Kingston blanks Hugo in Home opener

Fall weather arrived in southern Oklahoma last week, and on a beautiful cool Friday night the Kingston Redskins hosted the Hugo Buffaloes for their home opener. Kingston was coming off a season-opening win in Idabel, while Hugo entered the game 1-1, coming off a 30-14 loss at home to Checotah. The teams had met twice last year, with Kingston winning both contests, ending Hugo’s 2019 season 22-12 in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs. This year, Kingston won again, dominating the Buffaloes 53-0 to remain undefeated early in the season.

The game certainly did not start off Kingston’s way. After Redskins sophomore Devin Tipton returned the opening kick to midfield, putting Kingston in business for its first drive, Hugo sacked senior quarterback Jase Hayes for a 13-yard loss. The teams exchanged punts on their initial drives, and then Kingston, once again with great field position on their own 46, went to work. A five-play drive ended with Hayes completely fooling the Hugo defense with play action, and hitting wide-open senior tight end Matthew Hawkins for a 40-yard touchdown pass, and Kingston was up 7-0.

Three plays later, Hugo’s next drive ended in disaster, as Kingston senior A.J. McKinney ripped the ball away from Buffaloes junior Ashton Barnett on a quarterback keeper to give Kingston the ball on Hugo’s 27. Four plays later, McKinney lost the handle on the football himself, and Hugo took the ball back at its own six yard line.

Still unable to move the football, the Buffaloes punted again, and gave Kingston the football at the Hugo 22. This time the Redskins made them pay. Another play-action pass by Hayes found junior wideout Braden Matchen in the end zone, and Kingston led 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Kingston’s offense came alive in the second quarter, as the Redskins’ defense continued to give the offense opportunities. On the second play of Kingston’s first drive of the quarter, senior fullback Matthew Flesher burst through the line for a 32-yard touchdown to put the Redskins up 19-0. The next Hugo drive, Barnett lost the handle again on another quarterback keeper when Kingston junior Brycen Ellisor hit him from behind, and Kingston senior Jarron “Boomer” Morgan scooped up the ball and returned it 35 yards to the Hugo three. Hayes punched it in on a quarterback keeper, and Kingston’s lead extended to 25-0.

Even when Hugo was able to put the ball in Kingston’s end of the field, however, the results stayed the same. Starting their next drive at their own 35, Kingston promptly flipped the field on a pass on second-and-eighteen, with Hayes faking a short pass then hitting senior Colton Robinson in stride to move the ball to the Hugo 29. Four plays later, McKinney would punch it in from the three, and Kingston led 32-0.

Hugo’s next drive ended with Barnett’s third fumble of the night, as senior defensive lineman Jesse Rose hit him in the backfield and forced the ball free, and junior Brandon Watson recovered at the Hugo 28. After a Hugo personal foul and a Kingston illegal procedure penalty, Flesher scored again, this time from 15 yards out, and Kingston took the resulting 39-0 lead into half.

The second half continued the bleeding for Hugo, with the scoring only limited by a clock that the officials let run the entire second half. Kingston’s only drive of the third quarter ended with Hayes hitting junior Cole Morgan for a 10-yard touchdown to make the score 46-0, and the reserves brought it home in the fourth quarter, with Tipton taking a pitch into the end zone to make the final score 53-0.

Hayes completed five of his seven passes on the night, three of them for touchdowns, and also scored one on the ground. McKinney led the Redskins in rushing with 68 yards on eleven carries for a touchdown, while Flesher chipped in 63 yards on four carries and two touchdowns. Five Redskins had a single reception on the night, with Robinson leading in yardage with a 46-yard grab. On defense, senior linebacker Bryant Watts had a teamleading 13 tackles, while Rose had the Redskins’ only sack of the night. Overall, Kingston’s defense held Hugo to eighteen total yards, and did not yield a single first down.

Recognizing those stats, Head Coach Tommy Bare said he was “proud of the defense.” He felt that the offense and defense had a “good performance,” but that the Redskins “need to shore up special teams.” Overall, he was happy to ‘come out of it with a win and healthy.”

Kingston’s next game is scheduled for Thursday, September 17, instead of Friday. The original opponent, Broken Bow, has been sidelined by COVID-19, so next week’s opponent is Tishomingo. The Indians, who had their own season delayed due to quarantine, are coming off a seasonopening 29-6 home loss to Pauls Valley. Additionally, while kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., the school has moved Senior Night for fall sports to this week. Senior parents need to be at Harold “Bulldog” Henry Field by 5:45 p.m., and the Senior Night celebration will start at 6:00 p.m.

EXTRA POINTS

Kingston’s only problem on the night was on special teams. Senior placekicker Tanner Carr, who won a competition for the job last year, struggled with extra points, missing three of his eight attempts, after Kingston’s second, third and fourth touchdowns. While it made little difference on Kingston’s night this week, as Coach Bare noted, that must improve as the season goes on for the Redskins to have success. To Carr’s credit, he hit his final five attempts, and Kingston fans are hoping he can get it figured out before district play starts.

The impact of graduation could be seen on Hugo’s team, especially the Buffaloes offense. Last year, with a big, fast, physical quarterback, Hugo ran a read-option offense out of the shotgun. This year, the Buffaloes are attempting to feature the wishbone. From the results, it seems unlikely that this experiment will succeed. While the triple-option wishbone is always run-heavy, Hugo did not attempt a single pass on the night. With their ground game picking up only eighteen net yards, and no passing game at all, it is hard to see at this point how Hugo will repeat their successes from last season.