By Ron Holt

OWASSO – Despite very little going their way, Bixby’s young Spartans were within striking distance of host Owasso with eight minutes left in the annual Battle of the Burbs here last Friday night.

Owasso, however, responded like it had often in the season opener with a pair of big plays to ignite the Rams to a stunning 40-21 victory, ending top-ranked Bixby’s 16-game winning streak in front of a large Owasso Stadium crowd.

Bixby, winners of 74 of its last 76 games, works to regroup this week in preparation for Sand Springs, which visits Lee Snider Stadium Friday (Sept. 6). Kickoff in the annual Military Appreciation game is set for 7 p.m.

At the 8:22 mark of the fourth quarter, Bixby trailed the Rams 26-21 after a seven-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Carson Kirby to junior Nathan Gonzales and extra-point kick by junior Bradley Tao.

Owasso wasted little time regaining the momentum driving for a one-yard touchdown run – sparked by a 42-yard pass play on second-and-13 – expanding its lead to 33-21 with 6:31 showing. After Bixby failed on fourth down deep in Spartan territory, the Rams scored a short-range TD with 1:56 left to seal the win.

The Spartans struggled throughout with turnovers and the inability to capitalize when the Spartans put themselves in position to score. The defense gave up 467 yards of total offense to the Rams and Bixby’s special teams gave up a 99-yard kickoff return.

“It was ugly. They gave us opportunities to get in it, but we didn’t take advantage,” Bixby’s 15^th-year head coach Loren Montgomery said afterward. “We had opportunities but when we had to dig down deep, we didn’t. They have some veteran kids and talented kids.

“We’ve got to eliminate the little things. We just had a lot of inexperienced guys and we weren’t very tough. The film will be great … it’ll be hard to watch but we’ll grow up from it. If we don’t it’ll be a long season. Winning isn’t easy. I did see enough out of these guys to think we can be good,” he added.

Owasso, which lost to the Spartans four straight games over the past two seasons, captured the early advantage after a five-yard TD run by Chris Zaferes at the 12-minute mark of the game’s opening possession for a 7-0 lead.

Bixby answered with a lengthy drive which ended on senior Cooper Parker’s two-yard touchdown plunge with 7:45 showing in the first stanza. Tao kicked the extra point tying the game at 7-all. The drive was highlighted by a 23-yard pass from Kirby to junior Cetcher DeHart on third-and-eight and Kirby’s 23- yard pass to Gonzales.

Midway through the second quarter, No. 4 Owasso had a bad snap on a punt attempt with Bixby taking over at the OHS 17-yard line. The Spartans drove to the Ram 11-yard line before a Kirby pass was intercepted at the one.

Owasso scored on a 28-yard pass play from quarterback Drew Frankenfield to Tahkari Bethel but threw an incompletion on a two-point pass attempt to lead the Spartans 13-7 entering the second quarter and into the halftime break.

The Rams scored on another Frankenfield-to-Bethel TD pass for 28 yards at the 8:22 mark of the third quarter but failed on a conversion run to lead 19-7. Bixby battled back to make it a 19-14 game after Cord Nolan’s three-yard TD run late in the third quarter. A 67-yard -pass from Kirby to Nolan highlighted the scoring drive.

Bixby’s momentum was short-lived as Owasso’s Bethel, a junior transfer from Tulsa Washington, returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a TD while expanding the Rams’ lead to 26-14 with 1:39 showing in the third frame.

The Spartans’ veteran tandem of linebacker-quarterback Parker and linebacker-tight end Nolan made plays both ways while helping their team continue rallying from behind. The two leaders were disappointed in the outcome but confident in the Spartans’ ability to bounce back.

Parker ended with 38 yards rushing and one TD on nine carries while also being credited with a team high 12 total tackles, including nine unassisted tackles and one tackle for a loss.

“This team has a lot of potential, but things just didn’t click tonight. We gave up too many plays like a kickoff return and some long passes,” said Parker. “We’ll definitely use this game as a learning

experience. We’ll watch film and we’ll fix everything before next week and we’ll just keep building on that into the playoffs.

“They have a good offense, and they have linemen who are physical … they played hard tonight,” he noted of the Rams.

Nolan ended with 10 yards rushing and scored one TD on three carries while also catching two passes for 76 yards. In addition, he was credited with 10 total tackles including five solo stops.

“It was nice to keep coming back but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter since we never got any momentum going and when we did, we didn’t capitalize on it,” Nolan said. “In games like this you have to capitalize.

“It was good going against a good offense like that, so we’ll see what we need to fix. We have a lot of inexperienced guys who haven’t played together but I think we’re going to be a really good team. We’ve just got to keep having good practices and keep working … we’ll be just fine,” he said.

NEXT GAME – Sand Springs opens its season against its longtime rival. Military Appreciation activities being held prior to the 7 p.m. kickoff. The game will be aired over the Sports Animal, 97-1 FM, with Shawn Tiemann providing play- by-play coverage.

Sand Springs, ranked No. 5 in Class 6A-II, hasn’t beaten Bixby since 2015 when the Sandites won 20-0 in the regular season finale. The Spartans returned the favor three weeks later with a 38-28 victory over Sand Springs in the Class 6A-II state championship game at Union-Tuttle Stadium.

Bixby has won nine straight games in the series with Sand Springs while winning 10 of the last 11 games. Last season, the Spartans rolled to a 61-7 win at Sand Springs. In the past five games in the series, Bixby has outscored the Sandites 312-44.

Sand Springs, coached by Bobby Klinck, went 8-4 in the 2023 season. In the Class 6A-II state playoffs, the Sandites defeated Lawton (56-24) before being eliminated by Choctaw (45-15).

LEADERS – Offensively, Bixby’s Carson Kirby was 23-of-35 passing for 219 yards and one TD. He was intercepted twice. He was also the leading rusher with 66 yards on nine carries. Cord Nolan’s two catches for 76 yards paced the receiving group. Senior Blake Hogshooter had seven catches for 43 yards and Cetcher DeHart had three grabs for 28 yards.

Defensively, Parker and Nolan topped the Spartans in tackles while junior linebacker Dawson Madden finished with seven tackles. Senior Brooks Dixon, junior Trey McGlothlin and junior Maverick Nance each had five total tackles.

NOTABLES – Spartan captains were Parker Cooper, Cord Nolan, Braeden Presley and Dylan Jones. … The 40 points Owasso scored were the most against the Spartans since Jenks scored 41 in a 42-41 loss at Bixby in the 2020 season. … Bixby’s Braeden Presley returned a kickoff 47 yards at Owasso. … Spartan junior defensive back Emory Snyder intercepted Owasso quarterback Drew Frankenfield in the second quarter. … Bixby averaged 4.6 yards per rushing play and 9.3 yards per passing plays while Owasso averaged six yards rushing and 19.4 yards passing. … Owasso finished with 467 total offensive yards while Bixby ended with 397 yards of total offense. … Bixby’s 21 points at Owasso were the fewest points scored by the Spartans since a 28-14 loss to Jenks in 2018. … In the Daily Oklahoman’s Class 6A-1 trankings, Bixby dropped to No. 3 behind No. 1 Owasso and No. 2 Jenks. Following the Spartans, in order, were Tulsa Union, Norman North, Deer Creek, Mustang, Broken Arrow, Moore and Edmond Memorial. … After playing Sand Springs the Spartans will have an open date on Friday (Sept. 13) before wrapping up non-district play at Choctaw on Friday, Sept. 20.

OWASSO 40, BIXBY 21

First Quarter

OHS – Chris Zaferes 5 run (Noah Hill kick) BHS – Cooper Parker 2 run (Bradley Tao kick)

OHS – Tahkari Bethel 28 pass from Drew Frankenfield (pass failed)

Third Quarter

OHS – Bethel 28 pass from Frankenfield (run failed) BHS – Cord Nolan 4 run (Tao kick)

OHS – Bethel 99 kickoff return (Hill kick)

Fourth Quarter BHS – Nathan Gonzales 7 pass from Carson Kirby (Tao kick) OHS – Frankenfield 1 run (Hill kick)

OHS – Jayson Moll 12 run (Hill kick)