Good news, bad news: KHS hangs tough, Clinton wins

Not as far off as you might think.

That was the message Jeff Myers delivered soon after Kingfisher’s 21-6 season- opening loss at Clinton last Friday night.

A review of the game film solidified his belief.

“It was a tough night in some respects and you’re never satisfied with a loss,” said Myers. “But you can turn it into a positive by building off of what you did and learning from your mistakes.

“Everything we saw whether from the sidelines or watching film tells us that we can fix the things that hurt us.”

The Jackets got started on a positive note.

Harrison Evans forced a fumble on the defending 4A state champions’ first drive.

That led to a 45-yard scoring drive for KHS, capped by Jax Sternberger’s 9-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Paytun Burnham.

Although the extra-point try hit the upright, the Jackets led Clinton 6-0 at 7:04 of the first quarter.

“It’s exactly the kind of start you want. Force a turnover and have the offense take advantage,” Myers said.

Unfortunately, the momentum for KHS was shortlived.

Javion Hill bobbled the ensuing kickoff, but then scooped it up and returned it 67 yards to the Kingfisher 32.

Freshman Ethan Waswo saved the touchdown by running down the speedy Hill.

However, just a couple of plays later, the Red Tornadoes’ Garrison Rhoads broke free for a 24-yard touchdown run. The extra-point gave Clinton a 7-6 lead it wouldn’t lose.

That score was unchanged until 3:52 remained in the half and Clinton’s Caleb Edwards scored from a yard out.

The Reds tacked on another TD with 7:32 to play in the third when Hill broke multiple tackles and turned a short pass from Cooper Sulley into a 37-yard touchdown.

But like so many teams do against the wear-down style that Clinton plays, KHS didn’t fold.

The Jackets answered with their best drive of the night, going from their own 20 to Clinton’s 15.

It ultimately ended with a turnover-on-downs.

“That was the point in the game where we found out a little something,” Myers said.

“They had just gone up two scores and they had controlled the time of possession. They really wear teams down and then take over down the stretch. But our guys didn’t fold over that last quarter-and-a-half.”

The Kingfisher defense continued to turn away Clinton.

By the final horn, the Jackets held the Reds to a modest - by their standards - 213 yards on 28 attempts.

Sulley was just 3 of 9 passing for 57 yards, most of which came on the scoring play.

The Jackets were led in tackling by senior linebacker Aaron Delatorre.

He missed his entire junior season with a torn ACL, but returned with a vengeance to record 11 tackles, two of them for losses.

Sternberger added seven tackles.

Myers said the line did its part and praised the play of Wrigley Kennedy (four tackles) in the middle and ends Harrison Evans (four tackles) and Jake Reagan (three tackles).

“Our defense really played well enough for us to win,” Myers said.

The offense was just never able to completely find its way against the Red Tornadoes.

“They had a really good, really fast front-seven and we just struggled to maintain drives,” Myers said.

Kingfisher netted just 14 rushing yards, though sacks accounted for minus-23.

Ethan Karcher totaled 21 yards on five attempts while Dallen Barton’s 11 carries netted 16 yards.

Sternberger was 12 of 18 for 93 yards through the air. He had one interception to go with his TD pass.

Evans caught four passes for 36 yards and Burnham four for 20.

“The numbers when you add them up don’t look pretty,” Myers said. “But when we watched the film, we saw that if we don’t block the wrong guy here or hold this block just a little longer, it turns a couple of plays.

“And a couple of plays in a game like that can make a difference.”

But, Myers added, it was Week 0 and he knew the team he was putting on the field was lacking in experience.

“We had a lot of youth out there and a lot of the upperclassmen who were two-way starters had to miss a lot of last season,” he said. “So we were really green. I don’t want to make that sound like an excuse, but we just needed some experience and had to gain it against a really good team.”