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By: Chris Evans
The 2007 Guthrie Bluejay football season is proving to be a numbers game, but, according to head coach Rafe Watkins, ��these games” are now over and the real season now begins.
Watkins alluded to the fact that games like the 69-0 win over the John Marshall Bears, on Friday night, are now over as Noble, Carl Albert, Woodward, and the play-offs are fast approaching.
Entering the Guthrie John Marshall contest, both teams understood what most likely what was going to happen. Guthrie entered 6-0 and John Marshall was 0-6. The Bears had scored just 20 points all season and Guthrie averaged scoring 20 points in the first quarter alone.
Guthrie kept their focus and removed all doubt by scoring 28 first quarter points on their way to a 42-0 halftime lead, and a 69-0 win. The shut out represents the fifth on the season as the ‘Jays have allowed opponents to score in only two of the 28 quarters thus far. This includes a stretch of 19 consecutive scoreless quarters, a streak that came to an end last week.
John Marshall won the coin toss and elected to take the ball to start the game. The Bears went three and out and were forced to punt, but D.J. Hughes had other plans. Hughes blasted by a Bear defender and got to the punter for his second blocked punt of the season. Kye Staley capitalized with the first score of the night.
The blocked punt set up the Bluejay camp at the 15-yard line, and four plays later Kye Staley hit pay dirt with a touchdown run of 6 yards to give his team a 7-0 lead.
Special teams led the Bluejays to their first score, but, thanks to a Josh King interception, the defense paved the way to the next. On third down, Bear quarterback Cameron Smotherman would float a high and lazy pass that ended up in the arms of King. Two plays later, Staley provided acrobats and scored his second touchdown on a circus run from 35-yards out.
Junior running back Clayton Smith became the second Jay to score on the third Bluejay possession as he ran for a 23-yard touchdown boosting the lead to 21-0 with 4:01 in the first quarter.
The final first quarter score came with :17 left as the second pass attempt by Smotherman produced the same results as the first, a Josh King interception. Keaton Callins took advantage of this turnover leading the Bluejays on a six play drive, ending with an 11-yard touchdown run by Callins to push the score 28-0.
However, that score would not last long. In fact it took Josh King just 26 seconds to pick off Smotherman for the third time, this time taking it to the house with a 15 yard interception return for a touchdown. At this point, Smotherman had attempted and completed 3 passes, but, all three were to Josh King.
Guthrie would get one more score before the half on Staley’s third touchdown from 12 yards, as the Jays headed to the halftime locker room with a 42-0 lead..
John Marshall ran 23 plays in the first half and compiled a total of negative 25 yards of total offense and four turnovers. Meanwhile, Guthrie enjoyed a short field all night averaging starting at the Bear 33-yard line. Despite the short field, Guthrie racked up 130 yards on just 12 plays.
The Bluejays scoring feast continued in the second half as they would score twice in the third and fourth quarters. Smith capped off a six play drive with a 1-yard run to push the score up 49-0. Six minutes later, Donte’ Foster would get in the scoring column when friend and teammate, Keaton Callins, found him wide open for a 40 yard touchdown pass to push the score to 55-0 . It was Foster’s eighth touchdown receiving and Callins ninth TD passing of the season.
Kolt Rineheart would become the sixth different Jay to score when he scampered into the end zone from 3-yards which extended the lead to 62-0. But, perhaps the most exciting play of the night was yet to come.
Smotherman, looking for a fellow Bear, dropped back to pass and found Guthrie’s Dustin Bohannon. Bohannon did his best Kye Staley impression by returning the interception 54-yards, and, with fans and players going wild, entered the end zone completing the scoring fest for the Bluejays on the evening. When all was said and done the Bluejays had recorded their seventh win of the year by a score of 69-0.
Bohannon was the seventh Jay to record a score which marks the third time this year in which seven different Bluejays have scored in one game.
John Marshall finished the game with negative 17-yards of offense while Guthrie finished with 324 yards. In the first six games, Guthrie was averaging 405 yards of total offense.
Guthrie has now outscored its opponents 419-17 which is the best in the state in both scoring and scoring allowed.
Perhaps these type games are over with the remaining schedule, but, maybe not. Guthrie continues to show dominance and, maybe even more impressive, they continue to improve.
Guthrie, on a rare Thursday night game, will host the Noble Bears for Senior Night at Jelsma Stadium. It will match two 4-0 district teams and start the toughest part of the district schedule for the Bluejays.
Game Notes:
