Sequoyah claims district title with 51-18 win over Adair; face Colcord next week for undefeated season
By Jim Trickett
MUSKOGEE - Brian Salazar and Justin Lepley combined for 318 yards on the ground and six touchdown as the Sequoyah Indians secured the District 2A-8 title Friday night with a resounding 51-18 victory over the Adair Warriors at Indian Bowl in Muskogee.
The game was moved to the Muskogee Roughers' home field due to unplayable field conditions at Thompson Field due to the recent rains, including a two-inch downpour Thursday afternoon that turned the bench areas into rivers and standing water in the field of play.
Sequoyah took the opening kickoff and marched 65 yards in 10 plays with Salazar going the final 10 yards for the touchdown. Chris Littlehead added the extra point to give the Indians a quick 7-0 lead with 9:10 left in the opening quarter.
But Adair came right back as Michael Fraley took the ensuing kickoff at the Warrior 10 and broke three tackles and raced 90 yards for the touchdown. Marshall Timmons' extra point try sailed wide to the left and the Indians held onto a 7-6 lead with 8:55 remaining in the first quarter.
Salazar's 20-yard kickoff return helped set up the Indians' second score of the period as Lepley broke free from the Adair defense and raced 49 yards for the first of his three touchdowns on the night. The Indians then went for two and Ryan Mouse would get into the end zone for the two-point conversion to give the Indians a 15-6 margin with 8:19 remaining in the opening quarter.
Adair took advantage of a Sequoyah turnover for their second touchdown of the first half as Salazar fumbled the football at the Sequoyah 26 and the Warriors would go 26 yards in six plays with quarterback Christian Luper going the final three yards around the right side for the touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt failed to trim the Indians' margin to 15-12 with 10:57 left to go before halftime.
Then the Indians' offense exploded as Salazar had a touchdown called back on an illegal block as he was racing into the end zone for an apparent 62-yard touchdown run, but the Indians would get into the end zone on the next play as Mouse scored from 23 yards out. Salazar would score the two-point conversion to give the Indians a 23-12 lead with 10:30 remaining in the first half.
After forcing the Warriors to punt, Sequoyah would march 83 yards in eight plays with Lepley scoring his second touchdown of the night from 35 yards out to cap off the drive. Littlehead added the point-after to increase the Sequoyah lead to 30-12 with 6:39 left before halftime.
Another Adair punt set up another Indian touchdown as Sequoyah would go 77 yards in seven plays with Salazar racing 41 yards through the Warrior defense for the touchdown, his second of the night. Littlehead's extra point gave Sequoyah a 37-12 lead with 2:11 left in the first half.
Sequoyah would score one more time before the end of the half as they went 50 yards in seven plays with Lepley getting his third touchdown of the first half from 10 yards out to give the Indians a 44-12 advantage with 28 seconds remaining in the half.
The Warriors would take the second half kickoff and march 66 yards in four plays with Luper connecting with Kip Whiteley on a 37-yard touchdown pass. The extra point attempt failed to cut the Indians' lead to 44-18 with 10:34 left in the third quarter.
But the Indians would cap off the scoring with Salazar scoring from four yards out for his third touchdown of the game and capping off a 76-yard, five-play drive to end the scoring.
Salazar went over 1,000 yards on the season as he rushed 17 times for 211 yards, while Lepley added 107 yards on seven carries. In all, the Indians rushed for 477 yards in the contest.
Sequoyah, now 9-0 on the season and 6-0 in league play, will try for an undefeated season next Friday night as they travel to Colcord to take on the Hornets beginning at 7:30 p.m.