Since 1952, Sand Springs and Sapulpa have been connected by State Highway 97, but since 1922 something else has connected the two Tulsa suburbs.
Blood, sweat, pigskin, and gridiron have been bringing the two communities together for 30 years longer than the rivalry has had a name - and for the 97th time in the past 102 seasons, Sandites and Chieftains will be at each other’s throats on Friday, August 25th at Memorial Stadium
Both Charles Page High School and Sapulpa High School will open their seasons in Zero Week in the American Heritage Bank Highway 97 Rivalry.
The defending 97 Champs? Sand Springs by way of a 35-21 road win that saw now-senior running back Kenneth Page lit up the scoreboard to the tune of 205 yards and five touchdowns.
With their eighth win in the past nine years, the Sandites finally took their first series lead since 1943 at 46-45-5.
Both teams are looking to take a big step this season. After three consecutive seasons with playoff wins, the Sandites aim for their first State Finals berth since 2015. Sapulpa is coming off back-to-back winning seasons and is looking for its first playoff win since 2005.
Both teams will be eager to start the season on the right foot with a win against their chief rivals before a packed house on statewide television.
The Sandites started the year with a 21-7 half-game loss to Choctaw at the Jenks Football Preview on Friday, August 18th. The Yellowjackets took a 14-0 lead before Easton Webb connected with Wyatt Rutledge, the latest in a long line of Rutledge football stars.
“We were a little bit tired towards the end of that scrimmage, which is natural,” said fourth-year head coach Bobby Klinck, who owns a 22-14 record since arriving at Sand Springs.
“You can run and sprint and do all that stuff, but football shape is different. You’ve got to be ready for it. So I thought there were some plays that we left out there, but for the most part, when we watched film and went back and looked at it, I thought we’re a much-improved football team from last year and I look forward to showing that on Friday.”
Klinck isn’t one to gently test the water toes-first. Choctaw was last year’s State Runner-Up, beating the Sandites 48-29 in the quarterfinals. His team will also take on defending 6A-I State Champion Bixby in the second game of the season.
The Sandites’ strength this season will be their offensive line. Six-foot-four sophomore Ryley Kester is already receiving Division I offers, checking in at 270 pounds. 275-pound senior Tyler Smith stands six feet fall, as does 280-pound senior Marcus Sims. At center, State Tournament-placing wrestler Mason Harris will provide six feet and 260 pounds of intensity.
“Combine that with Ali McCoy and Kenneth Page, we’re looking to run the football,” said Klinck. “There’s no doubt we should be able to. I’ve always told the O-line that we’ll go as far as they go.”
Page was the workhorse for the Sandites last year, carrying the ball 210 times for 1022 yards and 17 touchdowns. McCoy also showed off his speed with 53 carries for 297 yards and 7 TDs.
Klinck expects to split the workload pretty evenly between the two this year. “Those guys love it because they understand that when they’re fresh, they’re a lot better."
Also taking advantage of that powerful line will be 6’4” sophomore quarterback Easton Webb, who was 127-of-203 passing last season for 1,564 yards and 13 touchdowns after winning the starting job in week four.
But despite the football hype, Webb’s primary sport is baseball. In fact, he was recruited by and committed to Oklahoma State University as a freshman before he had ever played a varsity minute.
“In the summer, when you’re that type of athlete, you’ve got to juggle your time between baseball and football,” said Klinck. “And he needs to do that because he excels at both. We’re happy now that it’s coming up on fall and we get him full time.”
“His command, his physicality, the way he’s grown physically. Obviously we’re looking for great things from him.”
Webb also shows strong potential as a dual threat, carrying the ball for nearly 200 yards and four touchdowns last year.
“He’s a lot faster than what people think,” said Klinck. “He definitely wants to throw, but he’s not afraid to tuck it down and put his shoulder pads down when he has to. He’s an all-around type of player and we’re looking for him to make major strides this year.”
Untested for the Sandites will be their receiving corps after graduating their top four from last season.
“Wyatt Rutledge has really come on,” said Klinck. “I think (Caleb) Goodman is going to show some things this year. It’s a bunch of guys that are unproven but we feel that they have the talent to get it done. They’ve just got to prove it on Friday night.”
Defensively, the Sandites will be returning only a handful of their top guys from last season, but Klinck expects big things nonetheless.
“This is a group that they’ve been in the system for a minute and they’re playing fast. We’re going to be aggressive this year. We think that’s kind of our mentality and our nature.”
Gatlin Gunn, Keagan Gilman, Dallas Elifrits, Waylon Jeffers, and Alex Dudley are all expected to make a big impact as some of the top returning tacklers from last season.
As for the leadership this season, the team captains will be Harris, Sims, Dudley, and Gillman.
“We vote team captains. I allow the players to do that,” said Klinck. “They’ve done an unbelievable job. When it’s hot, when guys want to get testy, they’re the ones stepping in saying ‘we can’t be doing this, we’re on the same team.’”
“At the end of practice Alex Dudley’s telling all the scouting guys ‘thank you so much for helping us, it’s a big deal what you’re doing.’ It’s the old adage, ‘when players lead, those are the best teams.’ They’re doing it right now; it’s exciting.”
Sand Springs is hoping to #Sellout97 in what would be the first sellout crowd at Memorial Stadium since it was expanded to a 6,700-seat capacity in 2007. Fans who don’t like crowds will be able to tune in on Yurview (Cox Channel 3). The game will start late at 8:00 p.m. to help dodge the sun.
