No loot for the Pirates

Jeff Myers was in a good mood late Friday night.

His Kingfisher Yellowjackets had just thumped Mannford 36-0 on homecoming night for their second straight win.

Not only did the Jackets improve their playoff standing and earn their first shutout since 2019, but they stayed injury-free in the process.

“Not even really any bumps and bruises,” Myers added. “And we get Harrison (Evans) back next week.

“We are as healthy as we’ve been in a long, long time.”

The Jackets won despite their senior defensive end and fullback standing on the sideline resting a hamstring that he tweaked the previous week at Mount St. Mary.

Without him, the Jackets were able to hold the Pirates to minus-5 rushing yards and 83 total yards.

The rushing stat was aided by two errant snaps by the Pirates in the first quarter that accounted for more than 50 yards of lost real estate.

Time- consuming drives chewed up much of the first quarter, one that saw KHS only lead 3-0 on Aaron Delatorre’s 30-yard field goal.

The Jackets began to put it away in the second.

A long run by Jax Sternberger who was named homecoming captain in a pregame coronation that also saw Mayce Gibson crowned homecoming queen - set up Dallen Barton’s 12-yard touchdown at 9:33 of the second quarter.

The Jackets later put together an 80-yard drive that ate up 5:10 of the clock.

Cade Cooper ended it with his first TD of the season on a 4-yard run.

That score came with 1:35 left in the half, but Kingfisher wasn’t finished.

Myers called a pair of timeouts as his defense was forcing a threeand- out and the Jackets got the ball back at their own 42 with 59 seconds left in the half.

They quickly marched down the field and made it 23-0 when Sternberger scrambled and found Tristun Burham for a 5-yard TD with 10 seconds to play.

Kingfisher’s lone miscue came at the beginning of the second half when Sternberger’s long pass was held up by a north breeze and picked off by Cameron Rodriguez.

Thedefense,though, gave up no ground and forced the Pirates to punt, one of six on the night for the visitors.

Sternberger came back with yet another long scamper to lead the way for Ethan Karcher’s 4-yard touchdown run. The Jackets ended their scoring with 6:15 to play in the third when Sternberger dropped a pass over Cade Covalt’s shoulder.

The junior stiffarmed a defender and raced 63 yards for a TD.

It was a second straight big offensive night for Sternberger.

He was 11 of 17 passing for 165 yards.

The senior added another 105 yards on seven carries.

Karcher ran for 62 more on just six carries.

As a team, KHS tallied 229 rushing yards and averaged 7.4 yards a pop.

Karcher also led the defense with eight tackles. Delatorre totaled seven.

KHS is now 4-2 overall and 2-1 in District 3A-1.

The last two wins have come against teams with a combined 2-10 record.

“Business picks up considerably this week,” Myers said.

An unfamiliar foe for KHS Metro Christian Academy - visits on Thursday night.

The Patriots will enter the game with a 6-0 overall record and have won all three district games.

They’re ranked in the top-three of Class 3A in all the major polls.

“They deserve it,” Myers said. “They’re really sound and will have the best passing offense we’ve seen all season.”

Among the Patriots’ wins is a 63-28 decision two weeks ago against Perkins-Tryon, a team that beat KHS 14-3.

Metro Christian is averaging 44.2 points per game.

The Patriots have scored at least 35 points in every game.

Kingfisher is surrendering an average of just 12.5 points and hasn’t given up more than 21 in a game.

A win can keep Kingfisher in the hunt for the district championship.

A loss likely means the Jackets can finish no better than third in the district, which means traveling for the first round of the playoffs.

“This will certainly be a test for our guys,” Myers said. “It’s a different offense than what we’ve been seeing, but we’ll go to work this week to prepare for them. These are the kinds of games you want to play in.”