Titans beat Muskogee 43-20

By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon

Carl Albert prevailed in a clash of top-ranked high school football teams.

The Titans, who are ranked No. 1 in Class 5A, took down Class 6A-II No. 1 Muskogee 43-20 Friday night at Rougher Village Stadium.

Junior quarterback Kevin Sperry Jr. threw for 399 yards and three touchdowns. Trystan Haynes hauled in two of the scores, while running back Xavier Robinson had two rushing touchdowns.

Carl Albert (3-0) avenged a loss last season at home against Muskogee. The Titans went on to win 11 straight games including the 5A state championship. They have now won 14 straight games.

“Muskogee is a really good team and not to take anything away from them but this one where we really did a gut check,” said coach Mike Dunn, during a postgame interview with Oklahoma Sports Network. “We knew what happened last year and didn’t like it. We came out played hard.”

Carl Albert got on the board early with a score on their opening drive. Robinson scored on a five-yard run off a direct snap with 7:06 in the first.

An interception by Jakyre Carter set up another score for the Titans. Sperry later hit Haynes on a screen to the right, and the speedster raced for a 53-yard touchdown.
Muskogee answered with a five-yard touchdown run by Israel Martin to make it a 14-7 game.

The Titans finished the half with another scoring drive. Sperry went 3 for 3 passing on the drive along with runs of 8 and 10 yards. On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Sperry took it himself around the left side for a touchdown.

Carl Albert led 21-7 at halftime.

It was more of the same in the second half. Sperry threw a pair of touchdown passes to push the lead to 36-7. The OU commit found Haynes for a 45-yard touchdown pass with 9:00 in the third.

Holder Devin Woodring flipped the ball to Marcus James for the two-point conversion and a 29-7 lead.

Sperry later lofted a 16-yard pass to Trynae Washington in the corner of the end zone with 5:30 in the third, making it a 36-7 score.

The Roughers got back on the board in the fourth quarter. They put together an eight-play, 62-yard drive that was capped by another Martin touchdown. Quarterback Jamarian Ficklin also connected with Kayden McGee for a 20-yard touchdown pass.

Robinson also ran for his second touchdown late in the game, as the Titans won 43-20.

Carl Albert is on the road again Friday night with a non-district game at Class 4A’s Elk City (2-1). The Elks beat Altus and Bridge Creek this season and fell to Canadian, Texas last week.