A week after Sapulpa quarterback Colton Howard lit up the scoreboard with seven passing touchdowns, it was Sapulpa’s turn to shine with their ground game. Howard and Chieftain running back Marco Smith combined for seven rushing touchdowns on their way to a cardiac 41-38, come-from-behind victory over the Tahlequah Tigers Friday evening at Collins Stadium. The matchup was both the Chieftains’ home opener and the Chieftains’ first win of the 2023-2024 campaign.
Coach Holt later told Sapulpa Times that last week’s loss to the Sandites was a mental and physical toll that took a while to shake. “Last week’s game took so much out of us,” he said. “We were up two scores, could have been up three scores, and then it’s hot and people are cramping, you know, and it took us a couple of days early this week to recover from that.”
It was a defensive play in the fourth quarter that proved to be pivotal for the Chieftains. With the Tiger offense buried on their two-yard line, a Tiger intentional grounding penalty in the endzone resulted in a Chieftain safety that came one play after what appeared to be a negated Sapulpa fumble recovery in the Tahlequah endzone.
Tahlequah led for most of the contest before Sapulpa (1-1) took its first lead of the game at 35-31 at the 5:57 mark in the fourth quarter on a 38-yard Marco Smith touchdown rush.
After the air raid a week ago against Sand Springs, an overpowering Sapulpa ground game proved the deciding factor against Tahlequah (0-1). Smith finished the evening with four touchdowns on 33 carries, with Howard adding two rushing touchdowns of his own.
After receiving the opening kickoff, Tahlequah drew first blood, going seven plays to take a 7-0 lead at the 7:40 mark of the first quarter when Tahlequah quarterback Cash McAlvain connected with Beckett Robinson on a 25-yard strike on 2nd and 7.
With Sapulpa threatening at the Tahlequah 17-yard line, Tiger cornerback J.J. Antwine picked off Sapulpa quarterback Colton Howard in the endzone to end the Chieftain threat and set up shop at the Tahlequah 20-yard line after the resulting touchback.
The Tigers needed only five plays to take advantage of the turnover to take a 14-0 lead at the 3:46 mark in the first quarter when McAlvain connected with Jacob Morrison on a circus 31-yard reception in the front corner of the endzone.
The following drive looked promising for the Chieftains with a good field position at their own 40-yard line to begin the march. But a pair of consecutive holding penalties allowed the Chieftain drive to advance no further than the Tahlequah 42-yard line over seven plays.
After Sequoyah Hall’s punt landed in the endzone, Tahlequah needed only two plays to extend its lead to 21-0 at the 11:48 mark in the second quarter when McAlvain connected with Robinson on a 74-yard strike.
The Chieftains’ first points of the contest came at the 6:34 mark of the second quarter on a 12-play, 75-yard drive that gobbled up 5:07 of the quarter ended with a six-yard touchdown run by Sapulpa quarterback Colton Howard, putting the score at 21-6 in favor of the visitors after a fumbled extra point attempt.
The Chieftain defense came up big on the next Tiger possession after holding Tahlequah to its first four-and-out of the contest. On a drive that began at the Tahlequah 14-yard line and ended at the Tahlequah four-yard line, The Chieftains caught a break after a 29-yard rush by McAlvain to midfield was called back on a Tiger holding penalty.
Sapulpa’s defensive stand set up a Chieftain score on the following drive that began at the Tahlequah 39-yard line. The Chieftains needed only four plays and 1:20 to find the endzone again on a five-yard Howard rush to narrow the Chieftain deficit to 21-12 with 3:03 left in the second quarter.
But Tahlequah wasn’t content to take a flimsy nine-point lead into the half. The Tigers went with the old hook and ladder on 2nd down and 18 at the Tiger 39-yard line when McAlvain pitched the ball to wide receiver Race Stopp who dished the ball to tight end Brayden Northington who made his way into the endzone, setting his Tigers with a 28-12 lead with 46.5 seconds left in the half.
Sapulpa’s half-ending drive looked promising when the Chieftains took over at their own 26-yard line and rode Howard’s arm and leg to the Tahlequah 28-yard line before time expired. Howard accounted for 14 passing yards and 18 yards on the ground and was helped out by a Tiger pass interference penalty before the half ended on a Tiger unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
Coach Holt said despite going into the second half at a two-score loss, he saw the momentum of the Chieftains already beginning to shift before time ran out. “We know what kind of a football team we are,” Holt said. “We were able to go down and get a touchdown and cut it to a two-score game before the half and we just told everybody at halftime, ‘we get the ball, so let’s go make it a one-score game and once we do that, it’s game on.’ and we were able to do that.”
The Chieftains came out swinging in the third quarter, taking the half’s opening kickoff and grinding out an 11-play, 69-yard march that ended with Smith finding the endzone on a nine-yard rush from on 2nd and goal and adding a two-point conversion to narrow the Chieftain deficit to eight at 28-20 in favor of the visitors at the 8:22 mark in the third quarter. Smith had seven carries for 39 yards on the drive.
The Tigers looked primed to cushion their lead on their next drive. Tahlequah took possession at their own 32-yard line at the 8:17 mark in the quarter and marched to the Chieftain 10-yard line on McAlvain’s passing before the Chieftain defense held Tahlequah to a fourth down and eight, and to three points to put the visitors’ lead at 31-20 at the 2:51 mark in the third quarter.
The Tiger field goal was just the boost the Chieftains needed. Sapulpa narrowed the gap to 31-26 at the 10:57 mark of the fourth quarter when Smith again found the endzone on a second and goal rush from the Tiger two-yard line to cap an 11-play, 65-yard drive that saw Smith rush eight times for 40 yards.
But the play of the game for Sapulpa came on Tahlequah’s next possession. A bobbled kickoff return found the Tigers buried at their own eight-yard line to begin the drive. A false start and holding penalty pulled the Tigers back to their own two-yard line when what appeared to be a fumble recovery in the endzone by Chieftain defensive back Christian Sonich looked to add seven to the Chieftain tally. The play, however, was ruled intentional grounding against the Tigers. A Tahlequah intentional grounding penalty in their own endzone resulted in a safety and two points on the next play to narrow the Tiger lead to 31-28 at the 10:34 mark of the fourth quarter.
“That was huge for us,” Coach Holt said. “That was a huge momentum boost for us. The defense gave us three really good stops (in the second half).
With lady momentum decidedly on the Chieftain sideline, Sapulpa took the following kickoff and marched to the Tiger three-yard line, fueled by a 35-yard Smith rush from the Tahlequah 49-yard line. But the Chieftain offense turned the ball over on a fumble at the Tahlequah three-yard line to end the drive. The fumble was the Chieftains’ only turnover of the evening.
After the Chieftain defense held the Tigers scoreless on their next drive, the home team took its first lead of the contest with 5:57 left in the game when Smith busted loose on a 38-yard rush on first down and 10 to give the Chieftains a 35-31 advantage after Cavin Peper’s charity point.
But the Tigers weren’t done, clawing back to a 38-35 lead with 2:07 left in the match when McAlvain found an open Robinson for a 20-yard touchdown toss.
Sapulpa’s final go-ahead possession began with 1:59 left in the game, and with good field position at their own 44-yard line. Again, it was a methodical ground attack and Smith’s powerful legs that carried the Chieftains to a 41-38 lead with 19.6 seconds left to seal the 41-38 Chieftain victory.
“I think the key word tonight for us was resiliency,” Holt said. “I think it’s part of the culture we’re trying to create here—you just keep getting hit and keep getting hit and get hit with adversity and we just kept coming back from it.
“They really showed their character tonight as a football team,” Holt said. “I’m really, really proud.”
The Chieftains take their 1-1 record on the road next week when they pay a visit to the Bartlesville Bruins before opening district play at home against Durant on September 22.
