SKIATOOK — It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No… It’s Shae Garner.
Behind a stellar three-touchdown performance from the senior captain, Skiatook topped Glenpool 20-15 to open the 2016 campaign. It was a game that made Garner feel both “confident and humble,” as he noted afterwards.
Skiatook, after going undefeated a season ago and graduating an enormous senior class, managed to work out a few bugs on the way to a hard-fought victory Friday night.
This was a game littered with mistakes from an inexperienced starting lineup, turnovers from both teams and more than a fair share of sloppy plays, but ultimately leadership from Garner and Skiatook’s coaching staff, headed by Vance Miller, guided the Bulldogs to victory.
The game heated up in the fourth quarter. Midway through the fourth quarter, a short Glenpool touchdown run from 8 yards out brought the Warriors to within one, and an ensuing two-point conversion gave them the lead.
However, Skiatook’s Shae Garner hauled in a 41-yard touchdown reception from sophomore quarterback Cody Evans to send the Bulldog’s up 20-15, a score they would hold on to despite a couple potentially costly penalties on the Warriors’ final drive.
Despite the win, the game did not go Skiatook’s way out of the gate.
The home crowd was silenced immediately when Glenpool took the opening kickoff to the house on a 98-yard return. Six seconds into the game, Skiatook trailed by as many points.
The Bulldogs fought right back when Evans threw a 33-yard touchdown to Shae Garner on his first pass of his varsity career. This was the only pass attempt of the first half from Skiatook.
Garner found the end zone again on the last play of the first quarter, sending Skiatook up 14-7.
The second and third quarter were a mixture of empty possessions and turnovers, and both teams went scoreless before the action-packed fourth.
After the game, junior TK Wilkerson laughed and credited the win to wind sprints. “It’s all those gassers we run, man. Let me tell you. We were in better shape. It was good to get a win.”
Skiatook’s offensive coordinator, coach Bobby Cooper, agreed. “Starting the season on a positive is always a great feeling. It’s nice to have a win in the books moving into Week 2.”