The Wynnewood Savages entertained the Sayre Eagles in the first round of the Class A football playoffs and handed them a 34 to 14 loss on Savage Field last Friday evening. The score does not reflect the “what if’s” in a game that could have been much closer than it showed on the scoreboard. The score by quarters in the contest was Sayre 0-6-0-8 to equal 14 while Wynnewood’s was 13-7-7-7 to equal 34. It was two first quarter gifts that was the undoing of the Eagles hope for an upset of the # 2 ranked Savages. Sayre ran only 9 plays in the first quarter while Wynnewood controlled the quarter as they ran off 17 plays. The story was told from the beginning when Sayre fumbled the opening kickoff at the Eagle 28-yard line after a 13yard return of the kick. Brylan Williams of Wynnewood picked up the loose ball and advanced the 28 yards for the touchdown with only 12 seconds gone off the clock putting the Eagles in a hole from the start. But the hole got deeper when following the ensuing kickoff Jaden Mosser returned the kick 14 yards to the Sayre 34-yard line. After a seemingly start of a successful drive to tie the game, Sayre advanced the ball for 2 first downs to the Savage 28. But another fumble occurred with Wynnewood recovering at the 28. From there the Savages ground out a slow 15 play 72-yard scoring drive with only 1:58 left in the first quarter. The PAT kick failed but the Savages owned a stunning 14 to 0 lead with the Eagles still waiting to mount up an offensive drive.
After the ensuing kickoff Sayre was pinned deep on their own 7-yard line where they began on offense. Three plays netted only 8 of the necessary 10 yards for a first down to force an Eagle punt. Mosser booted the ball 24 yards to the Eagle 39 where the Savages took possession. Sayre put up a stellar defense this time when they allowed Wynnewood 4 yards in three plays to the 35. Refusing to punt the Savages tried to run for a first down but Zeke Curtis, Cam Plummer and Brayden Mosburg stopped them one yard short of the yard to gain 29. The strength of the Sayre resilience would not let them give up as they shook off the bad start in the first quarter and put together an unstoppable 17play-71-yard march to finally put points on the board. There was no big play in the drive, but they did connect on a fourth and one situation to gain a first down at the Savage one-yard line. Jaden Mosser wriggled the yard into the end zone for the TD. The PAT failed and the score was 13 to 6 with 5:58 left in the first half of play.
Wynnewood countered the Eagle TD when they took the kickoff and marched 72 yards to paydirt with only eleven seconds left in the first half. The Savage top rusher Aydrian Knighten who finished the game with 154 yards in 18 carries got the final 10 yards for the TD. The PAT kick by Martinez was good and the halftime score was 20 to 6.
On the second half kickoff Curtis punched an onside kick to Wynnewood. Sayre successfully recovered the fumbled kick at the 50-yard line. Inspired by the turnover, the Eagles began a drive to the Savage end zone. Twelve plays put Sayre at the Savage 4-yard line. But on a fourth and 3 situation Wynnewood put on the defense that ended the drive at the Savage 3-yard line. With the two early fumbles this failed drive put the Eagles in a tough position. The failure of a score here became worse when Wynnewood took over at the 3. The first play was for only one yard to the 4 but the next play all but ended the Eagles quest for advancement in the playoffs when Briar Davenport romped 96 yards to paydirt to shock the Eagle supporters. The PAT kick was good and the Savages were up 27 to 6 with 4:26 left in the third quarter.
At that point the ball exchanged hands once each to put the ball in Eagle hands at their own 40-yard line. Sayre was not ready to quit and didn’t, when they sped the 60 in 8 plays for their second TD of the game. Sophomore QB Jaggar Wootten led the attack by completing passes of 3 yards to Dustin McSorley and two more to Tate Bawden of 14 and 29 yards. The 29 yarder was impressively snagged out of the air by Bawden to put the ball at the 16-yard line. From there Mosser gained a speedy 14 yards to the 2 before McSorley crashed into the end zone for the TD. He also ran across the 2-point PAT to give a score of 27 to 14 with 4:26 left in the game. Wootton had the years highest number of pass completions in one game connecting on 9 of 13 attempts. The record for pass completions in a playoff game is 10 by Jay Manning in 1997 against Velma-Alma.
Sayre tried an onside kick but the Savages recovered at their own 48. With the victory on their side Wynnewood wasn’t through for the night. From the 48 a run of 16 yards by the bruising fullback Da’Zhon Jones put the ball at the Sayre 36 where Knighten rushed the next play for a 36-yard TD. The PAT kick was good and the game ended with Wynnewood moving on in the playoffs.
The ‘what if’s” are if the 2 fumbles had not occurred and the failure of scoring the TD when at the Savages 4-yard line of the opening drive of the second half, well, you decide what might have occurred. The Eagles had a great year since 2010 they have not had more wins than loses in a season. In 2010 the Eagles lost the first round of the playoffs and ended with a 6W5L record coached by Wes Brower. This year, 15 years later, Sayre ended with a 6W5L record while losing in the first round of the playoffs under head Coach Craig Hixon. The only record recorded this year was giving up the 96 yard run for a TD by Knighten. We take the good with the bad. That was another big if when they scored that 96-yard TD. The Eagles have nothing to hang their head about since in this game they were good enough to beat the # 2 team. Three teams out of our District 1 class A1 are in the top ten. Fairview #1, Cashion # 8 and Hooker #9. Sayre was # 14. The Assistant coaches for Sayres success this season are Patton Pugh, Dakin Harris, Kyle Merrick and Brody Shook. The seniors who led this year’s success are Ethan Garrison, Carter Brewer, Ryan Beck, Camden Plummer, Zeke Curtis, Brock Helton, Braden Wood, Alex Chavez, Nevan Bailey, Triston Easter and Brayden Mosburg. Curtis had his highest game tackles for the year with 12. 11 against Cashion. The prior record for the longest opponent TD run was 78 yards- Bill Quails - Poteau – 1950 Eagles Stats Wynnewood 15 First Downs 14 46/135 Rushing Yards 33/339 9/13/82 Passing Yards 1/5/14 217 Total Yards 353 2 Turnovers 1 1/5 Penalties 8/70 3/84/28.0 Punts 1/41 RUSHING J. Mosser 11/45 D. McSorley 10/39 J. Wootten 14/22 C. Brewer 6/19 C. Plummer 3/10 Z. Curtis 1 /2 B. Helton 1/(-2) RECEIVING T. Bawden 3/45 B. Bawden 1/20 B. Helton 1/8 B. Mosburg 1/7 D. McSorley 3/2 TACKLES Z. Curtis 12 T. Bawden 9 B. Helton 9 B. Mosburg 7 A. Ball 6 C. Brewer 6 C. Plummer 5 E. Garrison 2 D. McSorley 2 A. Chavez 2 Others 4
Junior Jaden Mosser
Sophomore Jagger Wootton
