5A State Title Game: Top Moments

<em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em> The performance between the two teams on Saturday night was a classic that will be spoke about for years to come in high school football in Oklahoma. Let’s take a look back at the moments that made the game special. <strong>First Quarter Shootout</strong> While both programs had to wait till Saturday night to complete their Gold Ball chase, they were both ready to go form the jump on the offensive side of the ball. In the first quarter, the offenses raced down the field as 35 combined points were scored in the first twelve minutes. Four touchdowns alone were scored in the final 2:53 of the first quarter. From there, teams settled in and traded touchdowns but the most anticipated game of the weekend started out with a bang. <strong> McCarty’s Big Night</strong> It was pretty clear from the start that McAlester was going to feed their junior standout [player_tooltip player_id="91049" first="Erik" last="McCarty"] and let him lead the way. Everytime the dynamic junior had the ball in his hands, he looked a threat to score when he broke out into space. He ripped off long runs throughout the first quarter. His most impressive run came late in the first quarter. The junior took the handoff on a routine trap play, he made a man miss in the hole, cut outside, stiffed armed a defender on the perimeter, tip toed down the sidelines, eluded a diving tackle at about the 10 and then was finally knocked down just short of completing what would’ve been a magical touchdown run. He would find the paydirt two plays later for the third time on the night. Did we mention it was still the first quarter when all that happened? On the night McCarty finished with four touchdowns and had over 250 yards, eclipsing the 2,000 yard mark on the season. He also led the team with double digit tackles as he played both ways. It was obvious to anyone who watched this game that McCarty was one of the best players in the state. <strong>Carney &amp; Hammond Keep Pace</strong> McCarty wasn’t the only big play star on the field. The [player_tooltip player_id="51256" first="Andrew" last="Carney"]-[player_tooltip player_id="64382" first="Oscar" last="Hammond"] connection has been electric over the last two seasons and that remained the same on Saturday night. They did damage on offense as Hammond ended with seven catches for over 100 yards and two touchdowns. Hammond got it going on the Cardinals oepning drive with a 55 yard gain. He would then find the endzone twice in the first half to make sure that McCarty wouldn’t be able to run away with it for his Buffaloes. It was a big ending for Hammond’s high school career, as it had been the Collinsvile ground attack carrying the load for the Cardinals, but Hammond showed that they’re a complete football team. <strong>Carney Magic</strong> To go along with hitting big passes to Hammond, Senior [player_tooltip player_id="51256" first="Andrew" last="Carney"] played the role of a bruising ball carrier as well. That cumulated with a long fourth quarter drive, where Collinsville was threatening to score and around two minutes remained. Carney took the shotgun snap and had a sweep to the right and beat the McAlester defense to they pylon to give the Cardinals the 42-35 lead and what would end up being the game-winning touchdown. Carney wasn’t done yet as he also stepped in on defense, playing a key role on the perimeter. In fact when it came down to the final seconds and McAlester had one final Hail Mary attempt, it was Carney and Hammond who were right there to knock the ball down. Upon further review, it was Hammond who got his hands on it but we can’t discount Carney being right there as well.