By Ron Holt
MOORE – Methodical early, Bixby’s unbeaten Spartans erupted midway through the first quarter for 31 points before coasting to a 66-0 Class 6A-I-District 1 victory over winless Southmoore here last Thursday night at Moore Schools Stadium.
The Spartans, Class 6A-I’s top-rated team, improved to 5-0 this season while moving to 2-0 in the district. Southmoore dropped to 0-5, 0-2. Bixby, which scored in all three phases of the game against the
Sabercats, has won 66 of its last 67 games and eight games in a row.
“I was pleased … I thought the guys did a good job of executing. We were pretty efficient. We had a
couple of penalties that held us back,” Bixby head coach Loren Montgomery said. “I was proud of our guys … our guys were dialed in, made some good plays, were physical and played hard.”
Following a short kickoff by Southmoore opening the game, Bixby started its first possession from the Sabercats’ 49-yard line.
It took the Spartans – who converted twice on fourth down – 11 plays to take the early lead on a four-yard touchdown run by quarterback Cooper Parker. Parker ran for the two-point conversion and an 8-0 Bixby lead with 9:38 showing in the first quarter.
The next Bixby possession traveled 56 yards in eight plays with senior quarterback Clay Peters hitting Garrett Vaughn with a four-yard TD pass. Parker passed to sophomore Cord Nolan for the two-point
conversion as the Spartans took a 16-0 lead at the 7:04 mark.
Bixby caught fire down the stretch of the first quarter as sophomore quarterback Carson Kirby and Vaughn combined for a 26-yard TD pass play with Kirby passing to Nolan for the two-point conversion as Bixby’s lead grew to 24-0 with 3:14 showing.
“We try to practice during the week to be ready for anything on Friday. I felt like we executed pretty well
… I should have completed some balls in the first half,” Kirby said afterward. “The whole week we had a game plan on them, and the focus was on that game plan.
“We don’t overlook any team, we just keep our eyes focused and continue to grind,” he added.
Two minutes later, Bixby sophomore Braeden Presley fielded a Southmoore punt and weaved his way through the Sabercats for a 45-yard punt return for a touchdown and 31-0 lead with 1:17 left in the
opening stanza.
“That was my first punt return for a touchdown with the varsity,” said a smiling Presley, who also has
scored on a pass reception this season. “It’s pretty exciting to return a punt. I’ve slowly been coming on because I broke my ankle in the summer, and I’ve been kinda slow getting started. I’m getting better.”
Bixby struck early in the second quarter thanks to a trick play as senior receiver Sam McCormick tossed a nine-yard TD pass to Jett Turner. Troy Nguyen kicked the conversion for a 38-0 lead with 11:22 left in the second quarter. The drive was highlighted by a 23-yard pass from Kirby to Blake Hogshooter.
Senior Hank Puckett was involved on both sides of the ball in Bixby’s next scoring drive. He recovered a fumble by Southmoore running back Jacob Carrethers to stop the Sabercats’ drive and then ended Bixby’s ensuing drive by catching a nine-yard TD pass from Kirby for a 45-0 lead with 5:06 left before halftime. Bixby’s next drive was highlighted by a 25-yard burst by Turner. On the following play, Kirby passed to 6-1, 184-pound senior receiver Yetxiel Perez for a 16-yard score. Nugyen’s conversion kick gave the Spartans a 52-0 lead with 57 seconds remaining before halftime.
Bixby ended its scoring attack in the second half – which featured a continuous running game clock – on a 32-yard TD run by sophomore Stone Turner followed by a conversion kick by Nguyen with 2:57 left in
the third quarter before sophomore Tyler Wright returned a pass interception 46 yards for a touchdown with 45 second left in the third quarter.
The touchdown reception for Perez, who moved to Bixby from Texas last summer, was the second of the season for the two-way starting Spartan.
“I’m very pleased. There’s a lot of stuff we need to work on, but I think we did a great job of executing tonight,” Perez said of the Southmoore win. “The line did a great job … we played well together. On defense we have a lot of people stepping up.”
Perez obviously faced adjustments moving to a new school during the summer, but he credits the Spartans for making the transition easier. “This team did a great job of welcoming me in and a couple of players took time off their day to introduce everything to me, they did a good job of explaining everything.
“It’s a great community, everything’s great. I just feel like now it’s home,” he added.
NEXT GAME – The Spartans return home for the annual Homecoming Game on Friday (Oct. 6) against the visiting Enid Plainsmen in a Class 6A-I-District 1 battle set to start at 7 p.m. at Lee Snider Field.
Homecoming festivities will be held prior to kickoff.
Enid (2-3, 1-1) turned back Moore on the road last week as the Plainsmen captured an important 49-42 district victory.
EHS’s 6-1, 160-pound junior quarterback Israel Gonzales, who started in place of injured Aidan
Robinson, threw four touchdown passes in the win at Moore while junior running back Blake Fuksa rushed for two touchdowns. Four Plainsmen receivers caught TD passes.
Enid’s defense also reached the scoring column as 5-10, 165-pound sophomore Tyson Kennedy returned a pass interception 99 yards for a TD.
In non-district play starting the season, Enid lost at Muskogee (49-27), won at Ponca City (29-27) and lost at home to Edmond North (42-27). The Plainsmen lost the district opener at home to Jenk (45-0) prior to capturing the Moore win.
Enid is coached by first-year head coach Cameron Conder, who replaced Rashaun Woods after Woods accepted the head coaching position at Tyler (Texas) High School this season.
Last season, Bixby won a district game at Enid (77-14) before blanking the Plainsmen (63-0) in a state quarterfinal game at Bixby.
SHUTOUT – The victory at Southmoore was Bixby’s first shutout of the season as the Spartan defense limited the Sabercats to 98 yards of total offense – six yards rushing and 85 yards passing.
Senior linebacker Hank Puckett and junior defensive back Brooks Dixon led Bixby in tackles with seven each. Dixon had five unassisted tackles while Puckett finished with four solos and a fumble recovery. DB Tyler Wright was credited with five tackles, three unassisted, and one pass interception.
Cord Nolan had four tackles including one for a loss while Cooper Parker had three tackles, one for a loss. Senior lineman Kason Hatley had two tackles, both for losses.
“Defensively, I’m pleased. I felt like they struggled in the first half of the game since the second half the
clock ran all the time,” said Puckett, who leads Bixby in tackles with 52 total stops. “We really didn’t start as fast as we wanted on offense, but the defense came out and did a good job. After the first drive we
picked things up.
“I can only think of one or two runs where they had positive yardage, so I was pleased with the way the defense played tonight,” he added.
NOTABLES – Senior two-way standout Kordell Gouldsby sat out the Southmoore game for undisclosed reasons. Also missing at Southmoore was defensive lineman Brandon Hobbs, who was sidelined by an injury. … Bixby ended with 436 yards of total offense at Southmoore, 231 yards rushing and 205 yards passing. … Captains at Southmoore were Brody Duffel, Sam McCormick, Hank Puckett and Evan
McClure. … Offensively at Southmoore, quarterback Carson Kirby was 11-of-15 passing for 124 yards and three touchdowns while Clay Peters was 5-for-5 passing for 48 yards and one TD. Nine Spartans rushed the ball with Jett Turner leading the balanced effort with four carries for 60 yards. Thirteen Spartans caught passes. … This season, Bixby quarterbacks have combined to throw 20 touchdown passes while being intercepted only once and have a combined completion percentage of .748. Through five games, Carson Kirby is 56-of-78 passing for 785 yards and 15 touchdowns while being intercepted
once. Clay Peters is 17-of-20 passing for 332 yards and four TDs while four other BHS quarterbacks have completed passes. … The Spartans were ranked No. 46 nationally by MaxPreps. … Through five games, Bixby has returned four pass interceptions for touchdowns, including three by sophomore DB Tyler Wright, while the Spartans have returned three punts for touchdowns, including two by Gouldsby. …
Bixby was penalized seven times for 70 yards while Southmoore was flagged four times for 35 yards. … Bixby (5-0, 2-0) and No. 7 Westmoore (3-2, 2-0) sit atop the Class 6A-1-District 1 standings. Westmoore
won 16-12 at No. 8 Jenks (2-3, 1-1) last week while No. 4 Norman North (4-1, 1-1) won 28-14 at No. 9 Broken Arrow (1-4, 1-1). League games this week include Broken Arrow at Westmoore and Jenks at Norman North on Thursday while Moore is at Southmoore on Friday.
Bixby’s non-district opponents’ games this week include No. 3 Owasso (3-2, 1-1) at Edmond North, Springdale Har-Ber (1-4, 1-1) hosts Springdale High and Sand Springs (3-2,1-1) visits Stillwater on Thursday.
Bixby 66, Southmoore 0 First Quarter
BHS – Cooper Parker 4 run (Parker run), 12:00
BHS – Garrett Vaughn 4 pass from Clay Peters (Cord Nolan pass from Parker), 7:04 BHS – Vaughn 26 pass from Carson Kirby (Nolan pass from Kirby), 3:37
BHS – Braeden Presley 45 punt return (Troy Nguyen kick), 1:17
Second Quarter
BHS – Jett Turner 8 pass from Sam McCormick (Nguyen kick), 12:00 BHS – Hank Puckett 9 pass from Kirby (Nguyen kick), 8:24
BHS – Yetxiel Perez 16 pass from Kirby (Nguyen kick), 3:00
Third Quarter
BHS – Stone Turner 32 run (Nguyen kick), 5:47
BHS – Tyler Wright 46 pass interception return (Nguyen kick), :15