Big plays lead to blowout win over ‘Darko

One big play led to another. And then another. And then another.

And now? Kingfisher is on the verge of pulling off a feat that seemed, at the very least, improbable just a month ago.

The Yellowjackets broke open an air-tight game Friday night with three huge second-half plays to put away Anadarko 31-6.

The victory was Kingfi sher’s third straight as it improved to 5-4, getting above the .500 mark for the first time this season.

More importantly, the Jackets are now 4-2 in District 3A-1 games and have a shot to not only reach the playoffs, but host a playoff game.

That task can be accomplished this Friday when KHS hosts No. 5 Plainview, the Jackets’ second such opponent to boast that ranking in three weeks.

The Indians are 8-1 and 5-1 with their lone loss coming in overtime to Heritage Hall. The winner of this week’s game will be second place in district behind the Chargers.

What would a loss for Kingfisher mean? It brings two other games into play: North Rock Creek at Anadarko and Pauls Valley at Purcell.

If everything went Kingfisher’s way, the Jackets could be as high as third.

Other scenarios see KHS falling to fourth or - not that unlikely - even out of the playoffs.

“We just need to win this week and it takes all of that out of play,” said KHS coach Reagan Roof.

Kingfisher’s playoff hopes would have been severely hampered had the Jackets not taken care of business against Anadarko.

The game went from looking like a blowout KHS win early to nervously close late in the third quarter.

The Jackets let Anadarko score on the final play of the first half to pull within 10-6.

Then after halftime, the Warriors forced a Kingfisher punt and commenced a drive that chewed nearly six full minutes off the clock.

Anadarko marched into Kingfisher territory and was threatening to claim the lead for the first time.

And KHS had done little to that point to show that it could score against the Warrior defense.

The Jackets’ first-half points were a 30-yard field goal by Jake Sisk thanks to a short field in which KHS drove 28 yards on the first possession.

They moved it to 10-0 minutes later when Paytun Burnham blocked a punt in the end zone, one that Mauricio Valles pounced on at 4:29 of the first quarter.

But KHS ended the first half with 80 total yards and had just 96 as the closing minutes of the third quarter neared.

Then it finally happened. Jhett Birdwell found the time he needed to throw, Santiago Ortega beat his defender and the two hooked up for a 72-yard touchdown at the 2:28 mark of the third quarter.

Anadarko had to punt it away on its next possession and the Jackets took possession at their own 20.

This time they needed just one play.

Birdwell passed to Kasen Blair, who made a catch in traffic, slammed on the brakes at midfield to lose his defenders, then outran them into the end zone for an 80-yard TD.

In less than five minutes of game time, the Jackets’ lead had swelled to 24-6.

But they still weren’t done.

Kingfisher’s defense - as it did most of the night once again turned away Anadarko.

The Jackets took over at the Anadarko 47 and one play after losing two yards, freshman Daxx Compton had his biggest run of the season.

Compton weaved his way past the line of scrimmage, then turned on the gas for a 49-yard scoring run.

The three-play outburst of 201 yards was a far cry from the first two-plus quarters.

“I felt like we were close a couple of times in the first half, but we’d have a mental bust or we’d get close and then revert to our old ways of not being able to score in the red zone,” said Roof.

KHS took the red zone out of play with the big swings.

As it turned out, none of the second-half points were needed.

“I think our defense played as good a game as they have all season,” Roof said.

The Warriors were unable to move the ball in the first half, save for a couple of chunk plays on a final drive.

The chunk plays didn’t exist in the second half.

Kingfisher held the Warriors to just 187 total yards. That included 49 yards on 30 rush attempts.

Kingfisher’s defensive front was a big reason.

Jose Santoyo, Daniel Guerrero, Ryker Long and Cale Reagan combined for 27 tackles and three sacks.

Santoyo accounted for nine stops and two sacks.

Long was in on eight stops while Guerrero had six tackles and a sack before having to leave with a knee injury. His return this week is still up in the air.

Jairo Velarde, who hyperextended his knee on the opening kickoff of the game, recorded seven tackles while playing through his injury.

Birdwell was just 2 of 16 for 13 yards passing in the first half.

He completed his only two passes in the second half for touchdowns. They covered 152 yards.

The Jackets amassed 157 rushing yards.

Compton had 105 on 14 carries, both season highs.