Sequoyah advances to second round with 33-11 win over Cardinals
By Jim Trickett
Sequoyah started slowly, but got the momentum in the final minute of the first half, then Zach Gann took the second half kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown to give the Indians a 33-11 victory over the Verdigris Cardinals in the opening round of the Class 2A state football playoffs Friday night before a crowd of 3,000 at Thompson Field.
The Cardinals got on the board on their opening drive of the game as they marched downfield with the opening kickoff to the Indians' 1 before a false start penalty stalled the drive. That forced kicker Tyler Hanslovan to kick a 21-yard field goal to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead with 6:22 left in the opening quarter.
Sequoyah could not get the offense going on their opening possession as they were held on downs at the Verdigris' 41, but the defense would stop the Cardinals and force them to punt the ball back to the Indians late in the opening period.
From their own 32, the Indians would march 68 yards in 12 plays with Gann going the final yard for the touchdown. Evan Evans added the extra point to give the Indians a 7-3 lead with 6:33 remaining before halftime.
The big plays of the drive were an 11-yard run by reserve fullback Justin Lepley, a 13-yard scamper by Brian Salazar and a pass interference penalty against the Cardinal secondary to move the ball inside the Verdigris' 15.
After both clubs had to punt, the Indians' secondary came to life as freshman cornerback Tyler O'Field intercepted Cardinal quarterback Kevin Stout at the Cardinal 32 and returned it 15 yards to the Verdigris 17 to give the Indians a shot to score in the final minute of the first half.
Sequoyah capitalized on the mistake and it took just five plays for the Indians to find paydirt as Lepley took a screen pass from quarterback Garrett Drapeau and raced 14 yards into the end zone with 11 seconds left before halftime to give the Indians a 13-3 advantage. The Indians tried a fake extra point and T.J. Scraper's attempt for a two-point conversion fell short of the goal line.
Then the Indians took control of the contest as they had won the toss to start the game and deferred their choice to the second half. It would be a decision that would pay off dividends.
Hanslovan would squib-kick along the ground to the Indians' 30 where Gann would pick up the football, get two blocks at the 40 and race 70 yards untouched for the touchdown. Evans' extra point sailed wide to the left and the Indians led 19-3 with 11:51 left in the third quarter.
After forcing the Cardinals to punt, Sequoyah moved the ball down to the Verdigris' 18 before Drapeau would be intercepted by Stout at the Cardinal 10 to kill the Indians' drive.
It would be early in the final quarter before the Indians would finally put the game out of reach as they took over on downs and marched 56 yards in nine plays with Gann going the final yard for his third touchdown of the night. Drapeau would add the two-point conversion to give the Indians a 27-3 lead with 11:25 left in the contest.
The big play of the drive was an 18-yard run by Salazar to the Cardinal 5.
Verdigris would finally find the end zone on the ensuing drive as the marched 70 yards in seven plays with Jay Sparkman going the final eight yards for the Cardinals' lone touchdown of the night. Sparkman would add the two-point conversion to give cut the Sequoyah lead to 27-11 with 8:21 left in the contest.
Sequoyah's defense would hold the Cardinals on downs deep in Cardinal territory and the Indians would get into the end zone for a final time as Salazar broke a tackle at the Verdigris' 10 and go into the end zone for the touchdown. The extra point try by Evans again sailed wide to the left to give the Indians a 33-11 lead with 1:02 left in the contest.
Head coach Brent Scott was happy with the victory, the Indians' 10th of the season and the third straight year of getting double-digit wins.
"Our program is going in the direction we want it to go and that's winning ballgames," said Scott. "You can't say enough about the kids that are playing for us and the ones that have played for us that have helped us built an outstanding tradition."
The second half kickoff proved to be the momentum swing that the Indians needed after a slow start.
"I think so and it gave us a lot of momentum," Scott said. "It energized us and played with a lot more emotion after that."
Salazar led the way rushing the football with 94 yards on 14 carries, while Gann added 53 yards on 15 carries and a pair of rushing touchdowns.
The Indians, now 10-1 on the season, will travel next Friday night to Prague to take on the Red Devils, a 28-14 victor over District 2A-6 champion Hartshorne, in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.