THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Skiatook High School Athletics

SKIATOOK — Jeran Seabolt was having a hard time catching his breath. But he kept muttering three letters in between gasps. “TPW,” Skiatook’s safety kept repeating. “Tough people win.” A pretty fitting statement for Class 5A No. 5 Skiatook on Thursday night, considering the Bulldogs’ defense spent 11 of the 12 minutes of the fourth quarter on the field. But in the end, after Claremore marched 63 yards in 20 plays and burned 11 minutes off the clock, Skiatook survived in a 20-14 victory at Hap Dunlap Field. “Our kids never quit,” Skiatook coach Vance Miller said. “They had their backs against the wall there, and they kept playing every down hard. It finally paid off.” Needing a first down to extend his team’s already elongated drive in the final seconds, Claremore quarterback Noah Grimett tried to chug forward at Skiatook’s 7-yard line, and he appeared to pick up a first down to keep the Zebras’ drive alive with 15 seconds left. But before he hit the ground, Skiatook’s Austin Johnson recovered a fumble, and the Bulldogs’ sidelines erupted in exultation. “I’d have to watch tape to see if we were down or not,” Claremore coach Jarrett Hurt said. “Their kids said we weren’t down; our kids said we were. Obviously, it went their way, and that’s the way this game is sometimes.” Until Skiatook was able to kneel on the final snap, Claremore had executed its game plan to near-perfection. The ninth-ranked Zebras (5-3, 3-2 District 5A-4) ran 67 plays on offense — led by sophomore tailback Jace Hightower’s 115 yards on 31 carries — and kept Skiatook’s TK Wilkerson, a Tulsa commit, under wraps. “We knew we had to shorten the game,” Hurt said. “We knew we had to keep the ball out of TK’s hands and out of Jayden (Garner’s) hands.” That’s where Claremore hit a snag. Garner was able to carry the load for the Bulldogs (7-1, 5-0) on offense, logging six carries for 118 yards and three touchdowns. “I knew it was my game,” said Garner, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound sophomore. “I had to take over and be a leader. I know TK and I are both going to struggle in games, but either way we’re going to keep winning and keep fighting.” It was Garner’s 13-yard TD run with 11:25 remaining that snapped a 14-all tie and put Skiatook up 20-14. From there, the Bulldogs labored on defense. Garner’s second touchdown of the game, a 38-yard run late in the third quarter, atoned for Claremore’s Dylan Kedzior hurdling into the end zone for a touchdown to put the Zebras in front 14-7 with 5:55 left in the third. Both teams traded touchdowns in the first half, too. Noah Grimett’s 3-yard TD run put Claremore in front 7-0 in the first quarter, but Garner answered with a 46-yard TD run before the second quarter arrived. Now Skiatook is closing in on its ninth district championship and third in the past four seasons. A win next week against Pryor would wrap up the 5A-4 crown. “We still have two tough oppoents left with Pryor and Collinsville,” said Miller, whose team was limited to 205 yards on offense. “We’ll enjoy this one for the night, and then we’ll get ready for next week.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Skiatook High School Athletics

SKIATOOK RECOVERS FUMBLE IN FINAL SECONDS TO TURN BACK CLAREMORE 20-14

BEN JOHNSON

Tulsa World | 10/20/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Skiatook Athletics