Bombers take care of business against Del City
Midwest City’s Brandon Wright tries to tackle Jahkobie Smith. (Photo by Jeff Harrison)
By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon
Midwest City stayed tied atop the district standings and picked up bragging rights last Friday with a 19-10 win over Del City in the Sooner Road Rivalry game.
The Bombers (4-1, 2-0) delivered a statement in front of the home crowd with their most complete effort of the season.
Dylan Sebock catches a pass against Del City. (Photo by Jeff Harrison)
Midwest City held the Eagles scoreless in the second half while controlling the clock with a resurgent running game and getting big plays on special teams. Quarterback DeAngelo Irvin Jr. and running back Kristawn Friday each rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown and Eljah Escobar hit a pair of field goals.
They also avoid two common pitfalls – penalties and turnovers. Midwest City did not turn the ball over and were penalized just three times for 15 yards.
“We had a lot of motivation to get the job done tonight,” said Irvin. “They’re our rivals and we wanted it a lot.”
Del City (0-4, 0-2) played well defensively but could not find consistency on offense and were hurt by big penalties and turnovers.
Midwest City went up by two scores late in the game with a drive that chewed up a lot of clock. A penalty by Del City on fourth down allowed the Bombers to wind another minute of the clock before kicking a field goal with 2:19 left for a 16-10 lead.
The Bombers finally slammed the door shut with another takeaway. Del City quarterback Jahkobie Smith took off from the pocket and lost the football when he was hit hard by Xavier Lee-Jackson near midfield. Linebacker LeJaylyn Long-Jackson pounced on the loose ball to end the game.
“We knew this game wasn’t going to be decided to the very end,” said coach Darrell Hall. “Del City has some cats that can play, and they were favored to win. Our guys took that personally and played like it. And I’m proud of them.”
Midwest City took control early with a pair of scores in the first quarter. They took the opening drive 73 yards for a score. Irvin hit Andre Miles across the middle for a 29-yard pickup. Friday then broke a 33-yard run down to the Eagle 1 and later punched it in for a 7-0 lead at the 10:30 mark.
The Bombers got the ball back on interception from Juwan Dancy which led to a 30-yard field goal by Elijah Escobar and a 10-0 lead with 3:39 in the first.
Del City also got help from their kicker. Stanley Johnson got the visitors on the board with a 26-yarder early in the second quarter, making it 10-3 score.
Midwest City answered with another scoring drive. Friday again pushed them into scoring position with a 28-yard run down to the Eagle 2. Irvin then followed his blockers into the end zone for a 2-yard score. They went for the two-point conversion but were stopped short making it a 16-3 game with 6:30 in the half.
The double-digit lead didn’t last for long. LJ Brown took a handoff out of the shotgun set and blasted through the middle of the defense for a 66-yard touchdown. The run cut the Bombers lead to 16-10 with 5:03 left in the half.
Midwest City drove to the red zone on their final possession of the half but couldn’t score. They led 16-10 at the break.
The Bombers held Del City scoreless in the second half but hand plenty of troubles of their own on offense. After punting on their first possession, Midwest City turned the ball over on downs twice in the red zone.
They finally snapped the scoring drought with a long drive to put the game away.
Escobar hit a 30-yard field goal with 3:16 remaining, but a penalty by Del City gave the Bombers a fresh set of downs. The Bombers again could not crack the goal line and had to settle for a field goal try. Escobar made another 30-yarder, and the Eagles were again flagged on the play. But this time, they took the three points and went up 19-10 with 2:19 to play.
Midwest City prevented a comeback with a fumble recovery.
Officials called the game with just under a minute to play due a disturbance outside the stadium.
Midwest City allowed just 178 yards of offense and forced two turnovers. Arthur Broiles led the team with 6 ½ tackles along with 1 sack. Shamaur Edwards had 2 ½ sacks and 3 tackles. Brandon Wright also had 6 tackles in the win.
The Bombers hit the road Thursday night to take on Deer Creek (2-3, 0-2). The Antlers are coming off a 35-14 loss to Putnam City North.
Del City is home against Putnam City North (5-0, 2-0).
