On the last day of September, the Kingston Redskins traveled to Coalgate for their second district game of the season. The Redskins, fresh off their first victory of the season at the gun over Atoka, looked to go 2-0 in district play against the winless Wildcats, who had dropped a 32-28squeakertoMariettato open district play. On a beautiful fall evening in Coalgate, the Redskins’ offense finally came to life and Kingston blew out the Wildcats 45-7.
Kingston’s defense came out and dominated the game from the outset. Coalgate took the opening kick but three plays later, the Wildcats had not gained a single yard and were forced to punt. Kingston sophomore Eli Oliger made a fair catch on the punt at the Kingston 48, and the Redskins’ offense went to work.
And go to work they did. Kingston’s offense marched down the field, running the ball every play out of their spreadformation,withsenior quarterbackKleteFinleyand senior running back Devin Tipton doing the work. On the seventh play of the drive, Finley kept the ball at the Coalgate18andshotthrough the middle, broke a tackle at the 5 and found paydirt for Kingston’s first score of the night. After the extra point, Kingston led 7-0 in the first quarter.
Theensuingkickoffturned out to be more trouble for the Wildcats. Coalgate freshman Bryson Stowe fought for yards on the return, but Oliger slung him down and forced the football free at the Coalgate 23. Tipton scooped up the loose ball for Kingston and returned it to the Coalgate 7. Starting the drive there, two Tipton carries, including the final one for a three-yard touchdown, gave the Redskins 7 more points and a 14-0 lead less than halfway through the first quarter.
Coalgate’s offense continued to be ineffective. Switching quarterbacks from junior Ryfle Gold to senior Tison Franklin, the Wildcats had no more luck than before. A netgainofzeroyardsonthree plays led to another Coalgate punt, and the Redskins took over at their own 40.
The offense then went back to work. Coalgate’s defense stiffened though, and it took a great catch on a 30-yard pass to sophomore Cash Walker to move the ball into scoring range at the Coalgate 22. However, the offense stalled, and freshman Jaime Lewis’s 37-yard field goal attempt fell short, leaving Kingston with a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.
Coalgate’s offense finally managed to pick up a first down on their third drive, as an untimely roughing-thepasser penalty on Kingston negated a Cash Walker interception andgavetheWildcats a first down. Three plays later, however, Coalgate was forcedtopuntonfourthdown, and the Redskins took back over at their own 32.
Kingston’s offense began to methodically plow through the Coalgate defense.It took 10 plays to cover 68 yards, and Finley finished off the drive with a one-yard quarterback keeper to put the Redskins up 21-0 early in the second quarter.
A short kickoff gave Coalgate great field position at the Wildcats’ 45, but Coalgate’s offense continued its struggles, once again going three-and-out. The ensuing punt was returned by Oligor to the Kingston 42, and the Redskins’ passing offense finally showed some life. Oligor took a pass in the right flat and ran 21 yards to the Coalgate 37. Three plays later, it was sophomore Sam Walkerhaulinginan18-yard pass from Finley for Kingston’s fourth score of the night, making the lead 28-0 with eight minutes left in the half.
Down four scores, Coalgate’s offense finally showed signs of life. On the fourth play of the drive, Gold aired it out deep to sophomore Tristin Trevathan who beat the Kingston coverage and hauled in a 44-yard touchdown pass. The extra point trimmed the Kingston lead to 28-7.
While their offense had finally showed some life, the Coalgate defense looked ready to go home. The second play of Kingston’s ensuing drive saw Finley take a quarterback keeper 61 yards right up the middle untouched for Kingston’s fifth touchdown of the night, giving the Redskins a 35-7 lead, which they took into half.
After the fireworks of the first half, the second half seemed fairly quiet. The Redskins stayed fairly conservative, adding a 28-yard Lewis field goal on their first drive of the third quarter. After more Coalgate offensive futility, Finley took the first snap of his next drive around left end 80 yards untouched for the Redskins’ final score. It was all up to the reserves at that point, and the Redskins left Coalgate with their second victory of the season, 45-7.
Finley led all passers, completing five of his 11 attempts for 80 yards and a score. He was also the game’s leading rusher, gaining 189 yards on 12 carries with three touchdowns. Sam Walker was the game’s leading receiver, with 61 yards on his 3 grabs, one of them for a score. Defensively, the Redskins stifled the Wildcats’ attack, holding them to 115 total yards of total offense. Individually, junior Aiden Donnell led Kingston with two sacks.
Kingston (2-0 district, 2-3 overall) returns home next weektofacetheDavisWolves (2-0, 4-1), with the winner staking a claim to first place inthedistrict.TheWolvesare coming off a 45-12 thrashing ofwinlessLexington(0-2,0-5) last Friday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Harold “Bulldog” Henry Field.
EXTRA POINTS Almost the only negative to come out of the game for Kingston was a first-quarter injury to Tipton, who had to be helped off on Kingston’s third drive and did not return. However, after the game, he appeared to be walking normally, so hopefully he was mostly held out as a precaution (in a game the Redskins were already dominating)andwillbeavailable nextweekagainstDavis.
While you must take the opponent into account (clearly, there’s a reason the Wildcats have yet to record a victory in 2022), Kingston’s offense appears to finally be gaining some traction. The number of passing plays ruined by miscommunication between quarterback and receiver are way down, and evenwithFinley’simpressive offensive production on the ground, Kingston’s offense looked as balanced as it has all season.
Around the district, Atoka (1-1, 2-3) bounced back from last week’s lost in Kingston with a 31-6 victory over Marietta (1-1, 2-2) to celebrate homecoming. Holdenville (1-1, 4-1) rocked Tishomingo (1-1, 3-2) 42-8.