The Madill Wildcats beat the Fort Gibson Tigers

This week was Fall Break at many schools in southern Oklahoma,andfortheKingston Redskinsthatmeantthat Friday Night Lights was rescheduled for Thursday night. This Thursday saw the Redskins in Tishomingo to take on the Indians in a district battle, with both teams tryingtokeeppace. However, the Redskins dominated the game, leaving Tishomingo with a 45-14 victory.

Tishomingo won the toss and deferred, and the Redskins elected to receive the opening kick. Taking over at the Kingston 36, senior quarterback Klete Finley immediately drove the team down the field, using both his legs and his arm. He used his legs for the last 10 yards, scoring a touchdown on the ground on the 6 th play of the drive, and Kingston had an early 7-0 lead.

Tishomingo’s first possession also gave a foretaste of things to come. Three plays netted only 7 yards, and after an incompletion on third down,Tishomingowasforced to punt.

Taking over at their own 35,theRedskinsimmediately reverted to their early-season struggles. Lining up in the shotgun, Finley tried to hand off to senior running back DevinTiptononaread-option play, but Tipton clearly made a different read and wasn’t expecting the ball. The ball then wound up on the ground, and Tishomingo junior Khalel Gaddis fell on the fumble for the game’s first turnover, giving the Indians great field position at the Kingston 25 However, Kingston’s defense had come to play.On thesecondplayoftheensuing drive, Tishomingo quarterback senior Kegal Lafevers dropped back, avoided multiple rushers, and heaved a prayer into the middle of the field. However, Kingston freshman Parks Ratzlaff was the only one there to answer, and he intercepted at the Kingston 15, ending the Indians’ drive.

Taking over at their own 15, the Redskins shook off their earlier mistake and went back to work. Once again with a mix of pass and run,FinleyguidedKingston’s offense sharply down the field, capping off the drive with a one-yard quarterback sneak for his second score, and Kingston led 14-0 late in the first quarter.

Kingston’s defense came back out the next drive and securedanothertakaway.On Tishomingo’s second play of the drive, Lafevers fired a shot over the middle, but no one was home except Kingston sophomore Eli Oliger, whopickedofftheerrantpass at the Tishomingo 43, giving the Redskins great field position for their third drive.

Finley once again wasted no time, driving the Redskins to the Tishomingo 6, but from there the offense sputtered. After a Tipton run for a touchdown was called back for holding, Kingston could only get back to the Indians’ 5 yard line, but on fourth down freshman kicker Jaime Lewis split the uprights for Kingston’s third score of the night, and at the end of the first quarter, Kingston led 17-0.

Tishomingo got the ball back at the beginning of the second quarter, and managed to pick up a couple of first downs this time. However, Lafevers’ pass on thirdand- 11 to senior receiver Colby Gray was stripped away in a great play by Oliger, and Tishomingo was forced to punt again.

Taking over at the 25, Kingston’s offense began to once again methodically march down the field. This time, it took 9 plays for the Redskins to score, highlighted by Tipton runs for 8 and 19 yards, and a pass to sophomore Cash Walker down to the Tishomingo 6. From there, Finley once again did it himself on the ground, scoring his third touchdown of the night to put the Redskins up 24-0 late in the second quarter.

Desperate for points, Tishomingo’s offense faltered again. On the third play of the Indians’ drive, Lafevers’ pass was deflected by Kingston junior Sammy McNiel into the arms of Tipton, who took it to the house for an apparent defensivescore.However, this would be called back by a holding penalty (the second Tipton score of the night called back by a penalty), and Kignston would take over at the Tishomingo 38 with just over two minutes to play.

That proved to be plenty of time for the Redskins. Finley and the offenses needed less than a minute to cover that distance, and his third-down pass to Ratzlaff covered the last 18 yards for Kingston’s fourth touchdown of the first half, and Kingston led 31-0 with 1:41 left in the half.

With the blowout on, Tishomingo’s offense wasn’t done giving gifts. While the Indians picked up a couple of first downs early in the drive, with 18 seconds left in the half Tishomingo faced second-and-15 at the Kingston 47. There the Indians pulled out a lateral to junior receiver Jayden Standifer, who then lofted a wounded duck deep where Oliger secured his second interception of the game. Kingston downed the ball on the next play to end the half, leading 31-0.

Atthebeginningofthesecond half, Tishomingo finally had some offensive success. Starting at the Kingston 40, the Indians needed 10 plays and over 4:30 to cover forty yards, but Lafevers was finally able to scramble in on a fourth down for a fiveyard score to get Tishomingo on the board. After a successful pass for a two-point conversion, Tishomingo had trimmed Kingston’s lead to 31-8 halfway through the third quarter.

It was too little too late, however, as Kingston’s offense continued to score points and the Indians could only muster one more scoring drive. Finley would add a 20yard pass to sophomore Sam Walker in the third quarter, and would also score another 7-yard touchdown on the ground to add to Kingston’s margin, while Tishomingo could only muster one more score on another Lafevers keeper. After all was said and done, Kingston had secured a 45-14 victory for another district victory.

Finley had a dominant game, leading all passers with 175 yards and 2 touchdowns while completing 10 of his 17 attempts. Finley also led all rushers, gaining 131 yards on 13 carries, four of them for scores. Finley’s 131 rushing yards were more than Tishomingo’s 126 yards for their entire team. Cash Walker led all receivers with 63 yards on 4 catches.

Defensively, the Redskins also dominated. The Redskins held Tishomingo’s passers to 7 completions on 21 attempts, for a total of 120 yards.Kingstonrecordedfour interceptions on the night, with Oliger snagging two, while Tipton and Ratzlaff each picked off a pass as well. In fact, Tishomingo’s passers completed more passes to Redskins (4) than they did to Indians (3) in the first half Wth the loss, Tishomingo (2-2 in district play, 4-3 overall) dropped from a tie for second in the district to a tie for fourth with Atoka (2-2, 3-4). Kingston (3-1, 3-4) keeps pace with Holdenville (3-1, 6-1). The Wolverines come to Kingston next Friday night for Homecoming, in a game that has big consequences for district standings and playoff seeding. The Homecoming parade is scheduled for 1:45 PM, Coronation is scheduled for 6:45 p.m., and the game is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. at Harold “Bulldog” Henry Field.

E X T R A P O INT S Around the district, Davis (4-0, 6-1) remained undefeated in district play, defeating Marietta (1-3, 2-4) 49-30. Holdenville blew out Coalgate (1-3, 1-6) 486. Meanwhile, Atoka was the latest team to victimize winless Lexington (0-4, 0-7), thrashingtheBulldogs53-14.

If the season ended today, Davis would claim first place, while Kingston would eke out Holdenville based on a single point differential in Marginal Points (the margin between teams in district plays, limited to no more or less than 15 points per game). Atokawouldthenbeinfourth place, and Tishomingo would miss the playoffs, with Atoka holding the tiebreaker for the playoffs. Marietta, Coalgate and Lexington would all be home for the playoffs.

Thesestandingsmakethis Homecoming game against Holdenvilleextremelyimportant. Davis has beaten both Kingston and Holdenville, so barring a late-season collapse, Davis will likely win the district. The winner of this weekend’s game will hold the tiebreaker for second place, and thus be in line to host the first-round playoff game. The loser, on the other hand, still looks likely to make the playoffs, but would have to go on the road. If Kingston wants to have playoff success, starting it off with a home game is the easiest route.

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