Longhorns fall in 2A state semifinal

By John Martin
Staff Writer

The Washington Warriors once again proved to be the nemesis for the Jones Longhorns football hopes as Washington applied a 49-14 defeat to end the Longhorns’ 2022 playoff hopes in an OSSAA Class 2A semifinal clash at Putnam City Stadium on Friday.

Jones QB Clayton Creasey (10) runs on Washington in the state semifinal as Ryan Shuffield (72) eyes the defense. (PHOTO BY RYAN HORTON)

The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak for Kevin Witt’s Longhorns which included an undefeated romp through District 2A-2 action. The Longhorns entered district 0-3, losing all three of their non-district warmup games, including a 33-14 loss to Washington and defeats at the hands of playoff powers Bethany and Lincoln Christian.

After going 7-0 in district action, the Longhorns enjoyed home field advantage, edging Newkirk in the snow then Community Christian before defeating Kiefer for Win No. 10 and set up a rematch with Washington.

Washington drew first blood in the contest when ace running back Major Cantrell capped a short drive with a 25-yard scamper and the PAT gave the Warriors a 7-0 advantage.

But the Longhorns took a deep breath and got down to business. Starting at their own 22, Clayton Creasey connected with Riley Ellefson for 9 yards then hooked up with ace receiver Mason

Weiher for16 more. Dylan Milo kept the driving going with a 10 yard gain, then Creasey kept in on the ground with gains of 6 and 5 and another six-yard gain by Milo.

From the 15, Creasey showed his versatility avoiding a mad rush and connecting with Braydon Scott for the TD and Joel Hernandez tied the contest at 7-all to end the first quarter.

The Longhorn D forced a punt following the kickoff and Creasey found himself 64 yards from the Washington end zone. But it only took one strike from his talented arm to make up that distance as he found his good buddy Scott with a perfect throw and Scott turned on the jets all the way to the end zone and Hernandez sent the Jones faithful into near-hysteria as the Jones Boys mounted a 14-7 lead.

But Cole Scott, the other half of the Washington 1-2 punch, took over and scored TDs of 12 and 6 yards to give Washington a 28-14 lead at intermission.

Washington iced the win with a TD drive of 52 yards to open the third period, climaxed by a 2-yard TD by Cantrell, his third of the game.

A pass interception led to Scott’s third TD of the contest, another two-yard touchdown to conclude the third period with Washington on top, 42-14.

The Longhorns were forced to punt on their first possession of the fourth quarter and Scott picked up his fourth TD of the game on a 52-yard scamper to finish the scoring in the contest.

Washington will now advance to the OSSAA Class 2A championship game against Millwood with a 1 p.m. kickoff on Saturday at UCO’s Richeson Field.
The Washington D was designed to contain Creasey, who had averaged over 200 yards on the ground during the playoffs and the Longhorn junior was limited to just 42 yards in 16 carries.

However, he connected on 16 passes for 189 yards including the two touchdowns to Scott.

Scott led the way of the receiving corp, pulling down 8 passes for 128 and the two scores. Weiher had 3 for 33 and Trip Elerick and the Clarks, Conner and Cale, each registered a pass reception.

Kameron Estrada reaches to block Washington QB Major Cantrell. (PHOTO BY RYAN HORTON)

Mason Weiher evades the Washington defense in a 2A state semifinal Friday. (PHOTO BY RYAN HORTON)

Follow us @ChoctawTimes on Facebook and Twitter