Outrunning the pack

Ben Harman and Mason Manning secured the lead.

Nick Nabavi secured Cashion’s spot in yet another state championship game.

Cashion out-gunned Pawhuska 35-31 in their second epic Class A semifinal in as many years, this time at Ponca City High School.

The victory, not secured until the waning moments, put the Wildcats into this weekend’s title tilt.

The win was locked up when Manning and Gavin Phippen batted down Todd Drummond’s pass on 4thand-13.

From there, the Wildcats were able to run out the clock in victory formation, something that might not have been possible if not for Nabavi’s heads-up play.

Moments after Cashion had taken the lead on Harman’s 44-yard touchdown pass to Manning with 3:27 to play, the Huskies were in business on the Wildcats’ end of the field.

Pawhuska quickly drove to the Cashion 26.

On 2nd-and-10, Drummond dropped back to pass before fluttering a pass to Tyrel Richardson on a screen play.

Richardson seemingly had three blockers and lots of green in front of him before Nabavi crashed through and dropped him for a three-yard loss.

“That play probably won us the game,” Cashion coach Lynn Shackelford said.

The Huskies’ next two pass attempts fell to the turf, the final one as Nabavi’s pressure forced Drummond to get rid of it.

It wasn’t just the senior’s defense that helped turn the game in Cashion’s favor.

Nabavi ran 26 times for 189 yards.

That included an 80-yard burst for a TD in the second quarter to help Cashion to a 20-18 halftime lead.

After Cashion fell behind early in the third quarter on Cooper Kyler’s second field goal of the game, this one from 34 yards, the Wildcats went on top 28-21 with Harman’s 10-yard touchdown run and subsequent two-point conversion scamper.

Kyler added a 38-yard field goal with 11:31 to play, then the Huskies went on top 31-28 on Richardson’s 3-yard plunge with 8:19 to play.

That put Cashion behind in the fourth quarter, much like they were a year ago when the semifinal was played on Pawhuska’s home field.

Then the deficit was 6-0 before Harman hit Landon LaGasse for a 52-yard strike with 3:28 left. An extra-point proved to be the difference in a 7-6 victory.

This year, Shackelford said, there was only a slight case of deja vu.

“It was a different feeling for me because we had been moving the ball this year,” he said. “Last year, I never really felt like we ever had anything we could do.”

Cashion could barely move the chains against the Huskies in 2020, but had nearly 500 yards of total offense this time around.

“I was pretty confident we could go down and score,” Shackelford added.

Cashion’s drive started at its own 21 and the Wildcats went with six straight runs, a combination of Harman and Nabavi.

One was Nabavi’s 4-yard surge on a 4th-and-2 play that secured a first down.

After a 10-yard pass to LaGasse and a short 1-yard keeper by Harman, Shackelford viewed Pawhuska’s defense before calling his play.

“It’s a play we run a lot based on how we see them lined up,” Shackelford said.

He noticed the one-on-one coverage on Manning and since Cashion had been run-heavy all night, “I thought they’d sell out to stop the run.”

Manning ran a slant and was hit in stride by Harman.

“I was hoping to just get a first down,” Shackelford said.

He got more than that as Manning outran the Huskies to the end zone and Bryson Hogan’s extra-point put Cashion up four.

It was just Manning’s second catch of the day. Those receptions covered 86 yards.

LaGasse also caught two total passes, the first of which was a 51-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Harman was “just” 7 of 16 for 154 yards and threw one pick.

However, the senior also ran for 113 yards on 20 carries.

He had a 40-yard score in the first quarter to give Cashion its first lead and added the scoring run in the third.

Drummond was 12 of 18 for the Huskies for 190, including an 11-yard touchdown pass to OSU commit Mason Gilkey in the second quarter.

This game turned into the shootout most expected last year when the teams entered averaging a combined 113 points.

Cashion ended the night with 599 total yards. Pawhuska managed 376.

In the end, though, it was once again Cashion able to make the biggest plays down the stretch.

“It’s good to have an experienced group of guys that we do,” Shackelford said.

Now this year’s crop of juniors and seniors are playing at UCO in the Class A’s final game yet again.

“Having that experience is huge,” Shackelford said. “It came through for us on Friday and hopefully it will on Saturday too.”