Coin flip sends Cashion to Pawhuska

Tails never fails.

Until it does.

With the OSSAA opting this season to not hold football semifinals at neutral sites, this week’s Class A semifinal host came down to a coin flip between Cashion and Pawhuska. Cashion coach Lynn Shackelford got to call the toss at 10 a.m. Saturday.

He called tails.

The coin landed on heads.

Instead of Cashion hosting its fifth straight playoff game, the Wildcats will make the 134-mile trip northeast.

“That one’s on me,” Shackelford said of his loss on the coin flip. “But our guys don’t care where we play. They just want to compete.”

They’re competing in a game most football fans have had circled since the season began.

Cashion and Pawhuska are exactly where everyone thought they’d be.

The Wildcats are 14-0 while the Huskies are 12-0. Both teams have been ranked among the top-three in Class A all season along with defending champ Ringling.

“We both had high expectations coming in,” said Cashion’s Lynn Shackelford. “It’s not always easy to live up to that, but both teams have done a good job so far.”

Behind the arm of quarterback Bryce Drummond, the Huskies have put up basketball-like numbers.

The Huskies averaged 66.4 points a game. The 446 win over Mooreland last week was their lowest point output of the season.

Pawhuska has scored 60 or more points eight times, beat Fairland 92-0 and Ketchum 95-7.

“They’re explosive, that’s for sure,” Shackelford said. “We have to find a way to not give up the big play against them.”

Drummond is the son of Ladd and Ree Drummond (aka “The Pioneer Woman”), but has more than made a name for himself.

Texas commit, he’s thrown for 3,837 yards and 59 touchdowns against just six interceptions.

He’s also the team’s leading rusher with 653 yards and 18 more touchdowns.

His two main targets are Mason Gilkey, who has 54 catches for 1,241 yards and 26 scores, and Dalton Hurd, who’s added a teamhigh 68 grabs for 1,172 yards and 17 TDs.

That’s not to say Cashion’s offense is shabby.

The Wildcats average 47.4 points a contest.

Quarterback Ben Harman has thrown for more yards (3,874) than Drummond and nearly as many TDs (54).

He’s got a plethora of receiving weapons whether it be Brexten Green, Mason Manning or Landon LaGasse, all of whom have had 100-plus-yard and multiple touchdown performances this season.

However, Shackelford could very well depend on the other aspect of his offense to get back to the state title game.

“We are going to need to continue to run the ball well,” he said.

The Wildcats have the tools, namely in Caden Harrell.

The senior has run for 1,502 yards and 28 touchdowns and averages just .2 yard less than a first down every time he touches it.

Harrell will also lead a defensive unit that could be the difference.

While Pawhuska will be the most potent passing at-tack the Wildcats have seen, Cashion has only given up an average of 9.3 points a game.

“They’ll be really tough to beat, especially on their home field. You know their fans willbe fired up,” Shackelford said. “We just have to go in, do the things we know we can do and not have any self-inflicting wounds.”