FOOTBALL: Verdigris can't beat Holland Hall a second time, falls in 3A semis

Dec. 1—OWASSO — It is hard to beat a good team twice.

That is especially true when that team is the defending Class 3A champions. Unfortunately for Verdigris, that meant running into a buzzsaw set on revenge.

The Cardinals' best season in school history came to an end Friday night at Owasso in the Class 3A semifinals as Holland Hall cruised to a 35-6 victory. For Verdigris, it was the second semifinal loss in three seasons.

Dutch quarterback Ethan Roush had a lot to do with that result, accounting for 297 of the team's 340 yards with four touchdowns while also intercepting a pass on defense. His 158 yards rushing on 19 carries and 139 yards and three touchdowns on 9-of-13 passing drastically improved Holland Hall's offensive production from the first meeting.

On Oct. 29, Verdigris held the Dutch to 214 total yards, including only 2.8 yards per carry. However, Kordell Gouldsby served as the quarterback until suffering a season-ending wrist injury during the fourth quarter.

Under the guidance of Roush, Holland Hall finished with 201 yards rushing at 5.6 ypc. That is including the three knees the Dutch took at the end of the game, which lost them 5 yards each. Without those, Holland Hall averaged 6.5 ypc for 216 yards.

Roush, who logged 8.3 ypc, capped his performance with a 70-yard touchdown run on third down with 2:54 remaining.

He also threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Nunu Campbell, who didn't play in the first meeting. Campbell finished with a game-high 78 yards on five receptions.

"He's a great football player," Verdigris coach Travis East said of Roush. "He's a heck of an athlete, and his speed definitely showed out there."

That third-down score encapsulated another Dutch substantial improvement.

In the 12-7 loss to the Cardinals less than a month earlier, Holland Hall managed a third-down conversion on only five of 14 attempts and punted seven times. On Friday night, the Dutch went 4-of-8 on third downs and punted only four times.

Verdigris (11-2), on the other hand, struggled mightily on those crucial third-down plays.

After converting their first two third downs on their opening drive — which ended in a turnover on downs at the Holland Hall 18 — the Cardinals went 2-of-12 the remainder of the game. They also went 1-of-4 on fourth downs and punted on six occasions.

One play after a failed fourth-down conversion in the second quarter, Roush executed a flea-flicker pass to Tre Carter for a 46-yard touchdown that sent the Dutch into halftime with a 21-0 advantage.

"They're a good defense, and things just didn't go our way," East said. "We didn't make the plays we needed to make. We just had to make more on third downs and convert, and we didn't."

The lone Verdigris score came on an incredible display of athleticism from Caden Parnell, who broke several tackles on the way to a 36-yard touchdown reception from Dylan White, trimming the deficit to 21-6 with 9:09 remaining in the third.

Parnell caught seven passes for 61 yards and rushed for 59 yards on 14 carries while White completed 15 of 27 passes for 137 yards with an interception.

Evan Anderson intercepted Roush the ensuing Holland Hall possession, but the turnover didn't lead to any points.

The Dutch (12-1) didn't gain comfortable separation until Zane Woodham rumbled 27 yards for a score only moments after Roush intercepted White and returned it to the Verdigris 32.

Although the Cardinals came up one game shy of the championship game, they should remain one of the top teams in Class 3A next season. Verdigris loses nine seniors but returns most of its starting lineup, including White, Parnell and Reese Roller.

"We wish these seniors farewell," East said. "We had some great seniors who were phenomenal kids and leaders and are going to be great men. That's what we hope to get out of them. Underclassmen, we return a lot of them. My message to them is let this sting. Let it burn.

"It needs to hurt, and they need to remember."