Jackets down, but never out

Ironically, the play that seemingly crushed Kingfi sher’s playoff hopes may have been the one that helped save them.

For the first time this season - and during his tenure - KHS head football coach Reagan Roof was able to stand before his team not after a disappointing defeat, but rather an exhilarating victory.

Santiago Ortega caught a pass from Jhett Birdwell, bounced off a defender, then raced his way into the end zone with 25 seconds remaining to provide the game winner in a 45-41 win Friday at North Rock Creek.

Ortega’s touchdown was one of several key plays made by the senior - and one of seemingly dozens provided by both teams in a back-and-forth affair that saw the momentum sway to both sides of the field multiple times.

“We’ve been preaching that we’re going to have to win one of those games where we’re playing someone as good or better,” Roof said afterward.

Indeed, North Rock Creek qualified as it entered the night ranked fifth in Class 3A and boasted one of the best players in the class in senior running back Caleb Hawkins.

The Jackets had previous near-misses when they let late leads slip away against the likes of Clinton and Pauls Valley and also played Heritage Hall close until the Chargers closed strong.

“We wanted them to experience that kind of win and realize what it takes to win those types of games,” Roof said. “We obviously were proud they figured out how to get it done.”

With 5:37 to play, it appeared Kingfisher would, in fact, not get it done.

Hawkins pulled off the most unbelievable play in a game full of them when, on defense, he took the ball away from Kingfisher freshman running back Daxx Compton, broke multiple tackles as he made his way across the field and then outran all of the Jackets into the end zone for a 59-yard score.

It was Hawkins’ second touchdown in less than 30 seconds as he pulled his team from a 31-27 deficit to a 41-31 advantage.

The fumble return was Hawkins’ sixth touchdown of the night as he had already run for four scores and thrown for another, accounting for every Cougar TD on the night.

In addition to forcing that fumble, the North Texas commit had also delivered several big hits while playing nearly every snap on defense.

However, after Hawkins put his team up by two scores in the final half of the fourth quarter, he also crashed to the turf for the second time on the night.

“They said he’s got a form of asthma and maybe even had been a little sick going in,” Roof said. “He had played a lot of snaps and made a lot of plays to that point.”

Hawkins walked off the field under his own power, but his snaps for the rest of the night were limited.

With or without him on the other side of the line of scrimmage, KHS had to get to work.

Birdwell led the Jackets down the field and capped a 79-yard scoring drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.

The drive was boosted by a 37-yard pass to Ortega to put the Jackets at the Cougar 27.

Jake Sisk’s extra point brought the Jackets within 41-38 with 3:01 to play.

North Rock Creek was unable to move the ball and was forced to punt. The Cougars’ drive, paired with KHS timeouts, took less than a minute off the clock.

Carter Stephenson’s return gave KHS the ball at its own 48 with 2:04 remaining. Roof called that play one of the bigger ones that maybe flew under the radar. “Just him catching that punt was huge because their kid boomed the kick,” Roof said. “If he let that ball hit, it probably goes to the 20. Instead, he returns it almost to the 50 and we’ve only got to go half the field instead of 80 yards, which was good because we were running out of offense.

“We had thrown about every play at them.”

But KHS still had plays left, including turning back to Compton.

On top of his fumble, Compton also failed earlier in the half to jump on a punt that Paytun Burnham blocked, allowing North Rock Creek to extend a possession.

Roof still called the freshman’s number twice early in the game-winning drive and he delivered runs of 10 and 11 yards.

“We told him we were going to have to have him make a play at some point and he did,” Roof said. “I’m proud of his response. He went out there and did a good job of shaking off what happened before.”

Compton finished his night with 11 carries for 79 yards.

As a team, Kingfisher ran for 162 yards as Birdwell added 54 yards and freshman Brett Calamateo another 29 yards.

Roof credited his offensive line of Bert Haag, Jose Santoyo, Donovan Dunn, Robert Barnett and Landon Rempe.

“Down the stretch, they played extremely well,” Roof said. “Our last couple of hurry-up drives, we were running the ball as much as we were throwing it and they were giving us lanes to run through and also time in the pocket to pass.”

There was one exception, however, when Birdwell was dropped for a sack back at the 28.

The Jackets faced thirdand- long with time running out.

If they didn’t convert, they would have a chance to tie, but Sisk would need to be booting a long field goal into a northerly wind that had picked up considerably since the game began.

But Roof never had to make that decision.

Birdwell had time to wait for the routes to develop and delivered a strike over the middle to Ortega at about the 17.

He bounced off one defender, ran through the tackle of another and into the end zone.

Once North Rock Creek got the ball back, the Cougars were unable to move it.

Ortega’s heroics capped a night in which he caught seven passes for 103 yards, blocked an extra point and altered another one that missed for North Rock Creek as well.

“I thought he had, by far, the best game I’ve seen him play overall,” Roof said. “From offense to defense to special teams, he was tremendous.”

And it might have been a play of his in the first quarter that salvaged Kingfisher’s playoff hopes.

The Jackets were barely able to gain positive yardage and punted away their first two offensive possessions.

North Rock Creek, meanwhile, had little trouble moving it. Hawkins scored on a 49-yard run on his team’s first offensive snap.

He then capped a 55-yard drive with a 37-yard touchdown pass to J.J. McClain for a 14-0 lead with 5:28 to go in the first quarter.

“We played about as badly as you could have by that point,” Roof said.

Then Ortega gave the Jackets hope. He returned the ensuing kickoff 57 yards to the North Rock Creek 28, giving KHS its first spark of life.

The Jackets capitalized as Birdwell found Kasen Blair for a 14-yard touchdown at 2:59 of the quarter.

Kingfisher’s defense settled and held the Cougars scoreless the rest of the half, which included a Blair in- terception in the end zone on the drive after his own TD.

That set up an 80-yard scoring drive by the Jackets that chewed 6:35 off the clock.

Birdwell’s 6-yard TD run tied the game with 1:03 left in the half.

Hawkins struck again in the third as he scored on a 65-yard run on the Cougars’ first possession.

The Jackets cut their deficit to 21-17 on a Sisk field goal at 8:23 of the third quarter. The points were set up by a 57-yard pass from Birdwell to Burnham.

But about two minutes later, it was Hawkins again. This time he scored on a 10yard run to give the Cougars a 27-17 lead with 6:32 to go in the third quarter.

It was the second - but not the last - double-digit deficit for KHS to face on the night.

And for the second - but not the last - time that night, KHS responded.

Birdwell and Blair connected on yet another big play, this one a 67-yard touchdown to pull the Jackets within 27-24 with 5:59 to go in the third.

Burnham blocked North Rock Creek’s punt, but the Cougars were able to recover and extend their ensuing drive. Still, the Jacket defense forced a turnover on downs at the KHS 15.

The Jackets marched 85 yards and took their first lead of the night when Calamateo found his way into the end zone.

Sisk’s kick made it 31-27 KHS with 8:53 to play.

Like all other momentum shifts in the game, this one didn’t last long.

Hawkins came right back with his two big plays - the long touchdown run and the takeaway return for a TD.

How big was his night? He ran it 24 times for 242 yards and four TDs. He caught a pass for 30 yards and threw another for 37 yards and a score.

On defense, he was second on the team with 11 tackles.

“We sort of joked after the fact that we wore him down by letting him run all over us,” Roof said.

But after his final TD, Hawkins mostly had to watch from the sidelines as KHS made its comeback and final stop.

Birdwell was once again spectacular as he was 18 of 24 passing for 286 yards and three touchdowns.

He also accounted for five TDs on the night.

“It was just another solid, if not great, game from Jhett. He’s making really good decisions, which you see in his touchdown-to-turnover ratio,” Roof said.

“What he’s doing really frees us up as a coaching staff as far as what we call knowing that we can have trust in him.”

Birdwell had multiple targets outside of Ortega.

Blair caught two passes for 77 yards and Burnham two more for 67 yards. Jackson Willbanks hauled in five more for 42 yards.

Mauricio Valles and Daniel Guerrero led the defense with nine stops apiece.

Jairo Velarde and Jose Santoyo added eight each and Ryker Long seven.

KHS had six tackles for a loss in the game.

There were rough patches on defense.

There were rough patches on offense (the Jackets had to call two timeouts early on that side of the ball).

There were rough patches on special teams (Blair ran two kickoffs back for touchdowns, both of which were negated by penalties).

Still, despite the setbacks, KHS kept coming back.

“We did a good job of just playing the next play, which is something we preach,” Roof said. “Good or bad, just play the next play.”

Then, when it mattered, Kingfisher came up with more good plays.

“The biggest difference in this game and some of the others that were close is, down the stretch, when we needed a big play, we made them,” Roof said. “In crucial moments, we were able to make the big play.”

And that means KHS is in the middle of a muddy District 3A-1 playoff picture.

On top of evening their overall record at 4-4, the Jackets are 3-2 in district games.

However, the Jackets are one of just six teams remaining with legitimate shots at reaching the postseason.

They play two of them - Anadarko this week and Plainview in Week 10 - at home to wrap up the regular season.

Winning both means KHS can take second and host a playoff game in the first round.

Losing just one, however, could spell doom for Kingfi sher’s chances.

“It’s going to be a battle,” Roof said. “We knew these last three games were going to be really tough. We got the first one, but we’ve got two more that are going to be just like it.”