Redskins may have lost chance at playoffs

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This past Friday, as Halloween approached, the Kingston Redskins traveled to Pauls Valley to face the Panthers. With the teams knotted in the middle of the district rankings, this game promised to be an important late-season matchup, with the loser facing an uphill climb to just make the playoffs. On a beautiful Friday night, a back-and-forth struggle ensued, and the Panthers eventually prevailed, defeating the Redskins 35-28.

Pauls Valley took over after the opening kick at the Panthers’ 35, and early on it looked like a tough night for the Redskins’ defense. On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Justin Humphrey found receiver Nathan Chronister for a 24-yard gain. From there, it only took three runs and a Kingston offsides penalty to get to the end zone, with Humphrey keeping it on a zone-read for a 20-yard touchdown run to give Pauls Valley an early 6-0 lead.

Kingston’s offense looked no better than its defense early on. On Kingston’s first drive, three plays netted only six yards, and sophomore Delton O’Steen punted it away on fourth down. However, the Panthers’ Mason Smith muffed the punt while attempting a fair catch, and Kingston junior Damon Rowe recovered at the Pauls Valley 20. On the first play after the turnover, senior receiver Hayden McKinney slipped away from his defender, and junior quarterback Klete Finley found McKinney in the end zone for a 20-yard strike. After the extra point, Kingston led 7-6, still in the first quarter.

After that disaster, Pauls Valley’s offense came out and immediately started backwards, backed up to the Panthers’ 14 by a chop block penalty. However, Humphrey made all that yardage back with an 18-yard completion to Maddex Prince and running back Landin Weilenman added a 31-yard run, moving the ball quickly into Kingston territory. The Panthers needed only three more plays to score again, as Humphrey scored again on a keeper, this time from nine yards out, to retake the lead 13-7. With the defense struggling, Kingston’s offense fought to keep up. The Redskins picked up an early first down on a 12-yard run by senior fullback Grant Holmes, but then three plays later faced a fourth-and-five from midfield. Kingston went for it, and Finley found senior receiver Braden Matchen on a post for a 23-yard gain and a first down. The next play, Finley fell as he handed the ball off to senior tailback Brandon Watson, but Watson did the rest, breaking tackles and fighting his way for a 27-yard score, and Kingston retook the lead 14-13, now late in the first quarter.

Pauls Valley responded with a long drive. Taking over at their own 24, the Panthers climbed on quarterback Humphrey’s back, as he did most of the damage on the ground, hitting receiver Jon Grimmett for 33 yards on his only pass of the drive. Nine plays covered 76 yards, and Humphrey took it in again on the ground, this time from a yard out, and the Panthers led again 19-14 in the second quarter.

Down again, Kingston’s offense fought to respond. However, while the Redskins picked up two first downs and drove to the Panthers’ 42, Finley could not hit his receivers, going 0 for 3 on the drive, and the Redskins were forced to punt it away.

The Panthers took over at their own 21, with a chance to really take over the game. However, Kingston’s defense finally came to play, holding Pauls Valley to zero net yards on three plays, and the Panthers punted after a three-and-out.

A twenty-yard punt return by McKinney put Kingston back in business at the Pauls Valley 35. The Redskins took advantage of that great field position, with Holmes picking up 19 yards on a run to the Panthers 16. After a Kingston false start penalty, Finley found Matchen on another post route for a 21-yard strike to give Kingston the lead again, 20-19, late in the half.

Pauls Valley took over after the ensuing kick at their own 25, with only 2:36 remaining, and used every bit of that time marching down the field. Humphrey broke another zone-read run for 39 yards to the Kingston 26, and then hit Prince for another 11 yards to the Kingston 15. A holding penalty negated a halfback pass back to Humphrey that went to the Kingston 1, but on the next play, with only 15 seconds left, Humphrey scrambled to avoid the pass rush and found Weilenman, who had slipped behind the Redskins’ secondary, for a 25- yard score, which gave Pauls Valley a 25-20 halftime lead.

Kingston took over on the Redskins’ 26 for the opening drive, and the offense began pounding its way back into the game. On the fourth play of the drive, on fourth-and-inches, Watson took a pitch for 20 yards to the Pauls Valley 44. Finley then hit senior receiver Cole Morgan for a 22-yard gain, but four plays later Kingston was facing fourth-and-two from the Panthers 14. Kingston pulled a reverse as Watson handed the ball off to McKinney, who picked up five yards for a second fourth-down conversion on the drive. Watson pounded it in from there on three runs, finishing the drive with a two-yard run for the score, and adding a two-point conversion on the ground, giving Kingston a 29-25 lead after a six-minute drive to open the half.

Pauls Valley’s first drive of the second half threatened to retake the lead. A 12-play drive took the ball from the Pauls Valley 32 to the Redskins’ 29, but on fourth-and-four, Humphrey was unable to escape on a quarterback sweep to the right, and Kingston’s sophomore Rafe Patterson tackled him for a loss at the Kingston 32, turning the ball over on downs, early in the fourth quarter.

Taking over there, the Redskins had a chance to finally take control of the game. Finley hit Matchen on a roll out for 16 yards on second down, out to the Kingston 48. On the next play, Holmes took a handoff up the gut for seven more yards but appeared to lose the ball as he hit the turf. The play was ruled a fumble, and Grimmett recovered for the Panthers at the Pauls Valley 44, ending that threat.

Despite their good fortune, the Panthers could not take advantage. Looking for a quick strike, Humphrey lofted a long pass down the field to Prince, but Kingston junior Devin Tipton made a spectacular leaping interception at the Kingston 13.

Taking over again with their own chance to take control, Kingston proved unable to move the ball, and lined up to punt after a three-and-out at their own 20. However, the snap from Rowe sailed over Watson’s head as he prepared to punt, and Watson could only fall on the ball in the end zone for a Pauls Valley safety, trimming Kingston’s lead to 28-27. After the free kick, Pauls

After the free kick, Pauls Valley took over at the Kingston 44, and put together a tough drive. After their initial three plays, the Panthers went for it on fourth-and-four at the Kingston 38, and Humphrey found Prince for a 13-yard gain to the Kingston 25. Five more runs covered the rest of the distance, and Humphrey took it in again for a two-yard touchdown. Weilenman added a two-point conversion on the ground, and Pauls Valley now led Kingston 35-28 with just over three minutes left.

Kingston’s final drive started at the Redskins’ 30, and both teams clearly understood the importance of the drive, as both teams’ intensity reached a fever pitch. On third-and-four from the Kingston 36, Finley scrambled for a first down at midfield. A long pass three plays later intended for McKinney was intercepted by Humphrey, but that play was wiped out by offsetting penalties. Two plays later, on fourth-and-two from the Panthers’ 42, Finley did it again with his legs, taking a bootleg 19 yard to the Pauls Valley 23. A completion to McKinney gave Kingston first-and-ten at the 13 with just over a minute left, but then the Redskins’ good fortune ended. Finley threw the ball into the end zone, intending to hit Morgan, but the ball went off his hands and into the arms of the Panthers’ Jackson Coates, who returned the ball to the Kingston 38. Two plays later, Pauls Valley’s fans celebrated the wild 35-28 victory.

Finley led the Redskins with 126 yards on 10 of 17 passing, with two touchdowns and an interception. Holmes led the Redskins on the ground, with 68 yards on his 9 carries, while Watson had 64 yards on 18 carries, two of them for scores. Matchen led all receivers with 63 yards on four catches, one for a score.

Patterson led the Redskins in tackles with 15, while sophomore Sammy McNeil had 11 and sophomore Aiden Donnell had 10. Rowe had 9 tackles along with the team’s sole fumble recovery, while Tipton had 5 tackles to go with his interception. Overall, the Kingston defense struggled again, yielding 132 yards on 19 carries to Weilenman, while Humphrey terrorized the Redskins, rushing for 126 yards on 24 carries and four scores, while he completed six of his nine passes for 123 yards, a score, and an interception.

Kingston Head Coach Tommy Bare said that he was “proud of the effort the team gave” in what he called a “tough road district loss.” However, the team “needs to clean up some areas,” and blamed the loss on the fact that they “didn’t take care of the Kingston Redskins in any of the three phases of the game.” Coach Bare noted the team has a tough road to the postseason, as “we now need to win out and count on help from our district teams.”

Kingston (2-3 district, 4-4 overall) returns home for the Redskins’ final two games of the regular season. This Friday, the Marshall County Super Bowl is on the agenda, as cross-county rival Madill (1-4, 4-4) comes to town. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Harold “Bulldog” Henry Field.

EXTRA POINTS

Kingston’s loss to Pauls Valley all but ends any realistic chance for the Redskins to make the playoffs this year, since only the top four teams in the district make the playoffs. Kingston is now firmly in fifth place in the district, and Pauls Valley, in fourth place, has the head-to-head tiebreaker. This means Kingston must win both of its final two games, and Pauls Valley must lose both of its last two, in order for the Redskins to catch the Panthers. The problem is that Pauls Valley seems unlikely to lose both games, as the Panthers play the one-win Dickson Comets (1-4, 1-7) next week.

The other possible playoff scenario involves Lone Grove (4-1, 6-2). After the Longhorns dispatched Madill 28-21 this week, if they lost both their last two games, and Kingston won both, they would be tied, with Kingston holding that head-to-head tiebreaker. However, the Longhorns’ next opponent is hapless (and winless) Little Axe (0-4, 0-7). A Little Axe win over Lone Grove seems far less likely than a Dickson win over Pauls Valley. Either way, as Coach Bare noted, Kingston must win out and get help from one of the two worst teams in the district in order to make the postseason.

Elsewhere around the district, Sulphur (5-0, 6-2) remained undefeated in the district, drilling Dickson 49-0. Plainview (4-1, 5-3) kept pace with Sulphur and Lone Grove, crushing Little Axe 64-6. Plainview hosts Sulphur next week in a game which could well determine the district champion.

Even if the playoffs are out of reach, this year’s game against Madill should be interesting. Madill started off the season with big wins over Tishomingo, Durant, and Marietta, but has only won once in district play, a 17-14 win over Dickson on a last-minute field goal. The rivalry will be a huge factor in the game, as the Redskins and Wildcats compete for Marshall County bragging rights this year.