Elgin shoves aside Piedmont in playoff opener

Elgin head football coach Chalmer Wyatt teaches classes in computers and basic ways to use them to handle information or create complex formulas.

On the football field he and his assistant coaches haven’t needed any exotic formula to win games, just a dominating defense and an opportunistic offense have been the route to 11 straight victories, the latest being a 20-0 victory over Piedmont Friday at Fighting Owls Stadium in the first round of the Class 5A football playoffs.

The victory was the first playoff win in 18 years for the Owls and it earned them another chance to play at home Friday when Claremore will make the long drive to Elgin for a quarterfinal battle. Claremore advanced with a wild 48-47 victory over Sapulpa.

Friday the Owls scored on their first two possessions and then relied on their stingy defense to make sure that 14-0 lead would hold up against the Wildcats and their Flexbone offense.

And, when the Owls’ defense gets a lead to protect, it’s been up to the challenge in each instance thus far this season. Only two teams have been able to reach double digits against Elgin; El Reno scored 21 against the Owls in a 54-21 loss and MacArthur scored 14 in a 62-14 loss to the Owls.

Three teams were shut out by the Elgin defense, one scored just a field goal against the Owls and five others scored one touchdown. Friday the Wildcats saw more of Collyn Donnelly and his defensive mates than they wanted as time-after-time the visitors had drives stopped by the hard-hitting Owls.

One of those stops came late in the second quarter after the lone Elgin turnover, an interception, gave the Wildcats the ball at their own 43 with 3:37 left in the half.

The visitors earned one first down on three runs but Elgin was able to force a 4th-and-1 at the Owls’ 33. Piedmont quarterback Joshua Mars found a seam off right tackle and bulled his way to a first down at the Elgin 21 with the clock inside 30 seconds.

Elgin shut down a pass play for no gain and then the Owls’ secondary batted a ball away from a receiver. However, the Wildcats were called for holding setting up a 2nd-and-20 at the Elgin 31 with just 16 seconds remaining. Piedmont was able to get the penalty yardage back on a running play but without any timeouts, the Wildcats were unable to spike the ball before the clock hit 0:00.

“That was a big stop right before halftime,” Wyatt said. “Then we come out and stop their first series in the second half and we take that possession down for a touchdown. We knew at that point we were in good shape with the way our defense was playing. I can’t say enough good things about our defense. They are some tough guys.”

One of the toughest is Donnelly who has been playing at a higher level each week.

“We work hard every day in practice,” the junior said. “Our mentality is violence every Friday. We have been winning most games without us having to play four quarters, so I’ve got plenty left. I knew when we got those two early touchdowns we had them right where we wanted them.”

Piedmont had just three possessions in the second half, the last starting with 8:32 remaining in the game with the ‘Cats starting at their own 4-yard-line. Piedmont proceeded to run 20 plays on that march which reached the Elgin 10 but the Owls rose up to stop three plays for no gain as the final seconds clicked off the scoreboard to start a big celebration.

The start to the game was perfect for the Owls as they marched 62 yards on eight plays, the last being a 3-yard Matthew Lund TD run. Gabe Dittmeyer kicked the PAT with 8:44 left in the first quarter.

After a three-and-out by the ‘Cats, Elgin moved 70 yards for its second TD on a five plays. Lund took a screen pass from quarterback Tres Lorah for 18 yards to get the drive going and Ritson Meyer capped the march with a 14-yard TD run where he wasn’t touched by a Piedmont defender.

The final Elgin TD came on an 87-yard drive that took just seven plays. Lund got 26 on the first play, Brody Morrison gained 23 on a reverse and Lorah ran a bootleg which opened up a narrow window for Michael Adesola to get open and grab a TD strike from Lorah.

“Once we got those two quick scores we felt we were in a good place,” Lund said. “We are a lot happier than we were last week with how we played offensively. We are playing with a great deal of confidence.”

Offensive lineman Keith Ferguson caused some concern among the hometown fans when he was slow to get up after a running play in the second half.

“I just hurt my foot somehow,” he said. “It’s nothing that will keep me out of the next game. We knew we could run the ball against them. We planned on not throwing the ball much and it worked out. We don’t need many points the way our defense is playing. They are amazing.”