WEEKEND GRID: BTW pulls past BHS; WCS, Copan roar past foes

Caney Valley picks up forfeit win vs. Nowata

Following is a roundup of last weekend’s area prep football games.

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BT WASHINGTON 41, BARTLESVILLE 7

Nearly 10 minutes into Friday’s battle, the scenario appeared to be so far, so great for the Bartlesville High football team.

The Bruins had just pieced together a 68-yard and six-minute touchdown drive — on 12 running plays and only one pass attempt (incomplete) — to tie the highly favored Booker T. Washington Hornets, 7-7, with about two minutes remaining in the first quarter.

P.J. Wallace score that touchdown on a 22-yard run and Aman Gordon-Bernstein booted the extra point.

To that point in the contest, Bartlesville, which is guided by first-year head coach Harry Wright, had achieved three of its main objectives — establish a running game, chew up some clock to keep Sapulpa’s offense on the sideline and avoid major mistakes/turnovers.

Unfortunately for the Bruins and their thousands of home fans at Custer Stadium. the remaining 32 minutes didn’t turn out as well.

Washington took advantage of two Bruin lost fumbles and some short field opportunities to streak to a 41-7 win in the District 6A-II-1 opener for both teams. Washington improved to 2-2 overall while the Bruins went to 1-3.

The result seemed to be an anomaly for what has been a competitive Bruin team all season. In their first two losses, the Bruins had lost by a total of only 16 points. And they trailed by only a touchdown, 14-7, in his one.

But on their first three possessions of the second half, Bartlesville went three-and-out (with punter Kaden Brown making a courageous effort to get it off), a turnover on downs and a lost fumble. Washington scored after each of those frayed possessions to go ahead by four touchdowns, 35-7, by the end of the third quarter.

Bartlesville continued to scrap throughout the fourth quarter — but bad luck dogged the Bruins like itch on a poison ivy infection. Their first two possessions in the fourth quarter dead-ended in a turnover-on downs and lost fumble.

It just wasn’t the Bruins’ night. Three times the last three quarters they drove inside the Hornet 40-yard line — only to lose the ball on two fumbles and once on downs.

But, the Bruin defense once again created a mighty presence on which to hang its hat.

Early in the second quarter, Washington faced third-and-goal from the Bruin three-yard line — and didn’t get in.

On fourth-and-goal, Washington quarterback Lathan Boone zipped a pass into the end zone, but Bruin defensive back Hayden Taylor — whose name was called more than once — was there to prevent the touchdown and keep the score tied, 7-7.

A few minutes later, the Bruins forced Washington punt from the Bartlesville 44-yard line.

Late in the second quarter, Bartlesville stopped Washington on downs at the Bruin 28-yard line. The two key defensive plays on the drive were a tackle by linebacker Ashton Lydon following a short gain, and another pass defended (in the end zone) by Taylor.

The game might have gone into halftime tied, 7-7, But, in the final 90 seconds of the half, Washington connected on a 78-yard touchdown pass play from Boone to Micah Tease. Tease caught the short pass and burst the best of the way to paydirt.

The Bruins nearly answered in final 1:20 of the half, pushing the ball from the Bruin 40-yard-line to Washington 37-yard line, thanks mainly on passes to Brown and Austin Zink. But, the Bruins fumbled the ball away with 37 seconds left until intermission and Washington maintained a 14-7 advantage heading into half.

As mentioned above, a series of fruitless or unfortunate Bruin possessions in the second half allowed Washington to pull away.

Hornet quarterback Boone turned in a monstrous day — 18-of-24 for 356 yards and five touchdowns. Boone also rushed for 80 yards and another score.

Tease hauled in three catches for 133 yards. Demetrius Prudom fingered seven catches for 132 yards and three scores. Grayson Chalk recorded one touchdown catch.

For the Bruins, quarterback Nate Neal hit on 4-of-9 passes for 48 yards — he avoided an interception for the first game this season.

Wallace rushed for 91 yards on 27 totes and theBruins’ only touchdown — his fourth of the season.

Damien Niko made two catches for 28 yards.

Next up, Bartlesville is slated to play host next Friday to U.S. Grant.

Roundups of other area grid games Thursday and Friday are to follow.

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COPAN 66, BLUEJACKET 50

It’s too soon to saw the swagger is back in Copan Hornet football.

But, with back-to-back wins now under their belts — and a decent shot to get to the playoffs for the first time since 2009 — Hornet gridders and coaches definitely are walking with a new spring in their steps.

Friday’s win against Bluejacket was neither a fluke or a result of a huge fluctuation of points that buried Bluejacket under a mountain.

In fact, Copan squandered a 22-0 lead and fell behind in the third quarter, 44-42.

To win, they had to muster a dump truck full of character — well beyond their years and competitive maturity — in order to make the boomerang comeback to triumph.

The Hornets are heavily dependent on freshmen in key roles — and they all made major contributions, led by quarterback Kane Foreman, who passed for 337 yards and six touchdowns on 14 completions. Ke also overcame a pick-six and rushed for a score.

But, it was sophomore Karson Woodworth also challenged for the game MVP.

Woodworth caught six passes for 212 yards — and five touchdowns. He also made four tackles on defense.

Woodworth hauled five scoring passes in the first half — of 22, 53, 41, 45 and 41 yards — to help elevate Copan to a 42-32 halftime lead.

Also scoring touchdowns for Copan were Logan Guess (defensive fumble recovery), Foreman (1-yard run), Weston O’Rourke (35 pass from Foreman) and Shooter Brewington (20 run).

Racking up Copan two-pointers were O’Rourke (pass, pass), Jarrett Shambles (pass), Teegan Caron (pass), Woodworth (pass, pass),

Foreman completed all six-two-point passes.

“It was great to pull out a district win,” said Copan head coach Marshall Foreman. “This one kinds of puts us in the driver’s seat to get one of those four playoff spots.”

Bluejacket tried to deny Copan the long pass during the second half.

“They started playing us over the top,” coach Foreman said. “We also had some snap issues the second half. … They did a good job of changing up.”

But, Copan stepped up in the final two quarters, especially on the defensive side, to blunt Bluejacket’s uprising.

“Something we’ve been talking about in practice is to just finish — whether it be reps in practice or trying to finish a game strong,” coach Foreman said. “After they scored a couple of touchdowns in the third quarter, our defense settled down.”

O’Rourke and Brewington — two of Copan’s golden class of freshmen — both played through pain.

“Weston’s shoulder was hurting him and his ribs were hurting, but he toughed it out and helped us on defense,” Foreman said.

Meanwhile, Kane Foreman — the coach’s son — turned in one of this strong passing games of the season.

He under threw one pass “which was pretty much the only bad ball he threw all night,” said coach Foreman, adding Kane has been part of 13 touchdowns the last two games.

On the defensive side, Noah Cobb — the lone senior on the Copan roster — made 9.5 tackles. Guess returned his scoop-and-score fumble about 50 or 60 yards, the coach added.

Copan players learned a lesson about not backing off, even if they jump ahead big early, coach Foreman said.

“Nobody is going to lay down for you,” he said. “It’s good for their learning and experience that will be good down the road.”

Next up, Copan eyes a spirited rivalry game against Wesleyan Christian School of Bartlesville. Wesleyan Christian is 3-1 on the season.

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WESLEYAN CHRISTIAN 54, OAKS 6

The WCS Mustangs continued their high-scoring ways. They’ve tallied more than 50 points in each of its four eight-man league games.

But, this victory was a little sweeter — it launched the Mustangs (3-1) on their voyage in district games. They are one of the favorites to contend for the district crown.

After giving up the game’s first score, the Mustangs stampeded to 54 unanswered points, sparked by quarterback Tyrel Cloud’s 19-yard touchdown run.

The Mustangs tallied two more first quarter touchdowns — a 14-yard aerial from Cloud to Kael Siemers and a 26-yard connection from Cloud to Mason Jenson.

WCS erupted for 32 points in the second quarter to end the game on the 45-point mercy rule by halftime.

Siemers caught scoring tosses in the second quarter, covering 10, 8 and 38 yards,

Archer Swisher caught a touchdown pass for 38 yards.

Carson Tennison also made a 45-yard pick six.

Siemers also kicked four extra points and the Mustangs tallied one two-point conversion.

Ty Cloud turned in one of most effective passing games, completing 12-of-17 for 184 yards and six scores.

Siemers pulled in eight catches for 104 yards, while Swisher and Jenson gained 38 and 34 yards, respectively.

On the defensive side, Zander Week and Brock Timmons each made seven tackles, followed by Tennison with six.

Timmons also made a crucial catch for six or seven yards, WCS head coach Curt Cloud said.

“He’s a good player,” coach Cloud added.

A WCS turnover set up Oaks for the game’s first touchdown, the coach said.

Cloud said he felt Swisher — who was battling to stay upright and go forward before losing the ball on a fumble — should have ruled down by the officials prior to the ball coming loose.

“He wouldn’t go down,” Cloud said.

Following the turnover, Oaks “got a lucky pass,” to score.

But, in a way, Oaks’ early score might have been a wake-up call for the Mustangs.

“We came back blazing,” coach Cloud said.

Next up, WCS clashes with Copan in a district duel. WCS will be the favorite on paper, but there should be a thunderstorm worth of intensity by both teams, each trying to prove something to themselves and their program observers.

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MORRISON 39, OKLAHOMA UNION 6

It’s been a while since the OUHS Cougars endured a start like this.

But, the most important is the young squad headed is focused on the right direction.

“We just need to build,” said veteran Cougar head coach Steve Trammell. “We are going to get better each week.”

OUHS, which has been to the playoffs several consecutive years is still fighting for its first win. Trammell has graduated several exceptional talents of the team the last two seasons.

“We’re still trying to put the places in piece,” he said. “This is really late to be saying that, but we’re still trying to move people around more.”

A good problem Trammell is the addition of new players since the season began.

“We’ve got five or six seniors and we started with three,” he said. “We’re up to 12 sophomores and we had eight. We really need to just focus on ourselves and focus on getting better and try to pick up a win when we can.”

In Friday’s game, Trammell welcomed back cornerback Isaiah Johnson to active duty.

“Isaiah’s a kid we can put in a lot of different places,” Trammell added. “WE can play him at corner, safety, inside receiver and some tailback.”

“Offensively, we ran the ball well in the second half,” he said. “Last week we threw the ball well. … We just need to do both in the same game.”

Connor Pierce is the starting quarterback and has shown solid promise as a passer, the coach said.

After Easton Brennen tore off a 45-yard run, Pierce took it the final five to the end zone for the Cougars’ touchdown on the final play of the game.

“It looked like the Super Bowl winning team on that last play,” Trammell said.

In addition to the return of Johnson last Friday, Trammell said he’s expecting a talented sophomore to be in uniform next Friday.

“He’s a game-changer,” Trammell said, but declined to reveal his name until everything is set. “He can score from anywhere.”

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CANEY VALLEY (Kan.) 54, CHERRYVALE (Kan.) 20

A kickoff return for touchdown by Ben Mathews fired up the CV Bullpups early in their signature win at home.

Caney Valley spread its other seven touchdowns among four players — Jackson Griffin (runs of 2, 37, 11 yards), Garret Watson (runs of 15, 46 yards), Ashton King (run of 8 yards) and Gavin Stimson (interception return of 56 yards).

Griffin rushed for 167 yards on 14 carries, followed by King (15-of-95). Watson ran for 58 yards and passed for 10 yards to Stimson.

Stimson and Watson each intercepted a pass.

Caney Valley's defense had to battle against a Cherryvale team that put the ball up 25 times for 190 yards.

"For the most part we kept them in front of us," said Pups' head coach Criss Davis. "They had good receivers. It wasn't until later in the game I started sending some more pressure. … We got him out of rhythm."

Caney Valley improved to 3-1.

Caney Valley 54, Cherryvale 20

Cherry 8-0-6-6—20

CV 8-22-12-12—54

FIRST QUARTER

Che: Stetson Schaper 23 pass from Jackson Knight (pass to Ellis from Knight), 8:37.

CV: Ben Matthews 75 kickoff return (Cunningham pass from Mathews), 8:21.

SECOND QUARTER

CV : Garrett Watson 15 run (Gavin Stimson pass from Watson), 10:51.

CV: Jackson Griffin 2 run (Mathews run), 4:20.

CV: Griffin 37 run (run fail), 1:07.

THIRD QUARTER

Che: Ellis 38 pass from Knight (pass fail).

CV: Griffin 11 run (run fail).

CV: Ashton King 8 run (run fail).

FOURTH QUARTER

CV: Watson 46 run (pass fail).

CV: Stimson 56 interception return (run fail).

Che: Knight 2 run (2-pt fail).

CV Che

First downs 11-15

Rushing 39-316 31-104

Passing 1-1-0-10 13-25-2-190

Penalties 9-75 3-15

Punts 0-0 2-55

Fumbles 1-1 0-0

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NOWATA VS. CANEY VALLEY

This rivalry matchup turned to dust, reportedly because of a lack of officiating.

Caney Valley head coach Stephen Mitchell said the teams tried to work out an alternate date on Saturday or Monday, but no agreement could be finalized. The determination of how the game counts is reportedly due Monday.

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JAY 68, DEWEY 20

Coming off a bye week, the Dewey Doggers ran into a brutal test at Jay, in Class 2A district action.

Dewey fell to 1-3 on the season.

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VINITA 40, PAWHUSKA 16

The Vinita Hornets handed Pawhuska (3-2) its first regular season district loss since 2019.

Pawhuska had been on a 15-game district winning streak.

No specific game details were available Saturday.

Pawhuska is now 3-2 overall and 1-1 in district play.

Next up, the Huskies will travel on Oct. 7 to Nowata.

Their next home game is set for Oct. 21 vs. Claremore-Sequoyah.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bartlesville-area football weekend roundup