.
Page also had 76 rushing yards on 21 carries.
While the effectiveness of the offense with a new general was a pleasant surprise, it was the defense that often stole the show, coming away with eight tackles for loss, three sacks, three interceptions, and six pass deflections.
Moore ended the night 15-of-26 passing for only 151 yards after throwing for over 250 last year against the Sandites.
The Sandite secondary effectively shut down his passing game with three picks in the first half, including two from sophomore Alex Dudley, who was elected as a defensive captain by his team this year.
“I’m glad that the team can count on me,” said Dudley. “As a sophomore, it really means a lot.”
Dudley made his first interception at the Sandites’ 7-yard line to prevent a potential game-tying drive early in the second quarter. His second came in the endzone and he returned that as far as the 30-yard line before being tackled.
“Coach Klinck calls great plays and puts me in a great position to make plays,” said Dudley. “When it comes to me, I’m going to try and make a play, no matter what.”
Dudley wasn’t the only playmaker in the Sandite secondary. Landyn Barnes broke up a fourth-down pass attempt early in the second quarter and Gatlin Gunn picked off Moore to end the half.
“It’s easy to play with those guys,” said Dudley. “It’s like a brotherhood. It’s amazing. I think we just click so well it makes everything easy.”
“They stepped up today,” said Klinck. “They were playing with a bunch of confidence…they’ve been working their tails off and it’s starting to show.”
The dual-threat Moore punished the Sandites with his legs, however, carrying the ball 15 times for 143 yards.
On a fourth-and-three early in the second half he got loose for a 44-yard touchdown run, then connected on a 15-yard touchdown toss to Wicker with 3:18 in the third.
The Wildcat defense was highly effective in the third, with Teegan Hodgson getting an interception and Hudson Haas breaking up a fourth-down pass attempt.
Penalties also derailed the Sandites throughout the night. Sand Springs totaled 135 yards on 13 penalties, though Ponca didn’t fare much better with 10 penalties for 80 yards.
“We’ve got to do a much better job of not killing ourselves as a team,” said Klinck. “We’ve been making that a priority. We’ve just got to figure that out.”
“But with Coach (Scott) Harmon, it’s always going to be a difficult game, especially here. These guys aren’t going to quit. They’re well coached, they’ve got good football players. That quarterback’s outstanding.”
“I was proud of our kids for handling adversity. When it got down to 21-14, that was a big-time championship drive at the end of the game.”
Defensively the Sandites were led by Gunn and Sheppard with seven tackles apiece, followed by Jeffers, Christian Freitus, and Floyd with six each. Gunn, Jeffers, and Sheppard had two tackles for loss apiece and Barnes had a team-high three pass deflections.
Sand Springs will really be put to the test next week as it travels to No. 1 Muskogee (2-1) to open district action at Rougher Village.
Last year’s meeting was a wild one as the Roughers took a 27-0 first quarter lead. Sand Springs rallied to 27-26 before Muskogee pulled away to win 48-26.
Jamarian Ficklin passed for 235 yards and six touchdowns in that game while Ondraye Beasley ran for 103 yards and another score. Both of those two are back this year as juniors.
Whether or not Webb will return to lead the Sandites is uncertain as he continues to work through an AC joint sprain, but if Arnold is called back up, he’s ready.
“I’m feeling really comfortable,” said Arnold. “We had a good game this week.”
The defense is also ready to prove itself on an even bigger stage.
“We’re ready,” said Dudley. “We want that. Everyone’s doubting us, don’t think we’re going to win. I’m ready for it. We all are.”
Box Score
CPHS 27 Ponca 14
1Q: CPHS 7-0.
2Q: CPHS 14-0.
3Q: Ponca 14-0.
4Q: CPHS 7-0.
C-A-Y-I: CPHS 13-23-207-1, Ponca 15-26-151-3.
Rushing: CPHS 35-129, Ponca 26-183.
Offense: CPHS 58-336, Ponca 52-334.
First Downs: CPHS 14, Ponca 13.
Fumbles-Lost: CPHS 1-0, Ponca 3-0.
Penalties: CPHS 13-135, Ponca 10-80.
Scoring Summary
1Q - Page 40-yard Reception from Arnold, Puckett Kick (7:59).
2Q - McCoy 1-yard Run, Puckett Kick (7:52).
2Q - Goodman 22-yard Reception from Arnold, Puckett Kick (1:05).
3Q - Moore 44-yard Run, Perez Kick (7:06).
3Q - Wicker 15-yard Reception from Moore, Perez Kick (3:18).
4Q - Page 4-yard Run, Kick Blocked (2:12).
