FRIDAY GLOW: BHS gridders set record for widest-ever margin; area roundup
It was a night to howl Friday at Custer Stadium — including the biggest margin of victory in Bartlesville High School varsity football history.
Illuminated by the blazing home lights, the Bruins surged up and down the field to scorch the undermanned-but-gritty crew from U.S. Grant High School, 55-0.
Seven different Bruins reached paydirt, including Damien Niko, who returned a punt more than 80 yards for a score and also hauled in a touchdown toss by Nate Neal.
Less than nine minutes into the game Bartlesville led, 28-0. Partway through the second quarter, the officials called for a running clock, which shortened the game considerably — or the Bruins would have piled on more points.
The 55-point margin of victory shattered the team’s previous record of 48 (48-0 vs. Skiatook, 2010).
The shutout also loomed large as one of the top storylines of the event.
“It was big for coach (Travis) Burkhalter,” said first-year Bruin head coach Harry Wright. “It was his first shutout here. That’s something you always remember.”
This was just the 10th time in the 42-and-a-half years of the program’s existence the Bruins beat an opponent by more than 40 points.
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Bartlesville’s biggest margins of victory
2022: 55 (def. U.S. Grant, 55-0)
2010: 48 (def. Skiatook, 48-0)
2015: 47 (def. East Central, 47-0)
2020: 44 (def. Putnam City West, 52-8)
2002: 44 (def. Tulsa Memorial, 44-0)
2010: 42 (def. Ponca City, 42-0)
2003: 42 (def. Tulsa Rogers, 49-7)
1999: 42 (def. Independence, Kan., 42-0)
1984: 42 (def. Tulsa Hale, 48-6)
1992: 41 (def. Owasso, 41-0)
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Touchdown parity party
“I think they came out of the gate fast,” said Wright about his Bruins, who had lost three-in-a-row. “They were able to execute early. We kind of got back on track offensively. Our defense was able to force turnovers.”
The scoring blitz, in order, included: P.J. Wallace, 31-yard run; Noah Darnell 12-yard run; Niko, punt return; Niko 34-yard pass from Nate “The Real Deal” Neal; J.D. Atterberry, six-yard run; Eli Lino, 11-yard pass from Neal; Cameron Hightower, 1 run; Dontae Horn 57 pass from Dayton Crabtree; and Aman Gordon-Bernstein, seven extra point kicks.
Considering the total game time elapsed was probably about half of that of a normal game, the Bruins’ 420-plus total yards — and the fact coach Harry Wright played only his jayvee, for the most part, in the second half — looms pretty brightly.
Starting quarterback Neal dialed in with 8-of-8 passing for 155 yards and three touchdowns in just one half.
“It was good for Nate. … I think that was good for him to get his confidence,” Wright said.
Leading the running attack were Austin Zink with 83 yards on 10 carries, and Wallace with 60 yards — on just two carries.
Horn topped the fleet of receivers with 64 yards on two grabs, followed by Niko with 49 yards (two catches), Darnell, 45 yards (two catches) and Kaden Brown, 35 yards (two catches).
The Bruins — clad in powder blue tops and dark blue pants — scored on their first five possessions. Four of those possessions lasted 61 seconds or fewer.
The first Bartlesville touched the ball, it needed just 45 seconds to drive the ball 34 yards (set up by Brett Eaves’ interception). On the first play of the drive, Neal rolled out and zipped the ball to Darnell for a first down.
On the next play, Neal found Brown in the end zone for an apparent touchdown — but the play was called back due to a Bartlesville penalty. In fact, the flag took the ball all the way back to the 31-yard line.
Facing 1st-and-20, Bartlesville kept the ball on the ground. Wallace took the handoff, slice through the front wall and took of like a hawk for the end zone, swerving around two would-be tacklers along the way.
Bartlesville’s next drive began painfully as a Grant pass rusher crashed into Neal from the blindside and the ball came loose. But, the Bruins recovered the ball for an 11-yard loss.
However, on the next play, Wallace galloped for about a 34-yard gain down to the red zone. Two plays later, Neal threw a little chip pass to Darnell on a sweep and he ran the ball into the end zone from 12 yards out.
Following another Grant three-and-out, Grant punted from just inside the 50 and Niko took the ball all the way to the house. The extra point made it a 21-0 game.
“We put a lot of emphasis on special teams,” Wright said. “He’s (Niko) got really good vision. Obviously he’s one of our most explosive athletes. I’m happy for the special teams.”
The Bruins needed only 13 seconds on their next possession, on a 34-yard high arching bomb — which followed a cloud punching trajectory through in the twilight glow of the lights — from Neal to Niko, who was about halfway deep in the end zone when he reached out and made the catch.
The Bruins scored one more time in the first quarter — on Atterberry’s six-yard run to cap a 65=yard drive — and took a 35-0 lead into the second quarter.
Bartlesville scored twice more in the first half — on an 11-yard aerial from Neal to Lino, capping a 68-yard drive. The big play to set up the score had been Brown’s 37-yard receiving gain.
On their last full possession of the first half, Neal found Darnell for a 33-yard gain to inside the 10 and a few plays later, Hightower rammed the ball over the line from one-yard out.
The Bruins led at halftime, 49-0.
Wright and his staff made wholesale personnel changes in the second half.
“I’ve been on the other end of one-sided games,” Wright said. “We wanted to do things to try to limit running up the score. They were struggling. … Their kids work hard, too.”
In fact, after the first couple of (many, many punts), the Bruins stopped sending a return man back.
“We wanted to try to limit some of that stuff,” Wright said, adding he also thought it a good opportunity to narrow the risk of injury to his players.
Some of the Bruin ball-handling standouts included Horn, Crabtree, Colton Hainzinger, Joshua Partain and Crabtree.
Bartlesville finished off its scoring on a long touchdown pass play from Crabtree to Horn.
The Bruins are now 1-1 in district and likely need just one — may two — wins at the most to clinch a playoff spot.
They also should be be in strong contentioin to win this coming Friday at Putnam City West.
“The goals we set at the start of the year are the things we keep in kids minds,” he said, adding last Friday’s victory provides positive feedback for all the grueling work during the offseason and throughout the campaign, and bolster confidence.
Bartlesville is vying for the program’s first earned playoff spot since 2015.
Following is be a roundup of other area football games Friday.
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OTHER AREA SCORES
Bristow 58, Dewey 6
Wesleyan Christian 61, Copan 12
Vinita 47, Nowata 8
Hominy 47, Oklahoma Union 8
Caney Valley (Kan.) 38, Neodesha (Kan.) 12
Barnsdall, bye
Caney Valley, bye
Pawhuska, bye
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BRISTOW 48, DEWEY 6
Landon Finton fingered a throw from Trenton Muninger to score his first touchdown one of just many highlights for the hard-scrapping Dewey Doggers.
Dewey made a valiant effort to scuttle the visiting Bristow Pirates, but they managed to find the passage through unfriendly waters to victory.
However, Dewey put up some big numbers to build on for the future.
Muninger threw for 291 yards and a touchdown — and rushed for 100 yards.
With nearly 400 yards of total offense, Muninger — a senior warrior — proved the Doggers could move the ball on Bristow.
Hunter Catlin proved to be Muninger's most explosive target — 6 catches for 123 yards.
Finton finished with four grabs for 63 yards in his noteworthy effort.
“We still have to start faster,” Dewey head coach Ryan Richardson said. “We’re digging ourselves a deep hole with a few mistakes here and there.”
But, there were some bright spots for Dewey he said, including several tackles by Muninger in his first full-go at safety.
Dewey boasted many defensive stars.
In addition to Muninger's defensive production, Braden Garrison racked up 15 tackles, three for loss; Josh Battenfield netted 10 tackles, four for loss.
Richardson also praised the effort of Colby Miller.
“I give a lot of credit to Bristow,” the coach said. “There’s a lot of good things they do. We were able to stop them a couple of times early.”
Dewey will make focused preparation this week to to take down Holland Hall next Friday.
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WCS 61, COPAN 12
The Wesleyan Christian Mustangs thrived on the “too” factor.
Too much experience, too many too-hot-to-handle skill players, too much defense and too many goals to play for.
But, the younger and feisty Copan Hornets didn’t walk away with their heads down or their hopes sagging.
“We played hard and showed some good signs,” said Copan head coach Marshall Foreman. “
“Copan played pretty good the first couple of series,” said Mustangs head coach Curt Cloud, whose team improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in district. “It was kind of what we expected. They’re a good team. Marshall has them playing pretty good. We’ve just got more experience and more options.”
Five different Mustangs starred as skill players. Freshman Archer Swisher blossomed in a kind of coming-out performance, rushing for 187 yards and four touchdowns on 10 careers.
Kael Siemers caught four passes for 101 yards and two scores.
Carson Tennison hauled in a 10-yard scoring strike from quarterback Tyrel Cloud.
Brock Timmons also snared a touchdown aerial on a play that covered 30 yards.
Cloud hit on 6-of-12 passes for 154 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for several yards.
“We started off a little slow,” Cloud said. “But, then we started rolling.”
In fact, It was only a one-touchdown game at the end of the first quarter, 14-6.
But, the Mustangs turned the second quarter into a touchdown frenzy, outscoring Copan, 47-6, to end the game at halftime on the eight-man football mercy rule.
“They had some turnovers late in the second quarter,” including interceptions by Swisher and Siemers to set up short touchdowns, coach Cloud said.
On the defensive side, Swisher led the Mustangs effort by making eight tackles, followed by Tennison with six and Cloud with four.
Coach Cloud praised the effort of Copan freshman quarterback Kane Foreman.
Copan coach Foreman praised the quarterback — who also is his son — for standing tough in the pocket and keeping his eyes downfield.
Foreman connected on touchdown passes to Weston O’Rourke and Jarrett Shambles, the latter play covering 64 yards.
But, Copan’s possessions were limited by Wesleyan Christian’s expertise at recovering onside kicks.
In fact, Wesleyan Christian had already had perhaps three straight possessions during one stretch, Foreman said.
Foreman singled out the difference of experience as a key.
“They can make adjustments on the fly a lot quicker than we can,” he said. “They can do it right away whereas we have to go to the locker-room to make adjustments.”
But, Foreman still felt his team proved it’s gotten better since a few weeks ago.
Next up, Copan (2-3, 1-1) takes on Wilson (Henryetta), in a key game in its drive to earn a playoff spot for the first time since 2009.
“We’re still excited about our chances,” he said. “All of our goals are still in front of us.”
Wesleyan Christian will continue its push toward a district crown.
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VINITA 47, NOWATA 8
Nowata saw the unbeaten Vinita Hornets snap its two-game winning streak.
“The kids just kept fighting and kept getting better,” first-year Nowata head coach Chance Juby said. “We’re going to continue fighting. I was not disappointed in any of our guys.”
Nowata put together a long drive to score its lone touchdown, on a one-yard burst by Peyton Trotter.
“We scored on fourth down,” Juby noted, adding Nowata converted on a couple of other deep downs during the march.
“That was a big play for offensive line and our offense to know we can score,” he added.
Next up, Nowata takes on Pawhuska, which is coming off a bye week.
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CANEY VALLEY PUPS 38, NEODESHA 12
By halftime it was all done but turning off the lights.
The Pups had pounced out to a 30-6 lead by intermission and made their final bark with a score in the third quarter.
Caney Valley improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in district — putting them in the driver’s seat in the hunt for one of the highest seeds in the district.
The Pups dominated Neodesha on the stat sheet — 317 rushing yards to 57, and 347 total yards to 162.
Ashton King romped for two touchdowns (4, 38), Garrett Watson threw for a score (30 yards to Jackson Griffin), and ran for another (24), and Griffin ran to paydirt (6). King and Griffin each ran for a two-point conversion and Ben Matthews and Gavin Stimson caught two-pointers.
Note: More details on these games will follow Sunday in this same report.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: A look at Week 5 area football action
