Collinsville Wins Instant Classic Over McAlester
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Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! Out of the five state championships this week, the Class 5A battle between #1 McAlester and #2 Collinsville was the most anticipated match-up of the weekend.…
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Out of the five state championships this week, the Class 5A battle between #1 McAlester and #2 Collinsville was the most anticipated match-up of the weekend. It lived up to the hype. These two teams have been #1 and #2 all season long and brought perfect records into Saturday night’s game. In the end, it was Collinsville outlasting McAlester with a 42-35 victory to capture their first state championship in school history.
The first quarter was an absolute shootout as both teams went back and forth, exchanging blows. The Buffaloes led 21-14 after the first quarter. The two teams combined for four touchdowns in the final three minutes of the game. The Cardinals would always respond to every shot from the Buffaloes. The game was tied up at 21 going into halftime and the scoring only continued in the second half. The Cardinals would take their first lead of the game in the third quarter, only to have McAlester tie it right back up at the end of the third.
However, the Buffaloes would run out of gas in the final quarter and Collinsville would not go away. They would go up again early in the final quarter, only to have McAlester tie it up at 35. However, the Cardinals would score one more time with just under two minutes on a touchdown that ended up being the game-winning touchdown and giving the Cardinals their first state championship in school history.
The game was headlined by the stars on their teams as Collinsville’s big three of Andrew Carney Andrew Carney 6'2" | LB Collinsville | 2022 State OK , Brayden Gilkey Brayden Gilkey 6'0" | 215 lbs | RB Collinsville | 2022 State OK and Oscar Hammond Oscar Hammond 6'3" | WR Collinsville | 2022 State OK led the way for the Cardinals while McAlester’s star running back Erik McCarty Erik McCarty 6'2" | 175 lbs | DB McAlester | 2023 State OK had a career night but came up just short. McCarty finished with 268 yards on 31 carries and four touchdowns and also led the team with 13 tackles.
Carney would go 8-13 for 128 yards and two touchdowns along with 121 yards on 20 carries and four touchdowns, including the game-winning touchdown. Gilkey also added 169 yards on 16 carries and Hammond had 119 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions.
This game was back and forth from the start and the battle between the top two teams in Class 5A lived up to the hype and then some. The match-up between the top two defenses in Class 5A also turned into a shootout as both teams leaned on their stars that carried them to the title game.
The Cardinals captured their first ever state championship with the victory on Saturday night and for the first time since 2005, a current Class 5A team from the east side is the 5A champion. Booker T Washington won a few since then but they’re now in 6A-2. What a way to end the first weekend of state championship games with an absolute classic.
COLLINSVILLE (14-0) | 14 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 42 |
McALESTER (13-1) | 21 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 35 |