GRID & GRIT: Huskies soar, Panthers roar; Doggers forbear, Mustangs prepare
Rivalry matchups dominated the local high school football landscape in last Friday’s Zero Week season openers.
Following are summaries of game highlights.
——
MIAMI 21, DEWEY 0: Dewey's defense kept the Bulldoggers within striking distance until the final few minutes, but the offense didn't being to click on most of its cylinders until the second half.
Miami led threatened to score late in the first half, but Dewey recovered a red zone fumble to keep the Wardogs' lead to 14-0 at intermission.
On Dewey's first second half possession, the Doggers drove to the red zone — including a seven-yard run by Mitchell Downing, a six-yard run by QB Trent Muninger and a couple of clutch catches by Colby Miller. But the drive stalled.
Dewey's defense held Miami out of the end zone on its next possession, thanks partly to a key tackle by Dickson Adams.
Dewey made another stellar drive deep into Miami territory, thanks partly to a 30-yards-plus pass to Miller. But, a fumble ended the drive. Miami scored with about 2 minutes left.
——
PAWHUSKA 52, CANEY VALLEY 7: For the fourth-straight year the Huskies blitzed into the season with a victory, while Caney Valley lost its first game for the first time since 2019.
Pawhuska — coming off a 23-4 record the last two seasons — erupted for more than 600 yards of total offense.
PHS senior quarterback Todd Drummond wrecked the defense on 19-of-26 passing for 316 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 58 yards and two scores. Ballcarrier Tyler Richardson added 10 carries for 119 yards and a score.
On the defensive side, linebacker John Reed tallied 18 tackles, including two for loss, for Pawhuska.
For Caney Valley, quarterback Zak Wallis ran for 115 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown burst. Jaydin Allen added 85 yards on the ground, on only six carries.
"We played really well," said Caney Valley head coach Stephen Mitchell, who suited up only about 25 players, compared to 50-or-more for Pawhuska. The day prior to the game, Mitchell saw two of his offensive linemen become unavailable.
Even so, the Trojans ran for approximately 200 yards.
"I feel like got tired," Mitchell said. giving major credit to the "high-octane" offense of Pawhuska.
Fifth-year Huskie coach Matt Hennesy praised the domination of his starting offensive line — Connor Easley, Reed, Cameron Long, Nathan Deathrage, Devin Bighorse and tight end Noah Willson.
"We went super fast on them," Hennesy said about the game's pace. Pawhuska also had twice as many players suited up and depended on depth and conditioning to control the game.
Other Huskies stats included Traven Richardson with four catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns and JoJo Hendren with 10 tackles.
--
BARNSDALL 60, COPAN 14: It became a long, long night in a very, very short matter of minutes for the Copan Hornets. Before the Hornets took their second offensive snap, Barnsdall led, 21-0.
The Panthers then pulled out to a 42-0 lead, but Copan then scored twice to give its fans something to hoop and holler about at the Barnsdall stadium. But, Barnsdall needed just one more touchdown and two-point conversion in the second half to clinch the win on the eight-man football 45-point mercy rule.
"We shot ourselves in the foot early," Copan head coach Marshall Foreman said. Barnsdall scored on its first possession, got the ball back on a kickoff recovery and stuck in another touchdown. Copan then made a bad snap and Barnsdall got the ball back and cashed in again to go ahead, 21-0. And — like Jack's magic beanstalk seed — the Hornet lead continued to grow.
The Panthers' two major producers included quarterback Maverick Lanphear (5-of-9 passing, 88 yards and a touchdown; 3 carries for 43 yards and a score) and Easton Malone (6-140 rushing, 3 TDs). Braden Byars combined for 101 yards of total offense and two TDs. Cooper Sofian and James Johnson made scored a touchdown apiece and Nate Harper and Christian Hernandez scored part of Barnsdall's three two-point conversions.
Defensively, Brock Townley made three tackles for loss, three other tackles, a sack and fumble recovery for Barnsdall.
But, the craziest scoring play belonged to Copan. Barnsdall running back Christian Hernandez was in the process of a 40-yard run, when Copan's Jarrett Shambles ran up from behind, stripped him of the ball and ran the other way for a touchdown.
Copan freshman quarterback Kane Foreman hit Teegan Caron for a 30-yard score for the team's other score. Foreman finished with 9-of-15 passing for 83 yards and no interceptions.
Weston O’Rourke gained 71 yards on 14 carries. Shooter Brewington rushed for more than 50 yards and Carson Woodworth made several catches.
Drive-killing penalties prevented Copan from competing closer, coach Foreman said.
—-
WCS SCRIMMAGE: Wesleyan Christian School Mustangs enjoyed their final-up with a successful scrimmage performance at Medford.
The Mustangs scored three first-team touchdowns — touchdown runs of approximately 50 and 35 yards by Ty Cloud and Mason Jensen, respectively, and on an approximate 50-yard aerial strike from Cloud to Kael Siemers.
Medford scored only first-team touchdown. Defensive standouts for WCS included Archer Swisher, Brock Timmons, Cloud, Carson Tennison and Siemers. Swisher put some good pressure on the quarterback and Cloud administered some powerful tackles. Next up, WCS travels Friday to Webbers Falls (0-1) for the Mustangs’ season debut.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Week zero area football games offer few surprises
