SCT-9/14/22-Sports Coverage

Bulldogs stay unbeaten with road win at Sallisaw

Collins rushes for 277 yards and four touchdowns

Muldrow outscored the Black Diamonds 21-0 in the third period of Friday’s non-district high school football game inside PerryF.LattimoreStadiumasthe unbeaten Bulldogs improved to 3-0 for the season with a 38-17 victory over the Black Diamonds. In their final non-district games of the season Friday night the Bulldogs visit Spiro and the Black Diamonds (0-2 overall) travel to Tahlequah.

“The kids played so hard, they played four quarters,” Muldrow head coach Brandon Ellis said. “I was proud of them that coming in at halftime I didn’t know how we were going to come out being

tied up (10-all). We challenged them, all the coaches challenged them in there and they took it and ran with it.

“Itwasagreatwinforthetown, for the players, for the coaches, for the admin, and I guess there was some history behind hit. Anytime we can walk away with a win it’s great.”

Prior to last season’s 27-6 loss at Muldrow the Black Diamonds had won 23 of the 27 previous meetingsintherivalry(theteams didn’t play in 2016 and ’17), dating back to 1992. Muldrow won in 2015 and 1999 and before Friday night the Bulldogs had not won two straight games in the series since 1994 and ’95.

No. 2 Pirates improve to 3-0 with victory at Mounds

Gore running back Gunner Dozier rushed for 200 yards and five touchdowns Friday night at Mounds as the Class A No. 2 Pirates improved to 3-0 for the season with the 55-21 victory over the Golden Eagles (1-1)

“I thought we played pretty good going on the road

again,” Gore head coach Brandon Tyler said. “I thought we came out in the first half and were up 35-7 at halftime and offensively I thought we did a lot of good things.

“Defensively we still have to get a lot of things corrected. We’re still making too many busts, too many

alignment issues and not tackling very well. We’ve got to get that cleaned up before we get into district play. We’ve got one more week and then we’re off and then start district play. So we’ve got two weeks to get ready and we’ve got to get some things cleaned up.”

Gore registered three touchdowns in the opening period and led 21-0 following Christian O’Connor’s three extra-point kicks. Dozier ran for a 1-yard TD with 9:54 remaining before quarterback Noah Cooper rushed for an 8-yard touchdown. With three seconds left Dozier crossed the goal line after a 3-yard run.

Dozier found the end zone after a 6-yard run with 7:18 to go in the second stanza and at the 1:16 mark Cooper completed a 48-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ben Kirkpatrick. After O’Connor’s second PAT of the quarter Mounds got on the board when quarterback Mason Coddington tossed a 52-yard TD pass and the Pirates led 35-7 at the half.

Almost two minutes into the third period Dozier raced 53 yards for a six-pointer and with 8:28 left in the SEE GORE, PAGE B2

Wolverines go down fighting against No. 1 Bulldogs

Ifyouplantobethebest,thenyouneed to play the best, which is what Vian’s squad faced Friday night in its lopsided non-district loss to No. 1-ranked Lincoln Christain.

Vian went down fighting on both sides of the ball, but just couldn’t manage to get on the board against the talented team from Tulsa.

“Kind of a buzz-saw type of deal,” Vian head coach Gary Willis said of his Wolverines’ experience at Charlie St. John Stadium. “They’re a really good team. It will take a good team to beat them in 3A. I was really impressed with them, and we’re just outmatched right now with the young guys we’re starting and that kind of thing.”

The Wolverines (1-2) managed to move the football, but the Bulldogs’ defense tightened up in the red zone, not giving up a touchdown, which resulted in Vian’s

42-0 loss.

“Decently proud of our boys in the first half. In the second half, they got their heads down a little bit, and I wished we would have fought through that a little more, but we did some good things at times and showed some good things. Ifyouplaythatteamahundred times, it would be hard to win one, they’re just that much better than us. But we’ve got to string together some good plays, and there are still times we’re hurting ourselves.”

The top-ranked Bulldogs (3-0), used three quarterbacks to spread the receptions across 11 receivers, completing 27 of 35 pass attempts for 347 yards and three touchdowns.Ontheground,ninerushers

carried the ball 22 times for 129 yards and three touchdowns. All PAT attempts split the goalposts.

The Wolverines’ silver lining was having their defense send the high-

powered Bulldogs home with their lowest score of the season so far.

“But other than that, I’m proud of the effort. It’s been a tough, tough three weeks,” Willis said. “We’ve got some guys a little beat up, nothing serious, but we’re ready for this week off and get in the district. One of the positives to come out of it is, nobody is hurt bad, Unless we play Washington again in the playoffs, we’ve seen as tough as we’re going to see in 2A football.

“We were hoping we could poke two or three [touchdowns] in and make it somewhat

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

LEA LESSLEY SPORTS WRITER

SEE SALLISAW, PAGE B6

LEA LESSLEY SPORTS WRITER

VIAN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

JIM CAMERON SPORTS WRITER

JIM CAMERON •TIMES

ViansophomoreJacobBrannick completes an open-field tackle, bringing down Lincoln Christian’s Jimmy Martin near the 10 yard line during Friday’s 42-0 loss at home.

LEA LESSLEY •TIMES

Muldrow running back Trenden Collins tries to get to the edge during last week’s high school football game at Sallisaw. The Bulldogs, who travel to Spiro on Friday, improved to 3-0 for the season with a 38-17 win over the Black Diamonds (0-2).

GORE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

LEA LESSLEY •TIMES

Gore running back Gunner Dozier looks for an opening during a high school home game against Keys earlier this season. Dozier and his teammates journey to Savanna Friday night for their final non-district game of the season.

Warriors win at home against Mustangs

JIM CAMERON SPORTS WRITER

Webbers Falls still has lessons to learn despite a solid showing on both sides of the ball during its 54-8 win Friday night versus Arkoma at home.

Warriors head coach Trent Holt was pleased with the effort and performance of the offense and defense during Friday’s contest against the Mustangs (1-1).

“We played pretty decent, but we’ve still got a lot of things that we need to correct,” Holt said. “The offensive line was playing well, the backs were playing well. The defense wasn’t bad, it wasn’t real good. Offensively, we were doing what we were supposed to do and were fundamentally sound.”

In the first quarter, Webbers Falls fumbled the ball. During practice that will be an area of focus, as well as onside kick special teams strategies to keep the other team from recovering the football.

“We didn’t have a lot of penalties, but we had two fumbles, and we did lose another onside kick. We’ve got to clean that up,” Holt said. “So far, we’ve played three games, and what I consider 12 turnovers, and it’s just luck that we’ve been able to overcome it in two of the three games.”

During the second quarter, the Warriors’ play was about the same as in the first quarter.

Holt has a unique method of rewarding the defensive player each week that contributes the most to the defense during that week’s game. Holt said the defensive players need to be fast, physical and attentive if they want to have a chance to stand out and win the “Hammer of the Week” award.

“We made a 16-pound sledge that we painted up for the defensive player of the week. They get to keep the hammer until next week’s game. They seem to me like they are really trying to be physical, and that’s a plus. And the offensive line is doing pretty well. We’re getting off the ball better, and we’re doing a pretty good job up front. I mean, we’ve still got a ways to go, but for Week 3, we’re playing pretty good offensively and defensively.”

Going into the locker room at the half, the Warriors were atop a 28-0 score, and received the kick to start the second half.

The Warriors were able to focus a little more on their passing game, with Madux Shelby connecting with four receivers. Riley Ogg led the way with three receptions for 50 yards and two touchdowns, Blaze Herrimancaughtapassfor19yardsandatouchdown’ Justin Cole had a reception for 35 yards and Caden Dishman recorded a reception for 11 yards.

The rushing leaders for the Warriors were Shelby with 184 yards on five carries and three touchdowns; Herriman with nine carries for 84 yards and a touchdown, and Isaiah Terrell with three carries for 56 yards and a touchdown.

The Warriors (2-1) are on the road Friday for a 7 p.m. non-district game against Class C Oaks-Mission (3-0).

Roland falls to Buffalo Valley in Central Tournament final

Roland sliced a 2-0 deficit in half in the top of the fifth inning Saturday afternoon against Class B No. 2 Buffalo Valley in the Central Lady Tiger Shootout championship game but the Lady Buffalos hung on for a 2-1 win to claim the title.

BuffaloValleyscoredtworunsin the bottom of the fourth inning to break the scoreless tie but Roland responded with a run in the top of the fifth. With one out Jaidyn Burrell singled to right field and her pinch runner, Jestina Cantrell,

VIAN

FROM PAGE B1

respectable, and those are the drives I’m talking about,” Willis said. “Yeah, they’re better than us, but we’ve got to finish drives and that kind of thing to take care of ourselves. We learned from it, and the little things we picked up all three weeks playing all three of them, we’re better than we were when we played Washington.”

Vian quarterback Diego Ramos completed 12 of 27 passes for 116 yards, with DeSean Mayes, Jacob Brannick and Masyn Wright getting three receptions apiece

went to third on a wild pitch after stealing second. With two outs

Chloe Strong’s RBI double to left field scored Cantrell before a strikeout ended the at-bat.

With one out in the top of the sixth inning Jaydance Bean reached on an infield single but two outs later the time-limit game ended.

In the Roland second Emily Daws singled to right field and in the third the Lady Rangers’ Kynlei Earnhart advanced to first on an infield base hit.

The Lady Rangers edged Central

for 55, 12 and 38 yards, respectively.GageCarlton and Nathan Creasey each had one reception for nine and four yards. Wright had the bulk of the yards on the ground with 21 carries for 87 yards, whileMayes had 14 carries for 39 yards, Carlton recorded 19 yards on five carries and Ramos ending up with negative 11 yards on his four carries.

FridayisVian’sbyeweek, which will give the team a much-deserved week off before the Wolverines’ District 2A-5 opener Sept. 23 at Warner.

5-2 in a tournament contest

Thursday.

Roland 5, Central 2 (Thursday)

Roland broke a 1-1 tie by scoring four runs in the top of the sixth inning Thursday afternoon and the Lady Rangers hung on for a 5-2 win over Central in a Central Lady Tiger Shootout game.

Addy Clark led off the Roland sixth with a walk and after stealing second went to third on Jaydance Bean’s single to left field before Madi Mulanax’s triple down the right field line drove in a pair

GORE

FROM PAGE B1

second running back Jackson Duke scrambled 34 yards for a TD before O’Connor’s seventh point-after attempt sailed through the uprights.

Coddington ran for a 70-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

Nine seconds into the final frame Dozier rushed for a 4-yard touchdown to end the Pirates’ scoring.

Mounds recorded its final TD later in the period on a 50-yard touchdown pass.

Cooper (11 carries for 135 yards and a TD) and Duke (7 for 60 and a TD) followed Dozier in the rushing department for the Pirates.

JIM CAMERON •TIMES

A would-be fourth-quarter touchdown pass intended for Vian wide receiver Desean Mays was uncatchable because of Bulldog strong safety Josiah Loftis, who was flagged for a pass interference foul on the play.

Wolverines freshman and leading rusher with 87 yards Masyn Wright successfully avoids a tackle by the Bulldogs’ John Washington during the fourth quarter Friday night.

Through the air Cooper completed 5-of-9 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown and Duke was 1-of-2 for three yards. Gore’s receivers were Journey Shells (2 catches for 54 yards), Kirkpatrick (1 for 48 and a TD), Blue Steward (2 for 24) and Liam Edwards (1 for 3).

Gore’s leading tacklers were Wyatt Marrel (8 total tackles), Gabe Dozier, Steward and Bladin McCartney (7 each), Dayne Perryman (6), Garrett Douthit and Duke (5 apiece) and Alex Hallum, Edwards, Cooper and Ayden Cox (4 each).

“Overallweplayedwell.IknowGunnerhad200yards (rushing) and five touchdowns and I think Noah ran for 130-something and a score and threw for another 120-something and a score so offensively we’re playing pretty well right now,” Tyler said. “We’ve just got to get some things cleaned up on the defensive side of the ball.”

The Pirates journey to Savanna Friday night for their final non-district game and Mounds hosts Kellyville

JIM CAMERON •TIMES

SUBMITTED PHOTO BY TIFFINEY SWEARINGEN Warriors’ quarterback Maddux Shelby outpaces an Arkoma defender to score a touchdown in Webbers Falls’ 54-8 win at home.

SUBMITTED PHOTO BY TIFFINEY SWEARINGEN Webbers Falls’ Ben Ward tackles Arkoma’s Klay Brinkley during the Warriors’ 54-8 victory Friday night in Webbers Falls.

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

LEA LESSLEY SPORTS WRITER

LEA LESSLEY •TIMES Roland third baseman Madi Mulanax throws to first base Saturday during the championship game of the Central Lady Tiger Shootout. The Class 3A Lady Rangers fell 2-1 to Class B No. 2 Buffalo Valley in the title contest.

SEE CENTRAL, PAGE B6

Turnovers that became big plays doom Central

JIM CAMERON SPORTS WRITER

WARNER — Central felt good Friday night going on the road to face Warner, but that was before an early turnover enroute to a 28-7 loss to the Eagles.

The Tigers (1-1) had difficulty establishing the run in the first quarter, which concerned head coach Jeremy Thompson early.

“We started the game feeling good defensively. We turned the ball over and gave them a short field in the first quarter, which helped give them their first score off a turnover,” Thompson said. “We got the football and weren’t able to get our run game going very well at all.”

There were some turnovers that became big plays, which helped Warner pull away. But other than that, both teams’ defenses were pretty evenly matched.

“Defensively, we played really well. It’s 13-7 right before the half. With I’d

say about 16 seconds to go before the half, it’s 13-7, and [we] gave up a big pass play and they were able to make it 20-7 before the half. Really, in the first half, we gave up two big plays and gave them a short field to work with. You take a couple of those plays away, and it’s definitely a different ball game in the first half.”

The Eagle’s defense was able to keep Central from running the football, and even Tigers quarterback Joseph Lee had trouble scrambling, which is usually one of his strengths.

“We came out in the second half and they didn’t score again until late in the fourth,” Thompson said. “Defensively, I felt like we played a pretty good football game, besides two plays.

“That’s something that we’ve gotta fix and get better. We played hard defensively and we gave ourselves a chance to win the football game. Just a couple of plays here and there was the big difference in it.”

After the Tigers’ defense received numerous fouls the previous week, they worked on that and were much better in that regard Friday.

“Defensively, we did not have near the penalties that we had last week. We fixed that.”

However, the offense got most of the penalties this time around, with some thatcosttheTigerstripstotheendzone.

“We definitely had too many offensive penalties. We had two big plays called back, one on a drive where we were going in to score that put us behind the chains. They had a good defensive front. I give them a lot of credit, and that was something that gave us trouble,” Thompson said.

The Eagles’ big plays Thursday’s game against Roland, because Warner’s got some speed, just like Roland, so the Tigers may have an idea of what needs work before that game.

“Their first two touchdowns came off a 47-yard scramble by the quarterback

and about a 42-yard pass play, and we can’t let that happen. But, it’s back to work today. Roland’s got a team with a lot of speed and they’ve got weapons, and so we’ve got to get back to work.

“On the ground, they were able to stop our run game, and both teams played very well defensively. When that happens, it’s the team that makes the fewest mistakes,” Thompson said.

Lee had Central’s only touchdown on a one-yard run, and was 11 for 23 in the air for 124 yards passing and he rushed for 25 yards. Isaac Rogers had five receptions for 57 yards, Cade Tucker had four receptions for 63 yards and Coy Blackburn had two receptions for 20 yards.

On defense, Josh Marino led with 12 tackles, followed by Coy Blackburn with nine.

Central (1-1) hosts Roland (0-2) at 7 p.m. Thursday for the inaugural matchup of these intra-county, nondistrict teams.

Gans improves in loss to Graham-Dustin

Changes the Gans football team implementedwhilepreparingforitsnondistrict game versus Class C Graham/ Dustin bore fruit Friday night during the Grizzlies’ eventful home game.

Even though Gans (0-3) lost 68-36, the Grizzlies won a mental victory in the eyes of the Grizzly faithful because they were abletopostGans’firstpointsoftheseason.

Grizzlies head coach Brian Morton’s young squad was forced to quickly make wholesale changes to its offensive scheme during the week leading up to Graham’s season opener.

Those pronounced changes to the offense moved the Grizzlies’ focus from one of primarily running the football, to one that gave the eight-man squad flexibility to easily adjust its offense during the game.

“Thebigthingisthatwe’vebeentrying to hammer the ball inside,” Morton said. “We really spread the field and tried to give our kids some room to work. You’re either kinda all in or all out, and if you make a mistake with the field spread, it’s going to cost ya. But when you do things right, it can pay off big.”

Graham opened with an unexpected onside kick that the Chieftains recovered on Graham’s 45 yard line. For approximately six minutes, the Gans defense was able to slow down Graham’s march to its first touchdown.

During Gans’ next set of downs, they turned over the football with an interception. But, again, the Grizzlies’ defense proved tough.

“Defensively, I mean, we made them work,” Morton said. “When we were fresh, our kids were flying to the ball.”

The Grizzlies’ defense held Graham to one additional touchdown, which, along with PATs, gave the Chieftains 14 unanswered points by the end of the first stanza.

“We ran a couple of plays and threw an interception. The score could have very easily been closer than what it shows. I mean, our mistakes really cost us, and it’s fixable mistakes.”

In the season’s first two games, Gans struggled just advancing the football. The Grizzlies were dealing with multiple injured lettermen during the pre-season, so Morton, out of necessity, needed to start several inexperienced freshmen.

“That’s like I told the kids before. Where do we start? Well, in this game, theygaveusagoodplacetostart,andwe scored 24 points in the second quarter,” Morton said. “They were keeping their kids in, and we relaxed and kept the ball long enough to do something with it, making the score, 38-24 at the half.

“We hit some big plays, especially on kickoff returns, and then we did some big pass plays.”

Gans started the second half kicking off to Graham. Chieftains head coach Jake Dye must’ve found a wrinkle or two, and at the half, Graham made adjustments that produced results on the field.

“The third quarter was a little rough for us. We got outscored 22-0. We came

out and just couldn’t get much done. We had some penalties and a big one on a kickoff return that was called back,” Morton observed.

“There was a mistake made on that kickoffreturn,andthattookalittlewind out of our sails. I’ve got some young kids, and trying to keep them focused on something when that happens is tough. We lost a little momentum in the third quarter.”

During the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies and Chieftains each scored once more before the final horn.

“Unfortunately, if you have a couple of missed snaps and a couple of missthrown balls, it can cost you big, and it does. We did that, you know, we had some key interceptions where we couldn’t stop them [returning those for a touchdown] off those interceptions.

“I really saw some kids grow up last week, and they’re starting to really fit into their positions,” Morton said. “I’ve got two defensive ends that really have stepped up with [Graham’s] tailback. He’s really hurt people on the outside. We did a good job containing him, but when he would come back inside, that’s when they made a lot of their big running plays. Not on the outside, their big running plays were the ones where they were cutting it back up the middle, and we were there, but we just had some missed tackles.”

Missed tackles, snaps and passes can all usually be chalked up to experience, or, more to the point, lack of experience, which comes with reps and a solid grasp

of fundamentals.

Morton credits the work the players did to learn their new assignments.

“We tried to throw in a complete spread offense in just one week. So next week,they’llbealittlemorecomfortable with it. There were still some questions on the field when we were making our adjustments, but we’re hoping to get those knocked out [in practice].”

The offensive effort was led by Caleb Martinwith180yardsreceiving,78yards rushing and three touchdowns; Nakota White with 16 yards receiving, 49 yards rushing and three touchdowns; and Clay Martinez with 20 yards rushing.

White was the leading defender with 11 unassisted tackles.

“Nakota White was all over the place. He worked hard for us, and he’s starting to step up into the role that we feel like he belongs,” Morton said.

This young Gans squad has come a long way in its first three games. They have had to play the first varsity games of their high school careers without the typical benefit of being on the field amongst upperclassmen playing key leadership roles.

Ideally, lettermen would support underclassmen, providing real-time guidance on the field, while also being an example, and buffer, that typically helps to offset pressure freshmen often have to experience after being thrown into the deep end of the proverbial pool.

Gans will be on the road Friday for a 7 p.m. non-district game versus Class B Midway (2-1).

Vian Finishes Fourth in Lady Tiger Shootout

Vian’s final-inning rally fell short Saturday afternoon as Spiro hung on for an 8-7 win over the Lady Wolverines in the third-place game of the Central Lady Tiger Shootout.

Vian trailed 8-4 entering the top of the fifth inning. Halli Russell led off the at-bat with a walk and scored on Lakaila Drew’s RBI triple to the gap in left center field. A pitch hit Maci Smith and one out later the senior scored Vian’s sixth run when Maisie Wells singled to left field. Hannah Mattingly’s single to left field loaded the bases and following a flyout the Lady Wolverines scored their seventh run on a throwing error before a strikeout ended the time-limited game.

Spiro registered the first run of the game in the bottom of the first but Vian took a 2-1 advantage in the top of the second on an error, Wells’ stolen base, Mattingly’s triple and Kalli Kennedy’s steal of home.

The Lady Bulldogs erased the deficit with three runs in the bottom of the

second before Vian responded with a pair of runs in the top of the third to tie the score at 4-4. Russell stole second after being hit by a pitch and one out later Smith tripled down the first base line to make the score 4-3. Kala Gibbins followed with an RBI single to left field to tie the score at 4-all.

Spiro reclaimed the lead with two runs in the bottom of the third and after the Lady Wolverines were retired in order in the top of the fourth the Lady Bulldogs registered their final runs in their at-bat in the fourth. In their previous tournament games the Lady Wolverines lost 9-1 to Buffalo Valley on Thursday before shutting out Talihina 7-0 Friday.

LEA LESSLEY •TIMES

Vian

to

CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

JIM CAMERON SPORTS WRITER

VIAN HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

LEA LESSLEY SPORTS WRITER

second baseman Lakaila Drew throws

first base during Saturday’s third-place game against Spiro at the Central Lady Tiger Shootout. The Lady Wolverines lost 8-7 to Spiro in the contest.