Jackets finally extinguish Purcell

If you’d have told Reagan Roof before last Friday night’s game at Purcell that his team would be driving in the final minute to attempt to secure the maximum of 15 district points, he probably would have taken it.

If you’d have told Roof with 8:00 to go in the game that the same scenario was in play, he’d want to know what in the world happened.

What did happen was KHS defeated the Dragons 57-42 on the road.

Jhett Birdwell ran in a 5-yard touchdown and then added a two-point conversion with just over 30 seconds left to extend Kingfisher’s lead.

The Jackets’ fourth straight win moved them to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in District 3A-1.

They did get those 15 district points.

“Every one of them is valuable,” said Roof. “We learned that last year.”

Indeed we did as Week 10 became a roller coaster of possibilities as every point scored between KHS and Plainview brought about a plethora of possibilities for playoff destinations.

“We know we’re going to be in a fight again this year,” Roof said. “And you have to assume the teams we’re battling with for those spots are also going get those 15 points against Purcell, so we needed to do it, too.”

At halftime - and also with just over half of the fourth quarter remaining that looked more like a probability and not a possibility.

The Jackets had three first-half takeaways and, on two of them, scored on the very next play to lead by three touchdowns at the break.

The Dragons cut down on their offensive miscues in the second half and began to churn out more yards and more touchdowns, but they couldn’t stop the Jackets.

Kasen Blair’s 1-yard touchdown plunge with 8:38 to play gave KHS a 4927 advantage.

But the Dragons still had fire left in their breath.

They marched 80 yards and pulled within two scores when Liam Cummings scored on a 4-yard run, then converted the two-point play.

That made the score 4935 with 3:44 remaining.

Purcell then recovered an onside kick, giving the Dragons the ball in Kingfisher territory.

One play later, Deaken Dobbins hit Cash Cook across the middle and it turned into a 45-yard touchdown.

Suddenly Kingfisher’s comfortable lead was looking like an improbable collapse.

The Dragons once again attempted an onside kick, but the Jackets’ Cale Reagan pounced on it to secure possession for KHS.

With 3:10 to play, the Jackets had two goals in mind: Maintain possession to secure the win, but also try to hit that 15-point mark in score differential.

“We knew we couldn’t let them have the ball back because we hadn’t stopped them in the second half,” Roof said.

The ensuing drive faced early opposition as Kingfi sher was looking at a 3rdand- 9. Birdwell connected with Jackson Willbanks near the visitors’ sideline. Willbanks broke a tackle, then powered through three Dragon defenders to attain the necessary yardage to move the chains and extend the drive.

Ultimately, Kingfisher scored.

And that was the theme of the night for the KHS offense, which found the end zone on eight of its 10 drives. The lone shortfalls were a fumble and punt in the first half.

Brett Calamateo played a big part in several of those touchdowns.

On the second play from scrimmage, Calamateo took a pitch from Birdwell, which drew the attention of every player in a red uniform.

That left Carter Stephenson wide open behind the Purcell defense and Calamateo’s halfback pass fell into his waiting arms.

Stephenson did the rest, outrunning the Dragons for a 72-yard touchdown.

After the teams traded punts, Kingfisher’s defense got the first of its three takeaways.

Izak Oaks pounced on a Dragon fumble to give KHS the ball at Purcell’s 26.

On the very next play, Birdwell ran around the Dragon defenders for a score and a 14-0 KHS lead.

The momentum briefly turned Purcell’s direction when Cooper Selman took the ensuing kickoff back 96 yards for a touchdown.

But, in what became a theme the rest of the night, Kingfisher’s offense answered.

The Jackets drove 65 yards on a scoring drive that saw Calamateo finish it on a 10-yard run. It was set up, in part, by a 45-yard reception by Stephenson.

The defense struck again as Eduardo De La Torre jumped on a Purcell fumble.

The next play saw Birdwell find Willbanks for a 34-yard touchdown connection and a 28-7 lead.

Purcell found some life on offense and drove into the Kingfisher red zone, but Calamateo ended it when he picked off Dobbins’ pass in the end zone.

That turned out to be Dobbins’ lone incompletion of the night.

And it also turned into the second and last drive in which KHS didn’t score.

The Jackets fumbled it back over to Purcell, giving the Dragons a short 14-yard field. They turned it into a Dobbins 1-yard run to pull within 28-14 with 4:43 to go.

But, once again, Kingfisher’s offense punched right back.

The Jackets drove 70 yards and Calamateo capped it off with a 29-yard scoring run, pushing their lead to 35-14 with 3:28 to go.

The defense denied Pur- cell’s offense to end the half, which proved to be big… and also proved to be the last time it happened in the game.

The home team got the ball first in the second half and marched down for the first of four touchdown drives in the half.

The first two ended with Dobbins pushing it in from 1 yard out each time.

In between them, Calamateo got his third rushing TD of the game as he scored on a 37-yard run.

Purcell’s second TD came near the end of the third quarter and KHS answered with the drive that saw Blair get his rushing touchdown.

In short, neither team got a stop in the second half.

Roof praised his offense for always finding an answer.

“They obviously executed really well,” he said. They answered every time they needed to and that was big.”

Part of the reason, he said, was playing clean.

KHS had just four penalties for 32 yards.

“One holding call on any of those drives could have derailed it,” he said. “But they played a pretty clean game.”

Roof said the offensive front consisting of Carson Swafford, Briar Kester, Boston Kostka, Donovan Dunn and Taegen Pool continues to show improvement each week.

They paved the way for 473 total yards of offense.

Birdwell was 11 of 15 for 156 yards and a touchdown.

Stephenson’s two receptions netted him 119 yards.

Willbanks had three catches for 57 yards and six different Jackets caught at least one pass.

The ground game was the best its been all season as it averaged 7.9 yards a carry and totaled 245 yards.

Birdwell managed 79 yards on seven carries and his two scores.

Calamateo had the big night with 149 yards on 19 attempts. He had three rushing touchdowns to go with his passing TD.

And then there was the defense, which gave up 443 yards.

The Jackets had the three takeaways in the first half, but couldn’t deny Purcell in the second.

After review, Roof was more inclined to credit Purcell and the coaching staff than truly lay blame on his players.

“We didn’t tackle very well and that’s on us,” Roof said. “We’ve got to tackle better than we did.

“But, he added, people who run that kind of offense (flexbone) and run it well know how to counter everything you throw at them. Once they figured out what we were doing, they did some really good stuff and they also showed a lot of things they hadn’t done all season.”

And, said Roof, when Kingfisher tried its own counter, Purcell had good answers.

“It was really a credit to them and their staff and the job they did,” Roof said. “I was less upset with our guys, especially after watching film.”

Willbanks led the defense with 10 tackles.

Brody Boeckman and freshmen Collin Farrar and Jayzen Surveyor had seven stops apiece.

Reagan had six and forced a fumble. Oaks had two tackles for a loss, forced a fumble and recovered one.

Now the Jackets turn their attention to Heritage Hall, the district favorite that visits on Friday night.

The Chargers are also 4-1 and 2-0. They’ve defeated North Rock Creek 48-12 and Anadarko 52-14 in district games.

“Business picks up, but it’s always like that with them,” Roof said. “They’re really good and they always give you a lot of stuff you have to prepare for, both on offense and defense.”