Heritage Hall Wins Wild 3A Championship
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Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! Heritage Hall’s senior group came into this season determined to capture a state championship after falling short in the semifinals in each of the last three…
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Heritage Hall’s senior group came into this season determined to capture a state championship after falling short in the semifinals in each of the last three seasons. Heritage Hall would square off with Metro Christian and an absolute shootout for the record books broke out. The Chargers would outlast Metro Christian with an unstoppable running game and timely takeaways to beat the Patriots 72-56. The 138 combined points smashed the record for most points in a championship game. The previous record was 100 in 2016. Heritage Hall also set the record for most points scored by a single team in the title game with 72.
Heritage Hall was led by their dynamic duo in the backfield of junior quarterback Andy Bass Andy Bass 6'0" | 195 lbs | ATH Heritage Hall | 2024 State OK and senior running back River Faulkner River Faulkner 5'11" | 205 lbs | ATH Heritage Hall | 2023 State OK . Bass would finish with 33 carries for 256 yards and two touchdowns on the night. He also added 8-18 passing for 105 yards and a touchdown. Faulkner was a touchdown machine with 22 yards and five touchdowns on 27 carries. The game plan coming into this game was simple. Run. Bass and Faulkner combined for 60 carries on the night and would finish with 478 yards on the ground.
The defense would hold on as much as they could against Metro Christian’s high-powered passing attack. Senior quarterback Kirk Francis Kirk Francis 6'1" | 185 lbs | QB Metro Christian | 2023 State OK went out slinging the ball. He finished with 626 yards and five touchdowns on 37-62 passing. He had four different wide receivers finish with over 100 yards. Francis set the record for most passing yards in a playoff game and in a state championship game. Francis showed why he’s been one of the best quarterbacks in the state over the last three seasons. But Francis and the Patriots had untimely turnovers that would cost them in the end.
The scoring got started in the first quarter with back to back wild plays. A snap would go under the legs of Francis when it appeared that there was some movement along the line of scrimmage and Francis wasn’t ready for the snap. He tried to kick it out of the back of the end zone but the Chargers hopped on it for the game’s first touchdown. Then things got crazy. On the ensuing kickoff, Heritage Hall would recover the ball in the end zone and the official suggested that the returner for Metro Christian touched it and it was a live ball and the Chargers were awarded with the touchdown. In the blink of an eye, the Chargers led 14-0. They would never trail.
Metro Christian got within striking distance a few times throughout the game but the Chargers would always respond. The Patriots trailed 44-34 and would force a three and out to try to make it a one possession game. But a turnover, leading to a Heritage Hall touchdown would keep the Chargers ahead of the Patriots in this high-scoring affair. The Patriots would finish with six turnovers on the night and the Chargers made them pay. 34 of their 72 points on Thursday night were scored coming off Metro Christian turnovers.
Keep it locked in to Prep Redzone Oklahoma for more from Thursday night’s championship game. Game highlights, postgame interviews, top performers and much more ONLY on Prep Redzone Oklahoma. And we’ll have coverage of the rest of the championship games throughout the weekend in Edmond. This was game one of five and if the next four follow in Thursday’s footsteps, we’re destined for a wild three days.