By Ron Holt
A fast, efficient and impressive start left little doubt Bixby’s Spartans were ready to play during the opening minutes of last Friday’s home opener against Sand Springs at Lee Snider Field.
The Spartans, coming off a 44-21 season opening loss at Owasso, scored on their first three offensive possessions followed by a defensive touchdown in rolling to a 50-10 victory in front of a large Military Appreciation Night crowd.
Second-ranked Bixby evened its record at 1-1 while Class 6A-II’s No.6 Sandites fell in their season opener. The Spartans will be idle Friday (Sept. 13).
Bixby was in quick strike mode on its opening possession as junior quarterback Carson Kirby connected with senior wide receiver Blake Hogshooter for a 42-yard pass play to the Sand Springs 25-yard-line followed by a 20-yard around end sprint by Nathan Gonzales to the Sandite eight.
Three plays later, senior backup quarterback Cooper Parker bulled into the end zone from three yards out and Bradley Tao kicked the extra point for a 7-0 Spartan lead with 10:09 showing in the first quarter.
The Spartans capitalized on a 12-yard Sand Springs punt ending the Sandites first possession to go on a seven-play, 56-yard scoring drive capped off by a six-yard TD run by junior Jamel Holt. Holt was met at the three but kept moving into the end zone. Tao’s point-after kick gave BHS a 14-0 lead with 6:33 left in the opening stanza.
Sand Springs’ second drive ended when Sandite quarterback Easton Webb was sacked on fourth down by senior defensive lineman Peyton Chronister and sophomore linebacker Nathan Hobbs turning the ball over at the visitors’ 45-yard line.
Bixby quickly attacked as Kirby and Hogshooter connected again on an impressive throw and catch for a 45-yard TD on the first play of the possession. Junior Cord Nolan ran in a two-point conversion expanding Bixby’s cushion to 22-0 with 4:29 left in the first frame.
Spartan defenders got into the scoring act two plays later as Parker stepped in front of a pass by Webb for a 14-yard interception return for a TD at the 4:13 mark of the first quarter. Tao’s conversion kick made it a 29-0 lead. It was typical Spartan football.
“During the week we worked on getting the little things cleaned up … just staying focused and staying on the game plan,” said Kirby, who was 32-of-44 passing for 422 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing seven times for 50 yards and a TD.
“Coach (Tyler) Schneider did a good job working in those plays at the start and we did a good job repping them all week where we couldn’t get it wrong. We went with our tempo,” Kirby added.
The Spartans two possessions starting the second quarter ended with a punt and pass interception before the hosts went on a nine-play, 73-yard scoring drive which ended in a 14-yard TD pass play from Kirby to junior wide receiver Tyler Wright with 1:48 left before halftime. The drive featured a 23-yard burst up the middle by senior running back Bode Cairl.
Bixby sputtered offensively during the middle periods struggles hampered by a barrage of penalties as the Spartans were flagged 12 times for 125 yards.
“We did some good things early and then we were our own worst enemies … we had touchdowns called back with holding penalties and we weren’t where we needed to be … we’ve got a lot of young guys out there trying to figure things out,” Bixby head coach Loren Montgomery said afterward.
“After the fast start guys started to press instead of just running our offense. Right before half I was trying to get the ball back and then we had big penalties. We’ve just got to keep coaching them up and working hard. The two teams out here tonight were extremely young, and they made a lot of mistakes,” he added. Sand Springs benefited from Spartan penalties in avoiding the shut out as the Sandites scored on a 14- yard TD pass from Webb to Tristian Birmingham and used an extra point kick by Dawson Puckett to make it a 36-7 game at intermission.
On that Sandites’ scoring drive, an apparent pass interception by Brooks Dixon was nullified by a penalty and a personal foul penalty on BHS following a 32-yard Sandite pass play aided the drive.
After a scoreless third quarter, Bixby found its rhythm again in the fourth quarter, scoring on an 11-yard TD pass from Kirby to Hogshooter at the 10:56 mark of the quarter for a 43-7 lead.
Spartan junior defensive back Emory Snyder stopped a Sandite drive with a pass interception at the BHS two-yard line to set up the final Bixby scoring drive. A 19-yard run by Parker boosted Bixby away from its goal and another impressive throw-and-catch from Kirby to Wright resulted in a 50-yard gain, advancing Bixby to the Sandite 22-yard line.
Four plays later, Kirby ran three yards for a TD and Tao kicked the conversion for a 50-7 Spartan lead. The Sandites added a 24-yard field goal by Puckett with 2:44 remaining for the final score.
Defensively, Bixby limited Sand Springs to 222 yards of total offense – 75 yards rushing. Weekly improvement is needed but the Spartans were focused after seeing their 16-game winning streak end in the loss at Owasso.
“In our practices last week we were practicing harder and our coaches were harder on us … it put us in a mood to come out here and have a really good game,” said Spartan senior Chronister, a 6-1, 205-pound defensive lineman. “I had a personal talk with coach (Rodney) Flowers before the game and it put me in the right mind set to come out and have a good game.
“This is my first year to start … I would go in during the third and fourth quarters last year and played on special teams. It’s really exciting,” added the active Chronister, who was credited with three tackles and half a sack.
Parker led the Spartans’ defensive effort with nine total tackles, six solo stops, one tackle for loss and one pass interception. Nolan and Dixon each were credited with six total tackles while junior linebacker Dawson Madden had four tackles, two solos.
Offensively, Bixby racked up 676 total yards – 256 rushing and 420 passing. The Spartans averaged 6.7 yards per carry rushing.
“We were on a mission because we were not satisfied at all with that loss last week,” said 6-6, 303-pound senior offensive tackle Broderick Shull, a two-year starter for the Spartans. “We shouldn’t have lost that game, so we used that passion of not wanting to lose again into this week.
“We’ve still got a lot of things to work on, but I felt like line-wise we’re doing pretty good since I’m the only O-line starter back. I’d rather have lost in the beginning than win by a lot and be thinking we’re the best and then lose sometime later on,” the Auburn commitment noted.
Besides Kirby’s offensive contributions, Bixby also received seven pass receptions for 128 yards and two TDs by Hogshooter, five receptions for 138 yards and one TD by Wright and 69 yards rushing on nine carries by Cairl.
Hogshooter is off to a productive start during his senior season. After two games, he has 14 pass receptions for 171 yards and two TDs.
“Our coaches kept us dialed in this week following the loss, they know what we’ve got to do … we needed to step it up,” said the talented 6-4, 189-pound Hogshooter. “They held us accountable.
“It feels great,” he said of getting back into the end zone. “The fans go crazy and I’m jumping around with my boys, it’s all great. We’re going to take film from this game and learn from it. We’ll fix things we messed up on and fix busts we had … we’re going to get everything back right.”
These Spartans are still a work in progress in all three phases. The coaches continue working to understand this team’s identity.
“Early it felt like Bixby Spartan football. We were prepared at the start, that’s something we pride ourselves on … we’re trying to go score not trying to feel the game out. After the start I think we relaxed a little. There’s a lot of work to do, we’re not there yet,” said coach Schneider, the 14th-year offensive coordinator.
“As a coaching staff we’re learning about the team when you have that many new faces. We’re learning who’s good at what … some things we thought guys were good at they are or might not be. A good example is Tyler Wright. Tonight, we saw he is a little better at things than we realized, he had a couple of really good catches.
“We had some penalties, were a little sloppy and busted some plays. As a coaching staff we’ve got to figure out what this team is good at … we’re still trying to figure that out,” coach Schneider noted. “We took some big steps in the right direction, but we’ve got some big steps to take.”
BYE WEEK – After playing Zero Week, the Spartans will be idle this week before wrapping up non- district play at Choctaw on Friday (Sept. 20).
“We’ll have our some routine and then Wednesday we’ll do our ‘steak eater’ dinner during the bye week,” coach Montgomery said. “In year’s past during the bye week we shortened practice a little but I don’t think we’re up for that yet.”
NOTABLES – Captains for Friday’s game were Cooper Parker, Cord Nolan, Braeden Presley and Bode Cairl. … Bixby has won 75 of its past 77 games. … Bixby recorded four and half sacks against Sand Springs with Dob Doh, Dawson Madden and Joe Peters credited with one each while Nathan Hobbs, Peyton Chronister and Trenton Castleberry were credited with half a sack. … After not catching a pass last season, Tyler Wright has five receptions for 138 yards and one TD in 2024. Wright did intercept three passes from his secondary post last season, returning all three for touchdowns – two at Sand Springs and one versus Southmoore. … Emory Snyder has two pass interceptions this season. … This season, linebacker Cooper Parker leads the Spartans with 21 total tackles including 15 unassisted stops, one tackle for loss and one interception. … Against Sand Springs, Bixby had 10 players rush the ball while having 10 players catch passes. … Junior kicker Bradley Tao is nine-for-nine on extra point kicks during his first season with the Spartans.
MANAGERS – Handing a variety of behind-the-scenes duties are the 2024 Spartan football managers – Nora Grellner, Calie Helms, Bria Shepler, Addie Rowe, Karlyn Crisp, Juliana Salas, Maci Stewart and Ava Dasaulniers.
“We have a couple of girls returning as managers, but we have a bunch of new girls which is great to have that influx of new blood. They’re all young which means I’m going to have them for multiple years instead of being first time seniors,” said 13th-year Spartan offensive line coach Corbin Burchett, who is in charge of managers.
“I’ve been lucky because they all appear to be good managers, they all work hard, they show up and film really good … I couldn’t be happier. This is their second game working together but from what I saw they’re doing a good job.”
Bixby 50, Sand Springs 10
FIRST QUARTER
BHS – Cooper Parker 3 run (Bradley Tao kick), 12:00 BHS – Jamel Holt 6 run (Tao kick), 8:24
BHS – Blake Hogshooter 45 pass from Carson Kirby (Tao kick), 4:35 BHS – Parker 14 pass interception return (Cord Nolan run), 4:13
SECOND QUARTER
BHS – Tyler Wright 19 pass from Kirby (Tao kick), 3:34
SS – Tristian Birmingham 14 pass from Easton Webb (Dawson Puckett kick), 1:48
FOURTH QUARTER
BHS – Hogshooter 11 pass from Kirby (Tao kick), 12:00 BHS – Kirby 3 run (Tao kick), 9:17
SS – Puckett 24 field goal, 2:44