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Going into his team’s Week 3 contest, Kingfisher head football coach Reagan Roof said if the Yellowjackets didn’t show up ready to play, they very well could enter district play with an 0-3 record.

Turns out he had his team quite prepared.

Jhett Birdwell and Kasen Blair had career nights as KHS throttled Bridge Creek 35-6 on the road last Friday night.

On top of it being the Jackets’ first win of the season, the victory was Roof’s first as head coach in Kingfisher.

KHS was coming off a heartbreaking 30-27 overtime loss at Clinton in Week 2. Bridge Creek, meanwhile, was also looking for its first win.

“I don’t feel like we had the letdown that you can sometimes have in those types of games,” said Roof. “The atmosphere in there wasn’t great and that can sometimes make it tough, but we did a good job playing through that.”

It started early as KHS drove 61 yards and ate nearly four minutes off the clock on its first possession.

It ended when Birdwell hit Santiago Ortega for a 28yard touchdown and was a sign of things to come.

All but one of Kingfi sher’s scores came from outside the red zone. The exception was Kingfisher’s final TD, also scored by Ortega.

He took a jet sweep pass from Birdwell and scored from 16 yards out to give the Jackets a 35-0 lead with 2:48 left in the third quarter.

In between, Blair went off and Brody Boeckman got his first career touchdown.

The sophomore caught a pass from Birdwell in the middle of the field on the first play of the second quarter. He broke a tackle and then raced into the end zone for a 45-yard score for a 14-0 lead.

Blair found his jets near the sideline when he hauled in a pass and outran every-one for a 66-yard TD at 2:34 of the second quarter.

Kingfisher took that 21-0 lead into halftime and kept it until Blair scored on a 71-yard play just over midway through the third quarter.

All told, Blair caught five passes for 167 yards. He’s the second receiver in as many weeks to have more than 130 receiving yards, joining Jackson Willbanks the week before.

Willbanks caught four passes for 52 yards.

Birdwell found seven different receivers and five of them had two or more catches.

The QB finished 18 of 23 for 364 yards.

He was already 14 of 16 for 250 yards at the half before throwing for 114 more yards in the third quarter.

Birdwell didn’t throw a pass in the fourth quarter.

“We felt going in that we had the opportunity to have some success throwing the ball with the way they scheme on defense,” Roof said. “Now, did I think we were going to complete 78 percent of our passes and put up the huge numbers we did?

“Not exactly. But we did feel good about the passing game going in.”

The run game wasn’t as prosperous as the Jackets only managed 68 yards on 30 attempts.

Daxx Compton got the start at running back, but sat out most of the game with bruised ribs. He had three carries for 19 yards, all in the first quarter.

Birdwell was sacked a few times and had minus-3 yards rushing, but Roof purposely didn’t ask him to tote the ball as much as the week before.

“Once we really got up on them, I didn’t want to risk wearing him down,” Roof said.

Brett Calamateo had 56 yards with his 13 carries, both as a running back and as the backup QB in the fourth quarter.

As for Kingfisher’s defense, the first team didn’t give up a touchdown.

Bridge Creek scored with 4:42 left in the game and the Jackets had throttled way down on offense.

However, the Bobcats did find some success on the ground throughout. They had 166 yards on 34 rushing attempts.

“We gave up contain a few times and didn’t tackle as well as we need to,” Roof said.

Mauricio Valles led the team with 11 stops. The middle linebacker had seven solo tackles.

He also blocked a punt in the first half.

Jairo Velarde and Carter Stephenson had seven tackles apiece.

Although they didn’t record a sack, linemen Daniel Guerrero, Ryker Long and Cale Reagan combined for five QB hurries. Guerrero also forced a fumble that Reagan recovered.

All told, Kingfisher outgained Bridge Creek 432253.

The Jackets enter District 3A-1 play this week with a 1-2 record.

They travel to fourthranked Pauls Valley, which is 3-0 and coming off a 19-6 win against Weatherford.

“They’re solid at every position…every position,” Roof said. “They’re as good or better than everyone we’ve seen so far.”

Roof said the Panthers have the best running back Kingfisher will face all season in Caden Knighten.

The 6-foot, 200-pound back is committed to Baylor. He’s accounted for 564 rushing yards and nine touchdowns and another 189 receiving yards and a score.

Jon Grimmett is a 6-foot-5, 230-pound tight end who is just now back to full strength after breaking an ankle over the summer. Also a free safety, he is committed to UNLV.

All told, the Panthers have as many as eight players who are garnering some kind of college attention.

“They’re big up front, they’re big at a lot of skill positions and they’re talented,” Roof said. “But I do think if we go in there and play the way we’re capable at every position, I do think we can give ourselves a chance.”