Spartans march by Choctaw, 55-27

September 24, 2024 |

Jackets go 1-2 in challenging non-district action

By Ryan Horton
Choctaw Times

Choctaw hosted the defending Class 6A-I state champions Friday night as the Yellowjackets continued their efforts to prepare themselves for the upcoming district slate.

For a second week in a row the Yellowjackets fell to a top-ranked opponent, and head coach Jake Corbin says that’s not all bad.

“I’m proud of our kids. Everyone wants to go win, but you have to be mature about your opponents. You want to get better, and I promise you these last two weeks have forced us to get better,” said Corbin.

“We knew who this team was when we scheduled them, and they forced us to get better because of that. These last few weeks of practice we’ve had to be air tight, because if you have any weakness it’s going to get exposed. We did get exposed, and you take that information and go make the changes you need to make to get better. We have some things to work on now as we get ready for district, and hope to be setup for playoffs and potentially a state championship. They’ve really accelerated our growth, and I appreciate them. They’re a great program, and my hats off to them.”

Cash Williams heads toward the Bixby end zone. (PHOTO BY RYAN HORTON)

Senior quarterback Cash Williams and junior speedster Mayor Morgan led Choctaw’s offense in the loss.

Williams completed 22 of 32 passes for 297 yards and a score and also rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown run.

Morgan had 16 carries for 63 yards and a touchdown and completed four receptions for 106 yards including a TD.

Landon Gatson ran for 135 yards and a TD. He passed for 35 yards on three plays.

Juju Smith had 131 yards off 12 catches and nine yards rushing.

Hayden Mounce had 43 yards receiving, Nate Keiffer had 20 and No. 17 Titus Hawk had 17 yards receiving.

Braven McConnell had a 15-yard catch and five yards rushing.

In total, Choctaw produced 633 yards of offense and had four touchdowns.

Landon Gatson moves the ball for Choctaw. (PHOTO BY RYAN HORTON)

Bixby scored first, but Choctaw was quick to answer. Morgan made an 80-yard dash for six on the first snap of the next drive to make it 6-6.

Bixby eventually took a 19-6 advantage, but after an interception from Da’Jon Green CHS would go 83 yards in nine plays to make it a 19-13 game as the first quarter ended.

The contest remained close until Bixby got some breathing room thanks to a 28-yard touchdown run by senior running back Bode Cairl with 11:20 left in the second quarter.

The Spartans controlled the second and third quarters as Choctaw wouldn’t score again until Williams ran for a 17-yard touchdown with 5:58 left in the game.

Bixby took the win, 55-27.

Bixby quarterback Carson King, a junior, led the Spartan offense completing 20 of 27 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 47 rushing yards.

Corbin admits his young roster has some growing to do, but was happy with the performance of his squad.

“We have some growing up to do and when you play teams like Gardener-Edgerton and Bixby, life comes at you fast,” said Corbin. “Cash Williams did a great job on offense managing the team. Our O-Line played very well, and Juju is just Juju and Mayor did Mayor stuff. Nathan Keiffer, Titus Hawk and Hayden Mounce continued to work to be what I think they can be. Defensively, guys like Cole Tyra played well, and we saw the emergence of Israel Hammond who I think will be a huge player for us. I saw a lot of stuff I liked, but a lot we need to get better at.”

In recent years Choctaw’s coaches have worked to schedule the most elite competition available during early season non-district play.

“When you look at the preseason No. 1 team in each state we’ve played three of them now. I don’t know many other teams who have done that,” said Corbin. “We don’t run from competition, and continue to go and schedule those guys. Ultimately, the goal is to not only go compete with those guys, but go beat them. We’re still a ways from that, but we plan to continue to close that gap in coming years and throughout this season.”

Bixby (2-1) moves on to host Jenks (1-2) Friday, while Choctaw (1-2) opens district play at Piedmont (2-1).

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday night.