Nearly five minutes into a fourth-quarter drive, it appeared Cashion was primed to head back east down State Highway 33 with a victory in hand.

The Wildcats started their possession at their own 7 just over a minute into the fourth and with the scored knotted up against Kingfisher.

Mixing some passes and running plays, the Wildcats methodically were marching down the field, then were aided when the Jackets drew an unsportsmanlike penalty.

That gave the Wildcats a 1st and 10 at the Kingfisher 34 with about seven minutes to play in the game.

The momentum belonged to the visitors.

And then it didn’t. The Jackets got three massive plays in the span of the next four snaps of the game and eventually emerged with a 20-14 win in the first matchup between the two schools in - apparently - more than 100 years.

“It was a fun game, it was a cool environment and I thought our guys competed extremely hard,” said Cashion coach Lynn Shackelford. “I’m glad we’re finally playing them and I hope we have a lot more games with them like that.”

After the penalty, Kingfisher’s Eduardo De La Torre rushed in from the defensive end spot to sack Kellen Smith for a six yard loss.

On the next play, Jayzen Surveyor blitzed from his linebacker position and was mostly untouched as he leveled Smith.

Braydon Livingston joined Surveyor on the sack, which dislodged the ball from Smith’s hands.

De La Torre came away with it right at midfield with 5:50 left in the game.

After a short gain on first down, the Jackets got their biggest offensive play of the game.

Brett Calamateo, whose offensive status was unknown entering the night, dropped a pass to Brody Boeckman, who beat his cover man in the slot and was streaking down the inside seam of the field.

Boeckman reached out at the 20 and made a fingertip grab before racing into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.

Going into the night, it was assumed Calamateo would play some offense, but his ability to throw was doubtful at best.

The would-be starting quarterback chipped a bone in his throwing hand about 10 days prior, leaving him unable to grip a ball.

That nudged sophomore River Roof into the starting lineup at quarterback.

As Calamateo’s health continued to improve, he was upgraded to a starter on defense, but still doubtful on offense.

As last week progressed, it became apparent Calamateo would at least be able to run with the ball, so some packages were installed with him in the Wildcat formation.

There still was no expectation of him being able to throw it.

“I guess late in the game, his adrenaline was going pretty good and he felt like he could throw one,” said KHS head coach Reagan Roof, whose Jackets won a season opener for the first time since 2021.

“So we tried it…and it worked out.”

Calamateo missed the extra- point, meaning a Cashion answer could still spell doom for the home team.

However, Kingfisher’s defense held and forced a Cashion punt with 4:00 left in the game.

The Wildcats never got it back.

Drew Snider picked up 12 yards on a pair of carries and Roof the QB connected on passes of 23 yards to Collin Farrar and 7 yards to Carter Stephenson.

Facing a 4th and 7 with under 2 minutes to play, Kingfisher iced the game when Farrar went low to haul in a 10-yard pass.

Cashion was out of timeouts and Kingfisher went into victory formation.

“The thing I’m pleased with the most is, toward the end of the game when we had to bow up and battle back, we did just that,” Roof said. “We were able to find a way to win the game.”

But it was just that - a battle - from the start.

Cashion faced a thirdand- long on the game’s opening drive, but two of its best playmakers connected for the game’s first big play. Smith found Rival Fields down the seam for what turned into an 80-yard gain.

Fourplayslater,onfourth down, Smith plunged in from the 1 to give the Wildcats the early 7-0 lead.

The Jackets answered right back and marched 64 yards for the tying touchdown.

That came from Calamateo, who was in at running back and found a gap that allowed him to score from 12 yards out.

But after that, both offenses went stagnant for much of the rest of the half.

“I thought our defense did a good job of mixing up schemes throughout and it really was effective in the first half,” Roof said.

The Wildcats managed just 20 yards in the second quarter and also had the biggest in a series of miscues by both teams.

After Kingfisher botched a short punt return that would have given the Jackets excellent field position, Cashion was set up at the Jackets’ 22 with 5:41 left in the half.

However, Surveyor stepped in front of a Smith pass and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown, giving the Jackets a seven- point lead they’d take into halftime.

Kingfisher’s offense was more productive, but it didn’t result in points.

“There was also some sloppiness on our part and some unfortunate calls that put us in a situation where it was a four-quarter battle,” Roof said.

Kingfisher was flagged nine times for 77 yards in the first half, most of them of the holding variety.

In both the first and second halves, the Jackets had multiple big plays called back due to a penalty.

“Those were just drive killers because we went from scoring on a play or getting close to not being able to score on those drives,” Roof said. “We were just shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Kingfisher had some sophomores keeping drives going as well.

Snider made his debut in a Jacket uniform after missing all of last season with a torn ACL.

He delivered 160 yards on 15 carries, which included some big runs and some punishing short ones as well.

“We talked all offseason about being able to run the ball more effectively,” Roof said. “And Drew gave us that weapon. If we cut back on penalties, he has an even bigger night.”

The younger Roof, meanwhile, was 14 of 17 through the air for 128 yards and no turnovers.

“He did everything we could have asked of a 15-year-old sophomore making his first start,” Roof said of his son.

Outsized and outmanned depth-wise, Cashion refused to wilt.

The Wildcats forced a three-and-out on Kingfisher’s opening possession of the second half.

They commenced to drive 96 yards to tie the game.

Smith found Fields for a 12-yard score to make it 14-14 at 5:01 of the third quarter.

The teams traded punts before Kingfisher offered the next big play.

Snider burst through the line and had open field in front of him.

Grayson Davis, possibly the only Wildcat with the speed to track down Snider, did just that.

The senior’s touchdown saving tackle came after a 57-yard gain at the Cashion 12.

It proved to be an even bigger effort when the Jackets ultimately turned it over on downs, setting up Cashion’s long fourth quarter drive.

Smith finished the game 15 of 31 through the air for 187 yards. He had the one TD pass and was picked off twice overall.

Fields caught four passes for 133 yards and Davis nine for 57.

Cashion managed just 76 yards on 27 carries. Hank Brown got 16 attempts and they resulted in 43 yards.

“I was most disappointed with our inability to run the ball more consistently,” Shackelford said. “That’s something we’re going to have to figure out as the season progresses so we aren’t one-dimensional.”

Both coaches admitted their teams were tired.

“The conditions were brutal,” said Shackelford as the temperatures still hovered in the triple digits at kickoff.

It was his team’s second game while KHS was playing for the first time.

“It’s impossible to have your guys in game shape without playing a game,” Roof said.

But Kingfisher was able to roll out just a few more players.

“Our depth helped us,” Roof said. “We were able to rotate some guys and had someone from just about every class - whether a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior - contribute.”

That included allowing Calamateo spell Snider at running back.

Despite the injured hand, he gave the Jackets 30 yards on eight carries.

Stephenson and Farrar both caught five passes for the Jackets.

Stephenson’s covered 58 yards and Farrar’s another 51. Boeckman’s two catches totaled 56 yards.

Sam Williams led Cashion’s defense with eight stops.

Andrew Stockton, who also had kicking duties, was in on six tackles.

Gage Jeffries and Davis delivered five tackles apiece.

But other than special teams, Cashion wasn’t able to produce a takeaway.

Kingfisher’s defense forced three turnovers with two of them looming large in the game’s outcome.

Surveyor didn’t just grab a pick-six and force a fumble. The sophomore also led the Jackets with nine tackles.

De La Torre chipped in eight tackles and Snider had seven from his linebacker spot.

“I thought our effort as really, really good, especially on the defensive front,” Shackelford said. “One thing that worried me was their size and how that would affect us as the game went on.

“But I felt we probably got better stopping the run as the game progressed. But our line and our linebackers were at least as good as them and created some stalemates and made some plays.”

Cashion (1-1) travels to Fairview this week for its final non-district game.

Roof said, after watching film, there were some opportunities for Kingfisher to potentially gain some breathing room and possibly pull away.

It never happened. “A lot of credit goes to Cashion for coming in and playing hard and never backing down,” he said. “But we hurt ourselves a bunch and that’s stuff we have to get fixed.”

The Jackets will do that this week as they prepare for the Clinton Red Tornadoes on what will be homecoming night.

Clinton is 2-0 and coming off a 29-19 victory against Blanchard.

“They’ve got a new staff and they do a few things different than your typical Clinton team,” said Roof. “But it’s still Clinton and they still want to be physical and run it right at you.”