Thursday Night Thrillers

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!   There were a few marquee games on Thursday night across Oklahoma and several of them lived up to the hype from early on in the week. We had an overtime shootout in 6A-1 plus a hail mary on the final play in Class 5A. And Guthrie made a loud statement with another strong road win, without arguably their best player. In this post, we take a look at some of the top outcomes from Thursday night that kicks off week five's action.   NORMAN NORTH SURVIVES OVERTIME SHOOTOUT   On a night that featured a hail mary on the final play, it was #10 Norman North knocking off #6 Broken Arrow 57-50 in overtime that takes the title for game of the night. This game looked like it was going to be all Norman North through the first three quarters and the Tigers would mount a memorable comeback, only to come up short in the overtime period. The Timberwolves would score first in OT and then held Broken Arrow on fourth down when a pass in the end zone was batted down.   With 42 seconds left in the third quarter, the Timberwolves would score their second touchdown in a ten second span to go up 50-21. From there, Broken Arrow would chip away until the final seconds. Broken Arrow would score 29 unanswered, including the game-tying touchdown and two-point conversion with just 20 seconds left in overtime. It looked like Norman North was in full control at several points in the game but the Tigers would never go away.   Norman North had a few players that could not be stopped as they put up nearly 60 points. It starts with 2023 quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='382965' first='Kamden' last='Sixkiller'], who was a dual-threat nightmare to defend for the Tigers. He threw for 200 yards and two touchdowns on 15-21 passing and also added 209 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Sixkiller had over 150 yards rushing early on in the first half as he broke off several big runs. Joining Sixkiller int he backfield was fellow senior Carson Samson at running back and he would finish with 184 yards and three touchdowns.   Despite the loss, Broken Arrow continued to show that they have one of the most balanced rushing attacks in 6A-1. They would finish with nearly 450 yards on the ground and had three players that finished with over 100 yards. Leading the way was senior running back [player_tooltip player_id='380233' first='Nate' last='Jones'], who had over 150 yards and a touchdown. Fellow running back and freshman sensation [player_tooltip player_id='402378' first='Kaydin' last='Jones'] had 117 yards and two touchdowns. Backup quarterback Cooper Bates also added 125 yards and a touchdown on the ground as he would come in on designed quarterback runs.   SOUTHEAST STUNS CACHE ON HAIL MARY   After dropping their first game of the season last week to Piedmont in the district opener, Southeast went back to non-district play in week five as they hosted Cache. It looked like the Spartans were going to drop their second game in a row as the Bulldogs held on to a 31-30 lead with just five seconds left. With the ball at the Cache 41, the Spartans had time for just one more play and they had to throw it to the end zone. As the clock struck zeroes, Southeast quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='393973' first='Micheal' last='Graham'] launched the ball into the end zone and some how, some way, fellow junior [player_tooltip player_id='393974' first='Rodney' last='Fields'] came down with the ball to give the Spartans the win.   Fields was the only Spartan in the area and he had to make the catch over three different Cache defenders. But that's exactly what happened as Fields continues to have a stellar junior season. Fields enjoyed a breakout sophomore season last year but he's come out this season and elevated his game to new heights. Coming into the game on Thursday, he already had ten touchdowns on the ground and was raising his recruiting stock within the 2024 class. Coming down with the touchdown catch is just the cherry on top to what he's done in the first half of this season.   While the Spartans are celebrating this morning, it's going to be time to turn the page to next week and the following two weeks as Southeast returns to district play and enter their toughest stretch of the year. In the next three weeks, they'll face #7 Carl Albert, #4 Guthrie (mentioned later) and #2 Bishop McGuinness. If the Spartans are going to keep their playoff hopes alive, they can't afford to go 0-3 during this stretch. But for now, it's time to celebrate Thursday's win for a little longer Spartan fans!   GUTHRIE IMPRESSES WITH SHUTOUT ROAD WIN   In the final game spotlight, Guthrie made a rather loud statement as they went on the road on Thursday night and shut out Piedmont 27-0. The Blue Jays came into this season as a top five team and have lived up to the hype and then some as they've reached the halfway point of their season. In their last two wins, both on the road against ranked teams, the Blue Jays have taken down Tuttle and then Piedmont. They've done so without arguably their best player in senior running back [player_tooltip player_id='268441' first='Isaiah' last='Hammons'].   In the win over Tuttle, the Blue Jays proved that they have some legitimate depth at the running back position. And on Thursday night, you have to tip your cap to the Guthrie defense, that simply shut down Piedmont's option attack. The Blue Jays will look to continue this momentum into the next three weeks, where they'll face the two toughest teams in the district. Next week, they host Bishop McGuinness in a battle of top four teams. Then in three weeks, they'll travel to face their old rival in Carl Albert.   We've mentioned quite a bit this season how this district is an absolute gauntlet but Guthrie's shutout win on the road on Thursday should give them plenty of momentum going into the month of October, where games can make or break their district championship hopes.

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