OKLAHOMA CITY – Western Heights proved to be too hospitable to its guest, Northwest Classen, in a 47-12 homecoming loss Friday (Sept. 20) at Charles W. Sheid Stadium.

Four Jet turnovers and a host of other mistakes hurt the Jets as well the Knight combo of junior Anthony Jones and senior Brandon Butler.

Butler caught four touchdown passes Jones and Jones ran for two more in the rout.

“I respect Northwest Classen and they done what they had to do,” Western Heights coach Travis Burdine said. “Our team – mistake after mistake, guys going down, guys getting hurt. That’s part of it.

“I can’t be mad at my guys for the simple, basically mental mentality mistakes.”

Neither team could sustain a drive early in the game with defensive tackle Reginald Wilson and the Jet defense getting penetration.

A failed fourth-down conversion set the Knights (1-2) up near midfield and they took advantage after four plays with the first Jones-Butler connection, a 29-yard score with 6:17 left in the first quarter.

The Jets moved the ball on the ensuing possession but couldn’t score. After the Knights stalled, the first Jet mistake made an impact. The Knights recovered a muffed punt at the Western Heights 36-yard line.

One play later, Jones found Butler over the middle for another score at the 10:04 mark in the second quarter.

This time it was the Jets who answered quickly. Senior Brandon Bogle found fellow senior Elyn McGilbra for a 79-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion failed and Western Heights trailed 13-6 with 8:57 before halftime.

Jones and Butler struck again twenty seconds later on the first play of the ensuing possession, this time from 65 yards. After the duo converted the two-point conversion, Northwest Classen led 21-6.

Neither team scored before halftime and the Jet defense came up with a big stop in the final minutes before intermission. Northwest Classen started a drive at the Jet 31 after a bad snap on a Western Heights punt.

The Knights got inside the Heights 20, but a sack from Wilson and junior Keziah Howell pushed the Knights back. Howell added a tackle for loss on third down. The Knights’ Jones couldn’t convert on fourth down with ten seconds left before halftime.

Western Heights ran one play and Bogle was sacked to end the half. On the play, Bogle sustained a lower leg injury. He was unable to play in the second half and hobbled out to midfield on crutches at halftime for the homecoming ceremony.

Burdine said he would be evaluated by an orthopedic doctor over the weekend.

The Jet offense changed from passing-oriented to the ground game with McGilbra at the helm. McGilbra and Howell saw some success early in the third quarter but couldn’t get in the end zone.

Butler scored again catching 46-yard pass from Jones, wrestling the ball away from McGilbra, who was defending in the secondary. Northwest Classen opened up a 28-6 lead with 6:23 left in the third quarter.

Two series later, Western Heights finally turned its ground game into points.

Freshman Ja’Kyri Arbertha had a 24-yard run to get the Jets inside Northwest Classen territory. McGilbra almost scored on a 38-yard run but it was wiped out due to a penalty.

Two plays later, McGilbra found the end zone on a 9-yard run. The conversion failed and the Jets trailed, 28-12 with 11:56 left in the game.

It didn’t get any closer.

Jones took the first snap of the next possession and sprinted 62 yards down the Knight sideline for a score to make it 34-12.

The Jets muffed the kickoff. Northwest Classen scored again three players later on a Jones 32-yard run to extend the lead to 40-12.

The Jets tried to answer as McGilbra sprinted 55 yards to the Knight 2-yard line. They went backwards from there with a bad snap and two sacks ending the drive.

The Knights capped the scoring on the next series.

From the Western Heights 42, Knight freshman backup quarterback Kenny Hardesty connected with sophomore Xavier Collins.

McGilbra stood him up after a no gain and tried to strip the football. Collins wrestled the ball back and found the edge, sprinting past the Jet secondary for the final score.

Burdine said his team’s youth and inexperience showed through the mistakes.

“It’s part of learning and that’s the main thing here. We’re working on building. We can’t get down when the smallest thing happened because that’s that’s what we classify as a rookie mistake, you know, just because they’re young.”

UP NEXT

It doesn’t get it easier for Western Heights (1-2) to start 5A-2 play. Defending state champion Carl Albert (3-0) comes to Western Heights next Friday (Sept. 27) at 7 p.m.

“We can’t copy Carl Albert, but we can almost mimic them in a few years we’ll be like, ‘hey!’ Burdine said.

“It’s like any other program that you go to when you start that you got to play good programs and see what you got to make yours out of.”

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
Northwest Classen (1-2)	7	14	7	19	47
Western Heights (1-2)	0	6	0	6	12