Kingston Redskins dominated by Broken Bow Savages

Last season, one of the disruptions in the Redskins’ early-season schedule was a planned trip to Broken Bow to play the 4A Savages. The 2020 edition of that game was cancelled, but the teams rescheduled it for the 2021 season, and Thursday night the Kingston faithful made the trip to eastern Oklahoma to watch their Redskins wrap up their pre-district schedule. What they saw was a dominant performance by the home team, and Kingston fell to Broken Bow 39-0.

Kingston had the ball first and opened play with a pass from junior quarterback Klete Finley to senior wideout Cole Morgan for a 31-yard gain. Four plays later, however, Finley was throwing again on fourth-and-twelve, but this pass was picked off by Broken Bow’s Carl Cooks at the Savages’ 19, and Broken Bow took over there for their first possession.

Broken Bow immediately began dominating Kingston. Six plays - including a Brycen Ellisor sack - advanced the Savages to the Kingston 43. From there, Broken Bow’s Kannan Willis took a handoff 43 yards to the end zone to open the scoring. After a blocked extra point, the Savages led 6-0 halfway through the first quarter.

Kingston’s offense responded with more sputtering, as the Redskins went three-and-out. After a punt, Broken Bow only needed two plays to travel 65 yards, and Willis ran through a huge hole and scooted 58 yards without being touched into the endzone. Kingston once again stopped the extra point attempt - this time a run by Willis - and the Savages led 12-0, still in the first period.

Kingston’s offense struggled again, once again going three-and-out. Junior Damon Rowe’s punt was partially blocked, and Broken Bow took over at their own 44, looking ready to expand their lead. However, the Kingston defense rose to the challenge. A 44-yard touchdown pass by Broken Bow’s Christian Brumley was wiped out by an obvious holding penalty by the Savages, who were struggled to restrain Ellisor as he blew through the line. After the penalty, Ellisor and sophomore Rafe Patterson met at the quarterback, closing out the quarter by forcing a punt.

Kingston senior Hayden McKinney started off the second quarter with a nice punt return, and Kingston started in Broken Bow territory at the 49-yard line. Kingston could not capitalize on the great field position, however, and four plays later turned the ball over on downs after gaining only two yards on the drive.

Broken Bow went back to work, and only needed five plays to drive 51 yards to the Kingston 2. The Redskins’ defense stiffened, as Ellisor tackled Brumley on a quarterback keeper for a five-yard loss on first down, and Rowe sacked Brumley on second down, forcing a fumble that Brumley recovered for Broken Bow at the Kingston 23. After a false start, Broken Bow faced a third-and-goal from the Kingston 28. At that point, however, Kingston’s pass coverage broke down, and Broken Bow’s Kyran Whitfield beat Kingston senior Braden Matchen to the post and scored from 28 yards out. After another failed extra point, this one just a missed kick, Broken Bow led 18-0 with five minutes left in the half.

Kingston’s offense once again proved ineffective, as the line surrendered a sack of Finley on first down by the Savages’ Landon Cathey. After a Kingston punt, Broken Bow showed off its hurry-up offense, driving 58 yards in 2:32 and scoring with 12 seconds left in the half. Brumley hit Whitfield again, this time from five yards out, as Whitfield ran all alone on a slant over the middle. This time, Broken Bow finally scored on an extra point kick, and the Savages led 25-0 at half.

Broken Bow received the second-half kickoff, and Whitfield returned the kick 85 yards for his third touchdown of the night, giving the Savages a 32-0 lead to open the third quarter. Kingston’s offense, in response, sputtered to a halt again after three plays, and Kingston set up to punt again.

The snap, however, sailed over Rowe’s head, and he could only recover the ball at the Kingston 2, turning it over on downs. Broken Bow needed three plays to cover the remaining two yards, and Brumley took it into the endzone on a quarterback keeper to put the Savages up 39-0 4 minutes into the quarter. From there, Broken Bow began to substitute heavily, and Kingston’s offense continued to be ineffective, and the teams played a scoreless last 20 minutes of the game, giving Broken Bow a 39-0 victory.

Finley led the Redskins in passing, completing three of his seven attempts for a total of 36 yards and an interception. Tipton led Kingston’s rushers with a respectable 22 carries for 96 yards; however, 54 of those yards came on the game’s final drive, against Broken Bow’s reserves. Morgan led Kingston with his lone reception of 31 yards.

Defensively, sophomore Sammy McNeil led the Redskins with 7 tackles, while Rowe led the team with two sacks. However, Kingston’s usually stingy defense allowed 136 yards through the air for two scores and 165 yards on the ground and three scores.

Kingston Head Coach Tommy Bare called the result a “tough road loss to a solid Broken Bow club.” Noting the errors his team made, Coach Bare called them “correctable,” noting that the team has “to work on taking care of the Kingston Redskins.”

With the loss, Kingston enters district play 2-1. Of the eight teams in District 3A-2, only Madill (3-0) and Lone Grove (2-1) have equivalent records or better. Kingston starts district play next Friday at 1-2 Plainview. Kickoff at Plainview is scheduled for 7:00 P.M.

EXTRA POINTS

There is no sugar-coating it, Kingston’s offensive line has problems against good competition. While the line finally gelled in the 4 ^th quarter against Idabel, and performed well against Hugo, it was a disaster Thursday night against Broken Bow. One needs only to look at the performance of the running game to see the difference.

One example is the fullback dive out of the I-formation, a staple of Kingston’s offense for the last four years. The past three years, that play has routinely resulted in positive yardage, and often in big runs up the gut. This year, the fullbacks are frequently hit in the backfield as they receive the handoff and are often lucky not to lose yardage. Kingston’s offense is a ball-control attack, that relies heavily on being able to run the ball effectively for four quarters. If the line cannot

open holes for this bread-and-butter play, Kingston’s offense will continue to struggle and put its defense in bad situations.

Speaking of the defense, that may be the most disappointing area of Kingston’s game this past week. In particular, the two touchdowns in the second quarter were just blown coverage. Broken Bow’s Whitfield is clearly a fine player, with a lot of speed. But it was simply inexcusable to allow him to score on third-and-goal from the 28, and even worse to just let him go uncovered on the second score. One hopes that Coach Bare is correct about how correctable those errors truly are. No matter how good the pass rush is - and Kingston’s pass rush was excellent all night - if no one covers the receivers even the most mediocre quarterback will find someone open.

Last week, it was noted here that senior running back Brandon Watson was injured and left the Hugo game, favoring his ankle. This week, he did not suit up at all, but appeared to be walking normally on the sideline. Hopefully, Watson and other injured players will be healthy enough to take the field Friday night against Plainview.

Finally, there’s nothing like attending games in eastern Oklahoma to make a fan appreciate the quality of the game experience we have here at Kingston. Kingston’s facility is superior to anything you can find in Broken Bow, Hugo, or even last year in Idabel, as is the maintenance of the field. Broken Bow’s field, incredibly, did not have a single hash mark on the yard lines - only the lines across the field at the five-yard intervals are marked. It’s little details like this that show what a great support staff we have here at Kingston, and they deserve a vote of thanks as the team prepares to return home in coming weeks.