Elgin dominates Wagoner, earns berth in State finals

ADA—Domination—that’s clearly the best way to describe Elgin’s 33-10 victory over Wagoner that was earned with another strong defensive effort and an offense that flexed its muscle time after time to lead the Owls to their first berth in a state championship game in the football history of the school.

More than 1,400 Elgin fans packed the visitor side bleachers at East Central University’s stadium and gathered around the fences to watch the Owls win their 13th straight game and rush into next Saturday’s Class 4A title game against Tuttle. The Tigers dispatched Bethany, 24-0, setting up the championship featuring the best two teams in that class, each heading to the title game with 13-0 records. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Central Oklahoma University.

The Owls were content to establish a running attack with their massive offensive line and the running of rugged junior back Ritson Meyer. The junior back rushed 32 times for 141 yards for three touchdowns and for good measure he threw for a 2-point PAT and a touchdown.

“That was the plan; we wanted to pound the ball and wear them down and I think that was pretty much what we did,” head coach Chalmer Wyatt said between congratulations from players, his coaching staff and fans. “When our big guys put their hands on you over and over it’s tough on some guys.”

When the running game started working the Owls started mixing in passes with senior quarterback Tres Lorah connecting on 12-of-20 passes for 169 yards and one touchdown.

“We had a really good game plan going in and we were able to hit some big throws,” Wyatt said. “We hadn’t shown that pass with Ritson and it really worked. We mixed things up and just wore them down.”

Elgin’s defense had another huge game, shutting down the Bulldogs’ running game, limiting them to just 32 yards on the ground. With the Owls dominating up front, it forced Wagoner quarterback Kale Charboneau to throw the ball and he was not very effective, hitting on just 18-of-32 passes for 155 yards and three interceptions.

That effort left defensive coordinator Jack Baker pumped to say the least.

“The most important thing is the will of our kids,” the veteran coach said. “This is the best bunch I’ve ever coached. Even when I made a bad call they would still make a play and get a stop. It starts up front; they couldn’t run the ball against us and then our secondary did a great job challenging their receivers. We forced them to be one-dimensional and we did a good job of putting enough pressure on him to rush some throws and our guys got after them in the secondary.”

About the only thing that didn’t go right was Elgin’s first possession as Lorah was rolling out of the pocket and when the pressure came he threw down the Wagoner sideline and the pass was picked off.

But the Elgin defense shut the Bulldogs down, forcing a 31-yard field goal as they managed to take the lead for the only time in the game.

The Owls came right back, driving 74 yards on eight plays, Meyer getting the touchdown from eight yards out for a 6-3 lead at the 4:06 mark of the first period.

Elgin had another good drive that bogged down but on Wagoner’s third play, safety Brice Martin stepped in front of a receiver and got an interception to set the Owls up at their own 49. Six plays late Meyer scored on a nifty 20-yard run and then he tossed the 2-point PAT pass as the lead grew to 14-3.

The Bulldogs were finally able to get something going on their next possession, using a 16-yard touchdown pass to cut the Elgin lead to 14-10 at halftime.

The first play of the second half turned out to be huge as Elgin’s Cordea Richie laid a big hit on a Wagoner receiver forcing a fumble that the Owls recovered at the Bulldogs’ 38. Meyer and Braxton Antuna combined to carry the ball to a 3rd-and-4 from the 23 when Lorah pitched the ball to Meyer who rolled right and fired a pass that tight end Adam Eaton soared high to snare the ball in the end zone as the lead went to 21-10.

The defense continued to pressure the Bulldogs, forcing a three-and-out and a punt that wound up at the Owls 22 with 7:46 remaining in the third quarter. This time the Owls opted to use blocking tight end Colyn Donnelly as a receiver and the big man was wide open in the middle of the field and before the Bulldogs could catch up with him he had the ball down to the Wagoner 8.

On third-and-goal Lorah rolled out and found the 6-3 Eaton for another score and 27-10 command.

Once again the Elgin defense gave up a few yards but good defense forced another punt.

“They did complete a few passes but our guys were able to rally to the ball and make solid tackles,” Baker said. “That’s what you have to do and our guys did a great job doing that tonight.”

Then came the final blow, an 85-yard scoring drive that started with 11:05 left in the game and was capped on an 8-yard Meyer touchdown that came with 5:04 remaining, taking more than six minutes off the clock and erasing all doubt to start the celebration along the happy Elgin sideline.