The Sapulpa Chieftains beat a young Class 6AII Bartlesville Bruins team 34-14 to extend its record to 2-1 going into its bye week.
The Chieftains stretched their winning streak to two on Friday with a very tough win against the Bruins. The game played like a chess match, as both sides seemed to change tactics in order to stay in the game.
Sapulpa’s defense was especially impressive after several key stops and the force of a field goal that was hooked left to leave the Bruins offense scoreless in the second half.
Sapulpa received first and Colton Morton took the rock to the 30 yard line before being brought down. Zac Mason, who was donning the number 13 for this game after forgetting his jersey in Sapulpa, quickly started to feed the ball to the big playmaker, senior running back Tyreese Jones. Through the air on the ground Jones marched the football down field and was able to break through several tackles for a 31-yard touchdown run.
Bartlesville sophomore starting quarterback Simian Gilkey ran the Bruins offense well, with several long passes and rushes, despite his age and experience. In fact, that could be said for the majority of the Bruins team on both sides of the ball.
However, the Bruins’ first time with the football was not a good look for the team. After going 3 and out, the ball went over the punter’s head, and Sapulpa was able to take over on the 27 yard line.
Sapulpa wasn’t able to capitalize on the mistake this time as they ended up throwing an interception into the endzone after several penalties.
Penalties were the bane of both teams Friday as Sapulpa continued to rack up personal foul flags, including a couple late hits, and a few after the whistle had been blown. The Bruins also shot themselves in the foot throughout the game, with 3 consecutive offsides in the second half that ultimately put them out of the game.
Sapulpa scored again after another misfire punt by the Bruins, but then a bad punt by Sapulpa led the Bruins to their first score as Gilkey ran the ball in.
Bruins burned all three timeouts before the end of the first quarter due to some line change problems. They were not able to put a final drive before the half and the score read 20-14.
The third quarter was scary for Chieftain fans as the Bruins took the ball first.
The defense was able to force the Bruins to punt and seemed to put Sapulpa in control. On the next drive, however, Mason went down after being tackled by a QB keeper. Mason would not return for the game. On the first play after Chieftains backup QB William Edwards took over, he threw up an interception.
The Bruins, eyeing the momentum swinging in their favor, again looked to the endzone. They managed to get onto the 9-yard line before being pushed back and forced to kick a 22-yard field goal, which hooked left.
Mason was still out, so the Chieftains tried to run the ball, but would go 3 and out for the first time.
Sapulpa’s defense then stepped up to give Sapulpa some breathing room with a 43-yard pick six by Brandon Woods. Then they forced a 3 and out and the offense went to work.
The Chieftain duo of Edwards and backup running back Marco Smith managed to burn 8 minutes off the clock with some impressive running. The offense was a thing of beauty and their plan was executed perfectly. Smith would run short gains and if it became a long yard situation, Edwards’s hard count drew the Bruins defense offsides three times in a row. On 2 and 18, Smith broke through, and, after landing a huge hit and dragging the Bruins some yards, ran 24-yards into the endzone to put the game out of the Bruins hands.
This is the fourth consecutive win for Sapulpa against Bartlesville.
Next week Sapulpa has a bye week as they get ready for their first district game against Memorial at homecoming, on the 24th.
