Sperry Leads Titans To Instant Classic Win

<!-- 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>It's not often that a highly anticipated game lives up to all the hype and then some. But that's exactly what we saw in Guthrie on Thursday night as top-ranked and defending champion Carl Albert survived and escaped "The Rock" with a 24-21 victory over the #3 Blue Jays. Junior quarterback and Oklahoma commit [player_tooltip player_id='432374' first='Kevin' last='Sperry'] was the hero on Thursday as he tossed a five-yard touchdown to fellow junior [player_tooltip player_id='377954' first='Marcus' last='James'] on fourth down with less than a minute to play to give the Titans the win. Just in case you were still on the fence, it is crystal clear now. Sperry is one of the best quarterbacks in the state of Oklahoma.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The game started about as good as you could hope for if you're a Guthrie fan. Both teams exchanged punts on their first possessions. Then the Blue Jays made a special teams play as [player_tooltip player_id='893252' first='Josh' last='Varnell'] blocked a Titan punt and set the Blue Jays up with first down from the four-yard line. Senior running back [player_tooltip player_id='448519' first='Jaylen' last='Harper'] would cash in on a short touchdown run to put Guthrie up. Harper also tossed a short touchdown early in the second quarter to cap a ten play drive that took over five minutes off the clock and Guthrie led 14-0. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Titans went three and out a couple times in the first half but the offense finally got momentum on their last drive. Sperry found James all by himself over the middle for a 35-yard strike. And the Titans only trailed 14-7 at halftime. After Guthrie went three and out on their first two possessions, momentum started to shift. The Titans added a 27-yard field goal from [player_tooltip player_id='615813' first='Ethan' last='Spiwak'] and the Titans would get a blocked punt of their own when [player_tooltip player_id='353419' first='Caden' last='Davis'] blocked a Blue Jay punt. Senior star running back [player_tooltip player_id='360239' first='Xavier' last='Robinson'] would score on the next play from 21 yards out to give the Titans a 17-14 lead. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But the Blue Jays weren't going anywhere. They immediately responded with a lengthy kick return that put them in Carl Albert territory. A fourth down conversion would keep the drive alive as Harper stretched out on an extra effort to convert. Senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='380981' first='Hayden' last='Calvert'] would score on a QB sneak to give the Blue Jays a 21-17 advantage with 4:08 left. But that was more than enough time for Sperry and the Titans.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Near midfield, we saw our first set of fireworks when Sperry found [player_tooltip player_id='598824' first='Trystan' last='Haynes'] for a 42-yard gain to put the Titans inside the Guthrie 10-yard line. But Guthrie's defense would bow up like they had all game long. They kept the Titans out of the end zone on the next three plays but then Sperry found James in the end zone on fourth down with just 45 seconds left. Guthrie ran out of time and the Titans escaped.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Carl Albert came in as the favorite but they got all they wanted and then some from the Blue Jays. Guthrie's defense once again showed why they are arguably the most dominant unit in the state, regardless of class. They came into Thursday's game having given up just three points all season. The Titans managed 24 but they had to work for every point. Thursday's game certainly felt like a state championship atmosphere and we'll be happy to see these teams meet again in the playoffs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>CARL ALBERT'S TOP PERFORMERS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["353419"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Carl Albert had to work for everything on Thursday but so did Guthrie. The Blue Jays were held to under 200 yards of total offense on Thursday night. Leading the way for the Carl Albert defense was junior linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='353419' first='Caden' last='Davis'] and he made one of the bigger plays for the Titans in the second half. As the Carl Albert defense started shutting down Guthrie, Davis broke through the line and blocked a Blue Jay punt. On the next play, Robinson scored to give the Titans their first lead of the game. Davis earned All State honors last season on the defensive line as he was one of the state's leaders in the sack department. Davis and the Titan defense contained a strong Guthrie rushing attack.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["432374"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"If you just look at the box score, it doesn't tell the whole story. Junior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='432374' first='Kevin' last='Sperry'] was 10-18 for 148 yards and two touchdowns and added 41 yards on 12 carries. But Sperry finished the game 8-9 between their last drive in the first half and the second half and two massive touchdown passes in the win. But more importantly, Sperry kept fighting throughout the night. Sperry was physical against arguably the most physical defense in Class 5A. There were multiple times when it looked like Sperry was either going to be done for the night or miss significant time. That never happened. He kept coming back for more and led the Titans on the game-winning drive.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["377954"],"_player_evaluations_2_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"On the other end of Sperry's two touchdown passes was fellow junior [player_tooltip player_id='377954' first='Marcus' last='James'] and both times, he found himself by himself. Coming into this week, James had just two touchdown receptions on the season. He caught two massive touchdowns on Thursday night alone. The first score came at the end of the first half and it started to turn the momentum towards the Titans. Then James made the game-winning touchdown reception with less than a minute to play. James only had two catches on the night and they both went for touchdowns. James announced earlier this week that he will be committing in a few weeks. He'll be choosing between Arkansas, OU, TCU, Texas Au0026amp;M and Utah.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_3_player":["360239"],"_player_evaluations_3_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"Carl Albert senior running back [player_tooltip player_id='360239' first='Xavier' last='Robinson'] is the reigning PRZ-Oklahoma Player Of The Year and the Oklahoma commit had to go to work on Thursday night and overcome some nagging injuries in the win. Robinson finished the game with 18 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown. Not many teams have had success in limiting Robinson and nobody has been able to shut him down. But the Blue Jays did a good job of bottling up the OU commit. Robinson only had two carries of more than ten yards and that includes the 21-yard touchdown run. The only other team that had that kind of success against Robinson was Muskogee earlier this season. And just like that game, Sperry came up big.","_player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":4,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6532b0f4eff5a"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->