Jackets withstand late rally

One of the clichés with the playoffs is “survive and advance.”

Kingfisher did both of those things last Friday in Lone Grove… but just barely.

KHS staved off a furious rally in the final three minutes by the host Longhorns to win 28-27 in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.

The Longhorns pulled within the final margin with 34 seconds left in the game and opted to go for two and the win as opposed to kicking an extra point.

Cade Gilmore’s pass to Cale McLean sailed high as McLean was also falling to the ground.

Cade Cooper recovered the ensuing onside kick - his second recovery in a matter of minutes to secure Kingfisher’s win.

The victory moves the Jackets into the quarterfinal round this Friday when they travel to No. 2 Lincoln Christian.

It’s the 17th time in Jeff Myers’ 19 years that Kingfisher (8-3) has won at least one playoff game.

“That was an exciting one… more exciting than it needed to be,” Myers said. “But the guys found a way to get it done and that’s what matters.”

Cooper powered into the end zone for a 10-yard TD run with 3:06 to play to give Kingfisher what appeared - at the time - to be a comfortable 28-14 advantage.

It was Cooper’s second touchdown run in just over three minutes and the third straight for the Jackets in the game.

Kingfisher’s defense to that point had shut out the Longhorns since they had gone up 14-7 at 6:38 of the second quarter.

“We were doing a really good job on the defensive side of stopping the run and limiting their big plays,” Myers said. “And our offense was really starting to take command.”

But Lone Grove, which came into the game with a four-game win streak, didn’t go quietly.

After a solid kick return, the Longhorns put together a scoring drive that ended with McLean hauling in a 39-yard touchdown catch, his second of the night.

The extra point got Lone Grove (8-3) within 28-21 with 1:58 to play.

Cooper recovered the Longhorns’ first onside kick of the night, which gave KHS the ball at midfield.

However, the Jackets were only able to burn off 11 seconds as Lone Grove used up its trio of timeouts.

A Kingfisher punt gave Lone Grove possession at its own 26 with 1:37 left.

Gilmore went to the air. He had a 38-yard completion to Austin Hart and then a 27yard throw to D’Marion Jackson to the KHS 1.

The senior then plunged into the end zone on the next play to pull his team within a point.

Instead of trotting out the kicker and likely push the game into overtime, Lone Grove coach Curtis Cole opted to play for the win.

Before the Longhorns could take the snap, Myers raced down to call a timeout.

“I just wanted to settle the guys down,” Myers said. “It had been a hectic stretch of plays so we calmed them down and then discussed some things to look for.”

McLean lined up at tight end and then started to break free in the end zone after most of Kingfisher’s defense played the run.

However as Gilmore’s pass left his hands, McLean slipped on the wet grass and the ball flew out of the back of the end zone.

“We had a couple of guys there, so if the pass was lower I think we still had a shot to knock it down,” Myers said.

The Jackets still weren’t out of the woods as Lone Grove still had another onside kick attempt.

But it ended just like the first with the senior Cooper falling on it.

“It was great to see him have such a huge fourth quarter,” Myers said. “That’s the kind of impact we knew he could have on a game.”

Cooper missed the first month of the season with a broken foot and in Kingfi sher’s 11th game gave the Jackets the kind of production they’d hoped to get all year before he was injured in an offseason scrimmage.

Cooper was part of a three-pronged rushing attack that continues to churn up turf.

His production - five carries for 47 yards and the two TDs - largely came in the fourth quarter.

He gave KHS some fresh legs and Dallen Barton and Jax Sternberger did a bulk of the work in the game.

Barton had 24 rushes for 138 yards. Sternberger added 128 more yards on his 23 attempts.

All told, the Jackets chewed up 315 yards on the ground.

Myers said a lot of credit goes to the likes of Landon Rempe, Kale Westfahl, Wrigley Kennedy, Bert Haag and Noah Friesen - the team’s starting linemen - as well as the likes of Harrison Evans and Jake Reagan at fullback and tight end.

That unit - coached by co-offensive coordinator David Ellis - has shown exponential progress the last month of the season.

“The line is improving every week,” Myers said. “Coach Ellis has done a great job of simplifying things and instilling a physical mentality.”

Lone Grove averaged right at 200 rushing yards a game entering the night, but the Jackets held them to 26 net yards. Gilmore was sacked two times and five other Lone Grove rush attempts were dropped for a loss.

Aaron Delatorre led the defense with 11 tackles while Barton had eight.

Evans and Ethan Karcher both had sacks and had four combined tackles for a loss.

Kennedy dominated the middle of the line and had five tackles.

Tanner Parker helped keep the middle of the field clear with six stops.

“I really thought we could control their run game,” Myers said.

That meant Gilmore’s arm had to play a big role… and it did.

He threw for 340 yards while completing 19 of 33 pass attempts.

“I was somewhat disappointed with our secondary at times,” Myers said. “We had some mental errors and at times didn’t put ourselves in good position.”

However, he said, Kingfisher shutting down the run game meant the secondary was forced more into action.

“When you pretty much take away their run game, they had to throw it to have any success,” Myers said. “When they have to throw that much, that puts a lot of pressure on the back end of our defense.

“We didn’t do a very good job of moving our feet and keeping everything in front of us. We will certainly stress that this week and have to get better for Lincoln Christian.”

Kingfisher forced a punt on the first possession of the game, which saw a strong wind and rain for much of its entirety.

The Jackets took a lead with a 55-yard drive during which they converted two fourth downs.

The score was a 1-yard Sternberger plunge at 2:03 of the first.

Lone Grove answered with consecutive scores - Gilmore passing TDs of 22 to McLean and 16 to Hart - and went up midway through the second quarter.

KHS quickly tied it with a 64-yard drive that ended with a 36-yard scoring run by Sternberger.

KHS got another crack before halftime, but a trick play saw Paytun Burnham throw an interception. Sternberger also threw one pick in the game.

“If we don’t throw those, it’s almost mistake free on offense,” Myers said. “I thought our running backs ran the ball very physically and we did a great job protecting the ball. In a wet, cold game like that, that’s big.”

Neither team scored in the third quarter and KHS took the lead with an 80yard drive that began at 10:29 of the fourth.

The second TD of the quarter was a 42-yard drive set up by a turnover on downs.

Both drives were exclusively on the ground.

KHS ran for 121 yards in the fourth quarter alone.

It was part of a winning formula that just needed a late stop in enemy territory.

“I was proud of our kids,” Myers said. “They not only didn’t get rattled early in the game, but still kept it together when Lone Grove made that late run.”