Stinging defeat

Several days later and Reagan Roof still wasn’t over it.

“It was an inexcusable loss,” said the Kingfisher High School head football coach referring to his team’s 21-14 setback at Anadarko last Friday.

“We had a lot of things go wrong and most were self-inflicted,” he said. “You can’t make those mistakes and beat good teams and now we’ve backed ourselves into a corner.”

That corner is a mustwin situation this Friday at No. 6 Plainview in order to avoid a third straight trip to Sulphur for the first round of the playoffs. The previous two have resulted in losses by a combined score of 108-7.

KHSlostdespiteout-gaining the Warriors by 78 yards, more than doubling them up in first downs, having onethird as many penalties and evening out on turnovers.

But those self-inflicted wounds Roof mentioned proved to be pivotal.

The first came on Kingfisher’s initial offensive snap of the game.

After the Jacket defense stuffed Anadarko on a 4th-and-1 at the Jacket 19, quarterback Jhett Birdwell was stripped when flushed from the pocket.

Anadarko recovered, setting up a 14-yard touchdown drive that saw Troy Pendarvis score on a 6-yard run.

Kasen Blair’s kickoff return gave the Jackets position at midfield, but the KHS drive ended with a missed 29-yard field goal attempt, the first to not go through the uprights for Rhett Schlegel this season.

However, the Jacket defense stepped up as Hayes White picked off a Jason Kawaykla pass and returned it to the Warrior 34 early in the second quarter.

After Kingfisher went backward on two plays, Birdwell scrambled on third down, broke a number of tackles and eventually scored on a 38-yard run to tie the game.

Before the end of the half, the Jackets had the ball stripped on a punt return and also saw a drive inside of the Anadarko red zone come up fruitless.

But the Jackets appeared ready to take control in the second half.

The offense took 4:30 off the clock in driving the field to open the half, which included a third-down pass from Birdwell to White that covered 42 yards.

The drive was capped by Birdwell’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Brett Calamateo for a 14-7 lead at the 7:30 mark of the quarter.

“We had it where we needed it,” said Roof about the game’s momentum.

But, by 7:13 the game was once again tied.

Malahkie Beaver returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, starting a rough stretch for the special teams for the Jackets.

The Jackets were forced to punt from their own territory on the next drive.

Those duties fell to Schlegel as the team’s regular punter, Blair, left the game with a hip injury in the first half and didn’t return.

Schlegel was under pressure on his punt attempt and just got it out of harm’s way.

However, it went more sideways than downfield and Anadarko was posted up at the Jacket 27 midway through the third.

The Warriors capitalized as Kawaykla found Beaver for a 14-yard touchdown and a 21-14 lead at 4:08 of the third quarter.

“That 27-yard drive was their longest scoring drive of the night,” Roof said. “That’s just one of the frustrating things.” The Jackets again drove to the doorstep of the Anadarko red zone, but turned it over on downs early in the fourth.

The Warriors threatened to add to their lead on the ensuing drive, but Carter Stephenson intercepted Kawaykla at the goal line.

The Jackets eventually had to punt on that possession and only got one more crack at tying the game.

Starting at their own 21, the Jackets made their last gasp.

It seemed that gasp would end early as Kingfisher quickly faced a 4th and 8.

However, on the run, Birdwell floated a pass over the middle that freshman Collin Farrar leapt up to snatch out of the air for a 37yard gain to the Warrior 40.

On the next play, White drew a pass interference call and the Jackets were in business at the 25.

The Jackets crept even closer with an 8-yard pass to Farrar and a five-yard penalty on the Warriors, giving them a 1st and 10 at the 12.

That’s when it unraveled.

Birdwell’s next pass to the end zone fell incomplete.

On second down, Birdwell was flushed straight back by the Anadarko pressure and flung the ball downfield.

He was flagged for grounding, meaning a loss of yardage and down.

However, it took the officials several minutes to determine if it was third down (correct) or fourth (not correct).

Eventually they got it right, but it was still 3rd and 33. After an 11-yard pass to Farrar, KHS still faced a 4th and 24 and Birdwell’s final pass attempt fell incomplete.

He finished the game 20 of 32 for 223 yards, but was continually under attack.

Farrar proved to be his top target with eight catches for 96 yards.

That was almost by necessity as injuries proved to be another subplot in the contest.

Blair was just one of the casualties.

Calamateo separated his left shoulder making a tackle in the second quarter and left the game.

He eventually returned, but could only play on offense.

Jackson Willbanks also left the game in the first half with an Achilles injury and, like Blair, didn’t return.

That’s a trio of two-way starters plus a punter missing significant action.

Then in the second half, starting defensive lineman T.J. Washington was rolled up and couldn’t finish the game with an injured ankle.

Roof was unsure as of Monday afternoon on the availability of any of the four at Plainview.

With Willbanks and Blair unavailable to catch passes much of the game, White stepped up with four catches for 74 yards. Stephenson added two for 38.

The Jackets had just 89 rushing yards on 34 attempts.

Birdwell gained 65 on the ground, but also lost some big yards on sacks and only netted 34.

Cade Hightower garnered six carries and totaled 34 rushing yards.

The Jackets allowed just 234 total yards.

Eduardo De La Torre led the team with seven stops.

Izak Oaks and Stephenson had five apiece.

The loss dropped the Jackets to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in District 3A-1.

They are currently in a tie with Anadarko for third, though the Warriors have the head-to-head advantage.

Both are behind Heritage Hall (6-0), which is the district champ, and Plainview (5-1).

The other key district game this week is Anadarko at North Rock Creek.

If Anadarko and Kingfi sher win, it will set up a three-way tie for second place with Plainview and bring into play the district points.

The Jackets (currently with 38 points) would need to win by eight or more points to surpass Plainview (currently with 53) for second in the district.

Anadarko is currently at 22 points and can’t catch either KHS or Plainview in that scenario.

An Anadarko win plus a KHS victory by seven or fewer points places the Jackets third in the district behind Plainview.

A KHS win coupled with an Anadarko loss would put KHS second, Plainview third and the Warriors fourth.

Any KHS loss puts the Jackets in fourth place.

“That’s what makes last week’s loss even tougher to stomach,” Roof said. “We’d be in a much better position this week had we won.”