Bixby Wins 50th Straight In 49-14 Triumph

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bixby Spartans opened the 2022 football season and extended their state-record winning streak to 50 consecutive games with a 49-14 victory. It was a very highly anticipated season opener as #3 Bixby faced #4 Owasso in the QuikTrip sponsored "Battle Of The Burbs" at TU's Chapman Stadium. Although the game had plenty of hype around it, you could tell it was week zero. Both teams combined for five lost fumbles in the first half and the first two quarters were headlined by penalties, turnovers and special teams miscues. That's to be expected early on in the season and after Bixby made some adjustments at halftime, the flood gates opened.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Owasso struck first after a scoreless first quarter. They would take advantage of Bixby's second lost fumble of the evening and punch it in two plays later on a [player_tooltip player_id='38821' first='Mason' last='Willingham'] touchdown run from a yard out. There was a stretch in the second quarter that featured three lost fumbles in a span of four total plays. Finally, Bixby started gaining some momentum. They would score a pair of touchdowns, including [player_tooltip player_id='197183' first='Connor' last='Kirby']'s 85-yard sprint to the end zone to go up 14-7 with four minutes left in the first half. The Spartans would never trail again. Bixby only trailed for roughly 90 seconds during their 2021 championship season. On Thursday night, they trailed for six minutes and forty seconds. We'll see if that's the only time they'll trail this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The floodgates began to open in the second half and Owasso experienced what so many teams in 6A-2 have experienced over the last eight seasons. When Bixby gets rolling, there's no stopping them. Sam McCormick got the Bixby scoring started on the first play of the second half when he jumped a pass and took an interception back for a Bixby touchdown. The Owasso offense could really get nothing going in the second half with star wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id='45651' first='Cole' last='Adams'] sidelined with an injury following a stellar first half. The Spartans would add two more touchdowns in the third quarter and were in full control, leading 35-7 after three quarters.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bixby would go on to add a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns and win the first ever "Battle Of The Burbs" 49-14. It was a dominating performance in the second half and Bixby's defense, despite only returning four starters, was flat out dominant all night long. Bixby's power run game absolutely wore Owasso down. After the slow start, the Spartans had no problems. They'll turn their attention to Springdale Har-Ber in Arkansas while Owasso will continue their gauntlet run of an early schedule. They go on the road to face two-time defending champion Jenks next week. The Rams captured their 50th consecutive win and took the first step towards dominating their new class. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Bixby's Top Performers</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='197183' first='Connor' last='Kirby'] - 2023 Quarterback</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kirby's 85-yard touchdown in the second quarter put the Spartans up for good on Thursday night. Kirby had a breakout junior season as he became Bixby's short-yard specialist. However, he showed off his speed on the 85-yard touchdown run, the longest of his career. Kirby had a dominating performance while splitting QB reps with fellow 2023 QB [player_tooltip player_id='51037' first='Austin' last='Havens']. Kirby would finish the game throwing for 116 yards and a touchdown. He would lead the Spartans in rushing with 130 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns on the evening. Kirby has the potential to be one of the better dual-threat quarterbacks in the state. It will be interesting to see how Bixby continues to mix Havens and Kirby at the quarterback position moving forward. But when Kirby is on the field, defenses can no longer just focus on loading up to stop the run. He showed several times on Thursday that he can beat defenses with his arm.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='98179' first='Jakeb' last='Snyder'] - 2023 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the top two-way players on the Spartans this season is going to be 2023 wide receiver and cornerback [player_tooltip player_id='98179' first='Jakeb' last='Snyder']. And you can make the argument that he was the best two-way player on Thursday night. Snyder was Bixby's leading receiver on offense. He finished with seven catches for 62 yards and a touchdown. He was also very impressive on the defensive side of the ball. The secondary was definitely going to be the strength of this Bixby defense and they did a very good job limiting what Owasso wanted to do in the passing game. And Snyder did a great job in 1 on 1 situations against Owasso wide receivers. If he gave up a catch, he was also taking down that receiver immediately. Owasso wasn't able to break very many tackles as the Spartans put on a tackling clinic throughout the evening. Snyder is definitely going to be a player to watch for Bixby this fall as he goes into another year as a starter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='157509' first='Jersey' last='Robb'] - 2023 Running Back/Linebacker</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In addition to the power running of 2023 quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='197183' first='Connor' last='Kirby'], they also had 2023 running back and linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='157509' first='Jersey' last='Robb'] in the backfield, pounding away at the Owasso defense. Kirby finished with 18 carries for 72 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The majority of his yards came after halftime as the Owasso defense got tired of trying to tackle the power runner, who is also a standout wrestler. We wrote about Robb in our <strong><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://prepredzone.com/2022/08/scene-setter-bixby-vs-owasso/" data-type="URL" data-id="https://prepredzone.com/2022/08/scene-setter-bixby-vs-owasso/" target="_blank">Scene Setter earlier this week</a></strong> and how he reminds Bixby coaches of former Bixby star Nic Roller and provides a ground and pound element to this offense. Robb has been a standout since his sophomore season. Last year, he focused mainly on being a linebacker with Kirby having a breakout season as Bixby's short-yard specialist. Robb is the perfect example of a player who wears defenses down. You don't want to tackle a player like Robb for four quarters and that's how it played out on Thursday night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='110743' first='Kordell' last='Gouldsby'] - 2024 Athlete</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the more underrated performances from Thursday night's game was Bixby's new standout in 2024 athlete [player_tooltip player_id='110743' first='Kordell' last='Gouldsby'], who transferred to the Spartans from Holland Hall. Gouldsby didn't have flashy final numbers but he had several big plays that got called back due to penalties. Gouldsby had a 57-yard touchdown reception where the majority of those 57 yards were after the catch. But that touchdown was called back after an unnecessary blindside block penalty. Gouldsby is going to be a dynamic part of the Bixby offense. Whether he's returning kicks, catching passes or running the ball, Gouldsby is going to show why he is one of the better athletes in the 2024 class. The biggest question moving forward will be whether or not he can stay healthy. He had his freshman and sophomore seasons end due to injury. If he can stay healthy, he'll be one of the top playmakers in Bixby's offense. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sam McCormick - 2024 Wide Receiver/Linebacker</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We mentioned earlier how the flood gates opened up in the second half on the very first play when 2024 Sam McCormick jumped a comeback route from Owasso and took an interception 20 yards back for a touchdown. McCormick wasn't done there. He would also add a 35-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter to finish the evening as the third Spartan who scored a pair of touchdowns on Thursday. McCormick was the one Spartan on this breakdown that we didn't know about coming into the game. However, wearing the number three and having a 6'4 frame, he was VERY reminiscent of Bixby 2022 standout Preston Solomon, who also doubled as a wide receiver and a linebacker. They have similar physical frames and play very similar styles and like Solomon last season, McCormick would come up with a dagger touchdown that put Bixby in full control of the Thursday clash with Owasso.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->