 |
|||||||||||||||
|
By: Chris Evans
18 Seniors were introduced and honored prior to the start of the states biggest game of the week and the seniors would not disappoint on this night.
The third ranked Guthrie BlueJays took advantage of a balance offense attack to defeat the fourth ranked Shawnee Wolves, 35-17, in the Game of the Week in all of high school football inside Jelsma Stadium.
The Jays opened the scoring with one of the most impressive drives of the season on a 14-play drive that took 6:02 and covered 80-yards. Senior Josh King would take a hand-off and go 8-yards for the score. The Jays had a 7-0 lead with 1:07 to play in the first quarter.
Guthrie would score almost midway through the second quarter to go up 14-0 by going 84-yards on 9-plays capped off with a senior Clayton Smith 6-yard reception.
This time Shawnee would respond to the Jays score with 74-yard drive of their own that resulted in a 17-yard wheel route that quarterback Brayle Brown found Justin Parsons for the score to cut the lead in half 14-7.
Guthrie responded on their next possession when senior quarterback Keaton Callins found sophomore Kentrell Brothers for a 13-yard touchdown reception. Callins finished the night with three passing scores and 214-yards passing through the air on 12 of 23 passing. His second passing score to Brothers gave the Jays a 21-7 advantage.
Shawnee added a last second field goal to end the first half with a Jays lead of 21-10.
Guthrie started the second half with the football, but a turnover in their own territory would setup the Wolves next score.
The Wolves would only take 4-plays to go 33-yards for a Brown 5-yard run to pull his team within four, 21-17, but would prove to be their final points of the game coming at the 7:31 mark in the third quarter.
Shawnee's 17-points marks the most points the Jays have allowed this season. The previous high was 16 in last weeks game with Carl Albert.
Guthrie inserted a new formation that saw senior Skyler Smith and Clayton Smith as lead blockers for King. At times, Callins would go under center something that we have not much over the last several years.
The Jays piled up 166-yards on the ground after the Guthrie coaching staff challenged their offense of at least 150 rushing yards. Leading the way was Clayton Smith and finished as the Huddle House Player of the Game.
Senior Jacob Woods accepted the Tyler Nichols Heart of a Champion Award presented by Phil Nichols in the radio post game show.
Senior Donte' Foster brought in his 9th touchdown, which leads Class 5A, of the season in the fourth quarter from 26-yards. Foster's touchdown gave the Jays a 28-17 advantage with 11:09 to play. King found the end zone, for the second time, capping off a 10-play drive with a 3-yard run to finalize the scoring.
The Jays were perfect on fourth down conversions (3-3) while Shawnee struggled on third down conversions by converting just one on eight attempts.
The BlueJay defense kept the Wolves under 300-yards of offense by allowing 267. The Wolves proved to be a balance offense as well with 120-yards on the ground and 147 in the air.
Guthrie improves their season record to 7-1 and 4-1 in the district of 5A-2. Meanwhile, Shawnee drops to 6-2 and 3-2 in district play. Guthrie finishes the season by hosting Capitol Hill next week at home and traveling to Noble, in Week 10. Shawnee will entertain Senior Night next week with Noble before finishing up with Capitol Hill.
Share your thoughts on this story by going to the Guthrie Sports Page message board. It's free to join and talk Guthrie athletics. Click Here!