'We're not done yet': Carl Albert routs Grove to reach Class 5A football championship game
OWASSO — Xavier Robinson saw the line of scrimmage open.
The Carl Albert junior running back had already put together a big performance to lift the Titans to a big lead.
But as he stood in the backfield in the third quarter, it was clear he wasn’t finished.
Robinson ran 14 times for 279 yards and three touchdowns as Carl Albert routed Grove 55-21 in the Class 5A state semifinals at Owasso on Saturday night. Carl Albert advances to the state championship game for the sixth time in seven years.
"It feels great," Carl Albert coach Mike Dunn said. "We're not done yet; we've got one more week to go prepare and attack it like we have been for the last three or four weeks. We’re on a team that's continued to steadily go up and we still haven't played our best football. But I'm really proud of our guys with that effort."
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Carl Albert got off to a fast start after forcing Grove to a three-and-out on the opening drive. Soon after, Robinson, the first 2,000-yard rusher in school history, got started. He broke multiple tackles on his way to a 21-yard score.
"I just felt good," Robinson said. "My line they always let me know how they got my back and I trust them for that, we just stay consistent on that and that's just always the game plan."
Carl Albert’s Reed DeQuasie then found Tashawn James on a screen pass, for a 39-yard touchdown to put the Titans up two scores. From there, the Titans rolled, only allowing Grove to score once in the first three quarters as Emmanuel Crawford broke for a 2-yard touchdown against the starters. He then broke an 80-yard touchdown and a 6-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
His 6-yard touchdown was the final carry of his star-studded career.
“He's a Division-I running back," Dunn said of Crawford. “I don't know what they look like if he can't do it, so hats off to him, he's a great player."
Defensively, Caden Davis picked up three sacks in the first half, that halted Grove's offense. And the Titans forced three interceptions as Trey Washington, James and Cody Longstreet all grabbed one.
Trystan Haynes capped the Titans' night with a 67-yard punt return for a special teams score. "Last year, my freshman year, we didn't get there," Davis said of the state title game. "And you take it in and it's just, I don't want to feel that way. So that's been my mindset all this year, I want to get back to the state championship.'"
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma high school football: Carl Albert beats Grove in 5A semifinal
