Off to a hot start

Maybe it was his sizzling speed.

Maybe it was his ability to scorch the opponent time and again.

Or maybe it was just the blazing-hot turf on Ranger Field.

It was mostly the latter, but whatever it was had Cade Stephenson hosing his feet down with cold water as Kingfisher opened its 2020 football season with a 54-6 blistering road win over Alva.

After an offseason of uncertainty and a week of potential distractions and on the hottest day of the year, Stephenson opened up his senior season with two rushing and two receiving touchdowns as he made good on the coaches’ promises to make him a dangerous all-around weapon.

“My feet were burning on that turf. I started squirting water on my socks!” said Stephenson, who ran for 147 yards on just seven carries, which included scoring jaunts of 52 and 55 yards.

Stephenson also was on the receiving end of scoring passes from sophomore Jax Sternberger, who was making his first career start.

“I was definitely nervous going into the game just because it was my first one,” said Sternberger. “I think I got settled in after the first two plays.”

All he did was run for Kingfisher’s first two scores and then throw three more - all in the first half - as Kingfisher built a 48-0 lead before the break. “We felt going in we were the better team, but you still have to go out there and perform,” said head coach Jeff Myers, who is now into his 17th season leading the program.

“So to go out and put together a game where we made big plays on offense, defense and special teams and to put them away early says a lot about this team’s focus.”

The focus was one of the question marks entering the game as longtime offensive coordinator and line coach Micah Nall resigned all coaching duties just one day prior. (Ed. note: See story in the Sunday, Aug. 30, edition.)

Other uncertainties were an inexperienced offensive line, which is now coached by Stuart Purintun.

On top of that, Purintun was in the booth calling plays along with co-offensive coordinator Derek Patterson (who was on the field).

It was the first time Purintun has called plays since he did so for the Jackets when Patterson was the quarterback more than a decade ago.

“There was maybe some rust early on, but that was gone pretty quick,” Purintun said. “Of course, when things are working it makes it all better.”

Sternberger is the first sophomore to start full-time at QB since Patterson and Kingfisher’s offense resembled those of the late 2000’s.

After the Jackets punted on their initial possession, they scored on the seven final possessions of the first half and the initial one of the second.

“Going into the game, I felt we would score some points, but I wasn’t expecting 48 by halftime,” Purintun said. “We had guys make plays, but it was also because I thought our line stepped up and played pretty well.”

Several drives were set up with great field position thanks to Kingfisher’s defense not allowing a first down until the waning moments of the first half.

Other scores were the benefit of big plays.

The first two scoring drives were a combined 75 yards and ended with Sternberger plunging in from the 1 and racing in from the 14.

Caleb Dick intercepted a Kaden Slater pass on Alva’s ensuing possession.

Then, just one play later, Sternberger found senior Tate Taylor downfield.

Taylor, who did the rest for a 41-yard scoring reception, was among the most excited Jackets to get on the field Friday.

He missed all of his junior season with a torn ACL after racking up more than 90 tackles as a sophomore.

“I was so pumped and excited to get back on the field,” Taylor said. “I usually get a bit nervous before games, but I wasn’t at all (Friday) because I was ready to be back at it.”

His score gave KHS a 21-0 lead with just over a minute to play in the first quarter.

The second quarter was even worse for the Goldbugs.

The Jackets forced three more turnovers - interceptions by Jarret Birdwell and Will Taylor and a Kyle Borelli-forced fumble on a kickoff return that was pounced on by Jud Birdwell.

The turnovers gave KHS short field position and it took advantage.

Sternberger found Stephenson for 4-yard TD strike and a 28-0 lead at 9:33 of the second quarter.

The next kickoff resulted in the fumble, which set up a 15-yard pass from Sternberger to Stephenson.

The Jackets - by that point - led 35-0 with less than four minutes into the second quarter.

About two minutes later, Stephenson broke free for a 52-yard scoring scamper. He added the other long TD run on the first drive of the second half, the only one played by starters as the clock ran continuously.

On top of his rushing, Stephenson caught five passes for 53 yards.

“I love running the ball, but I definitely love catching it more. It gives me more space to make the big plays,” Stephenson said.

On top of his multitude of duties on offense, Stephenson was on the kickoff return team to begin the game, started at safety and was the team’s punter.

“It definitely wore me out,” said Stephenson, who currently possesses offers to play from five different colleges. “I’m going to be pumping the fluids and running a lot more this week.”

The Jackets’ other firsthalf TD was a 3-yard run by sophomore back Cade Cooper.

It wasn’t until after that touchdown with 3:31 left in the half that Alva was able to pick up its initial first down of the game. At that point, the Goldbugs had negative yardage and four turnovers.

By halftime, KHS had out-gained its host 279-24.

Sternberger ended 13 of 18 for 145 yards and no turnovers.

He completed three passes to Jarret Birdwell for 30 yards and another two to Dick for 14.

The defensive production was spread out. No Jacket had more than four tackles.

“I thought our front-seven was really good, but guys at every level played well,” Myers said.

Stephenson felt the group fed off each other.

“I love the group we have on defense,” he said. “We pump each other up.”

Business picks up considerably this week when Weatherford visits for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday.

The Eagles have some gaps to fill, but still have a lot of returning talent from a team that advanced to the Class 4A state championship game last season. Among them is Ethan

Among them is Ethan Downs, a University of Oklahoma commitment who is among the top recruits in the state for the Class of 2021.

“It’s a big step up this week, but that’s a good thing,” Myers said. “We got our feet wet last week, now it’s time to jump in and see how well we can swim.”