By Ron Holt
Bixby was in attack mold in all three phases of the game here last Friday night at Lee Snider Field as the top-ranked Spartans celebrated Football Homecoming with a 79-7 victory over No. 10 Enid in a Class 6A-I-District 1 game.
The Spartans, winners of 67 of their last 68 games and nine games in a row, are 6-0 this season and improved to 3-0 in the district race. Enid dipped to 2-4 overall and to 1-2 in the league.
Attacking on offense, defense and special teams, Bixby erupted for 38 first quarter points and scored 34 second quarter points in rolling to a 72-0 lead over the Plainsmen at halftime. Bixby compiled 428 yards of total offense while the defense intercepted five Enid passes, returning three for touchdowns, while
special teams contributed a blocked punt which was recovered for a touchdown.
“I think they were missing three starters on defense and obviously that hurt them. They had a pretty good game plan coming out throwing the ball,” Bixby’s head coach Loren Montgomery said afterward. “They moved the ball pretty well, but our guys settled in and then we had the barrage of interceptions and things snowballed on them.
“We were nervous because of the unorthodox things they do defensively but our guys did a good job. And we did a good job blocking for our quarterback,” he added. “We got good production from every unit.”
Enid took the opening kickoff and went on an eight-play drive covering 40 yards before three straight penalties on the Plainsmen and a failed fourth down pass play turned the ball over to the Spartans, who
put together a 10-play drive which ended in senior Jett Turner’s eight-yard touchdown run. Troy Nguyen’s conversion kick gave BHS a 7-0 lead at the 9:07 mark of the first stanza.
Bixby’s Cody Crull blocked an Enid punt after the Plainsmen’s next drive stalled and the ball was
recovered in the end zone by senior Colton Kaiser for a touchdown. Cooper Parker ran for the two-point conversion and 15-0 BHS lead with 4:54 left in the first quarter.
Crull provided another big play at the 4:10 mark as he intercepted Enid quarter Israel Gonzales, returning the interception 22 yards for a TD. Quarterback Carson Kirby passed to Sam McCormick for the two-
point conversion as the Spartans expanded their lead to 23-0.
Bixby’s defense made a stand on Enid’s next drive as Campbell connected with junior receiver Karmello Washington for a 74-yard pass play to the Spartan six-yard line. It appeared Washington was touchdown bound before Turner hustled to make the tackle short of the goal line.
“For Jett Turner to chase that guy down shows the talented kid he is and the effort he gives. Getting that guy down gave us a chance,” said Rodney Flowers, Bixby’s defensive coordinator.
A couple of Spartan penalties kept the drive alive before Gonzales was sacked twice as the Plainsmen turned the ball over at Bixby’s 10-yard line.
The Spartans used a 28-yard pass play from Kirby to Crull to get them out of a hole before ending the drive on a three-yard TD run by Turner and a two-point conversion pass from Kirby to McCormick as the hosts led 31-0 with 2:27 remaining in the quarter.
“We knew we had to come out fast and set the tone,” said Turner, who rushed seven times for 49 yards and three TDs and passed for a TD while also excelling on defense. “I give all the credit on offense to all the offensive linemen … I couldn’t do it without them.
“On defense I was just doing my job. We knew they were a heavy pass team but if the D-line did the job and got pressure that we could make plays in the secondary,” he added.
Before the first quarter ended, Bixby added another TD as linebacker Trey McGlothlin returned a pass interception 25 yards for a touchdown. Nguyen’s conversion kick gave BHS a 38-0 lead.
Turner scored from 16 yards out and Nguyen booted the conversion kick at 10:41 of the second quarter for a 44-0 Spartan lead before McCormick had a pick-six from 26 yards out for a 52-0 lead. Turner
connected with Parker for an 11-yard TD pass play with 7:53 left as the lead grew to 59-0.
The scoring outburst continued as Kirby ran 10 yards for a touchdown and Trey Pawley ran three yards for a score, giving Bixby the 72-0 halftime advantage.
In the second half, which featured a continuous running clock, Enid managed its only score – a five-yard TD pass from Gonzales to Zyire Allen. Bixby’s last score came on a one-yard TD by freshman
quarterback Barrett Standley. It was the first varsity TDs for Pawley and Standley.
Offensively, Bixby’s Kirby was 12-of-13 passing for 177 yards. Vaughn caught six passes for 94 yards while Stone Turner had 66 yards on five receptions.
Besides the interceptions, Bixby’s defense dominated Enid’s offense, which was limited to 205 total offensive yards including 22 rushing yards on five attempts. The Plainsmen ended with six first downs and were 0-for-8 on third downs.
“The kids played really well tonight,” coach Flowers said. “This team won a big game last week and we wondered what they would come out with this week. The kids did a great job in practice this week, we threw a lot of wrinkles at them. And the coaching staff did a really good job of preparing the team this week.
“It definitely was a fun night. The kids were making their reads and making plays. They (Enid) didn’t run a run play until the end of the second half, so we had a lot of guys dropping underneath for passes. Three of our four outside backers ended up getting into the end zone … good for them,” he added.
NEXT GAME – The Spartans return to the road Friday (Oct. 13) to play the Broken Arrow Tigers in a district game starting at 7 p.m. at BA’s Tiger Memorial Stadium.
Broken Arrow, coached by Josh Blankenship, is 1-5 overall this season and 1-2 in Class 6A-I-District 1 play. The Tigers fell in a high-scoring district battle at Westmoore, 42-35, last Thursday night.
“I watched them on the livestream at Westmoore and it looks like they have a good team,” coach
Montgomery said of the Tigers. “Coach Blankenship is a heckuva coach … we’ll have to be ready to play.”
This season, Broken Arrow lost at home to Bentonville, Arkansas (41-0), fell at Tulsa Union (27-17), lost at Owasso (41-21), won at home against Southmoore (52-13) before losing at home to Norman North (28- 14) and at Westmoore.
Tiger quarterback Cooper Bates led BA offensively at Westmoore as he threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Ezekiel Wilson, ran 71 yards for a TD and ended the Tigers’ scoring with a one-yard plunge late. He reportedly passed for 278 yards and ran seven times for 74 yards.
BA kicker Hunter Martens kicked field goals of 35 yards and 34 yards last week while Cody Watson returned a Jaguar fumble 65 yards for a TD.
Bixby routed Broken Arrow, 77-17, in last year’s district meeting at Lee Snider Field. It was the Spartans’ first win over the Tigers during the tenure of Spartan head coach Loren Montgomery. BA defeated Bixby 28-6 in 2013, 41-7 at home in 2012 and 58-19 at home in the state quarterfinals in 2011.
Bixby erupted early last season, taking a 35-7 first quarter lead which grew to a 56-7 halftime advantage. The Spartans amassed 637 yards of total offense while limiting the Tigers to 233 total offensive yards.
NOTABLES – Bixby moved up in the national rankings last week to No. 43 by MaxPreps. …
Captains for Homecoming were Brody Duffel, Sam McCormick, Hank Puckett and Kason Hatley. Puckett was also named Homecoming King during pregame ceremonies. … Bixby sophomore defensive back
Dylan Jones had the fifth Spartan interception. … The five pass interceptions by BHS were the most since last season when the Spartans intercepted Moore six times. Senior Cale Fugate intercepted four passes,
returning two for touchdowns in the 64-7 road win. … Senior kicker Troy Nguyen has kicked 41 of 43 extra point attempts this season.
‘O’ LEADERS – Quarterback Carson Kirby leads BHS in passing, completing 68-of-91 passes for 962 yards and 15 touchdowns while being intercepted one. Quarterback Clay Peters is 21-of-26 passing for 370 yards and four TDs.
Jett Turner tops the balanced Spartan rushing attack with 250 yards on 33 carries and five touchdowns.
He averages 7.6 yards per carry. Peters has rushed for 245 yards on 28 carries, scoring five times and averaging 8.8 yards per carry. Cooper Parker has 163 yards rushing on 16 carries and four TDs.
Garret Vaughn leads the Spartans in pass receiving with 18 catches for 305 yards and five TDs. He averages 16.9 yards per catch. Cord Nolan has eight receptions for 255 yards and four touchdowns.
Kirby is tops in total yards with 76 yards rushing and 962 yards passing for 1,038 total yards. He averages
173.4 yards of total offense a game.
This season, the explosive, creative Bixby offense has amassed 1,391 yards passing and 21 touchdowns while rushing for 1,317 yards and 23 TDs.
‘D’ LEADERS – Through six games, linebacker Hank Puckett leads Bixby’s defense with 54 total
tackles, including 31 solo stops. He also has five tackles for loss, three sacks and a pass interception. He averages nine tackles per game.
Linebacker Colton Kaiser has 34 total tackles, 14 unassisted; Cooper Parker has 31 total stops, 21 unassisted, and defensive lineman Justin Kirk has 25 total tackles.
Jett Turner leads BHS in sacks with six, followed by Kirk with five and a half sacks while Puckett and Kason Hatley each are credited with three sacks each. Tyler Wright leads in pass interceptions with three. This season, Bixby defenders have intercepted 13 passes and recorded 23 sacks.
DISTRICT 1 – Bixby and Westmoore remained tied atop the Class 6A-II-District 1 standings with 3-0 records followed by Jenks, Norman North, Enid, Moore, Broken Arrow and Southmoore.
In last week’s games, Westmoore (4-2, 3-0) held off Broken Arrow, 42-35, at home, Jenks (3-3, 2-1) rolled to a 42-14 win at Norman North (4-2, 1-2) and Moore (4-2, 1-2) captured a 45-0 win at
Southmoore (0-6, 0-3).
“We talked all week about all the stuff going on in our district with this guy beating that guy. The way you control your own destiny is to keep winning,” coach Montgomery said of the district race.
District games this week besides Bixby at Broken Arrow include Enid at Westmoore, Moore at Jenks and Southmoore at Norman North.
Bixby’s non-district 2023 opponents and their results last week included Owasso (4-2) romping at Edmond North, 54-30; Springdale Har-Ber (2-4) defeated Springdale High, 41-24, and Sand Springs (3-3) fell 35-18 at Stillwater.
Bixby 79, Enid 7
First Quarter
BHS – Jett Turner 8 rush (Troy Nguyen kick), 9:07
BHS – Colton Kaiser recovered blocked punt in end zone (Cooper Parker run), 4:54
BHS – Cody Crull 22 interception return (Sam McCormick pass from Carson Kirby), 4:10 BHS – Turner 3 run (McCormick pass from Kirby), 2:27
BHS – Trey McGlothlin 25 interception return (Nguyen kick), :22
Second Quarter
BHS – Turner 16 run (Nguyen kick), 10:41
BHS – Sam McCormick 27 interception return (Nguyen kick), 8:00 BHS – Parker 11 pass from Turner (Nguyen kick), 7:53
BHS – Kirby 10 run (kick failed), 5:31
BHS – Trey Pawley 3 run (Nguyen kick), 1:50
Third Quarter
ENID – Zyire Allen 5 pass from Israel Gonzales, 12:00
Fourth Quarter
BHS – Barrett Standley 1 run (Nguyen kick), 7:00