OKLAHOMA CITY – Putnam City dominated winless U.S. Grant, 56-6, Friday (Oct. 18) in a 6A-II-1 matchup.

“As a program, when we play games that we’re more superior than our opponent, we’re supposed to come out and play like that,” Putnam City coach Willis Alexander said.

It took two plays for the Pirates to score as sophomore Denymn Friday connected with junior Savion James for a 41-yard touchdown pass.

U.S. Grant (0-7, 0-4) only had the ball for two plays before Pirate seinor Sy Phipps recovered a fumble from General freshman Josh Hunt at the Grant 29-yard line. That led to drive with PC primarily running the ball with Marquico Woody. The senior capped it off with a 1-yard score with 6:36 left in the first quarter. After a penalty on the extra points, the Pirates went for two and sophomore LaDarren Shoals ran it in the end zone to make it 15-0.

Again, the Generals couldn’t move the ball. After a punt, Putnam City scored on one play. Friday hit junior Savion James over the middle for a 62-yard touchdown. Original held a 22-0 lead with 3:07 left in the opening quarter.

After a U.S. Grant punt, sophomore Gabe Osborne appeared to have a 90-yard punt return for a score, but it was wiped out due to a targeting penalty.

Instead of a big play, the Pirates drove 90 yards, capped off by a 1-yard run by junior Rodgerick Sloan and Putnam City had a 29-0 lead with 7:52 left in the second quarter.

On the ensuing possession, the Generals failed to get a first down and and punted. The short punt gave the Pirates a short field.

Putnam City (5-2, 3-1) scored in three plays on a 15-yard connection from Friday to Sloan for the final score of the half. The Pirates led, 36-0, with 3:20 left before halftime.

In the first half, the Putnam City defense held the Generals to minus nine yards rushing on 21 plays with one offensive first down and two first downs via penalty.

The game had a running clock in the second half due to lopsided score.

Pirate senior Brayden Knox blocked U.S. Grant’s opening punt. Shoals scored on the next play, on a 17-yard run to extend PC’s lead to 43-0 with 7:55 left in the third quarter.

On the next Pirate possession, junior Josh Lombard connected with JT Willie in the corner of the end zone for a 17-yard score to make it 50-0 with :36 left in the third quarter.

The Pirates scored one more on the second play of their next series. Shoals rolled 45 yards for a score with 5:45 left in the game.

With reserves on the field, U.S. Grant broke the shutout and scored their first touchdown in five games. Senior Tristan Mitchell wnet over the top and hit Hunt for a 83 yard touchdown with 1:59 left in the game. It was the Generals’ longest play of the season.

The Pirate offense accounted for eight touchdowns (four on the ground and four in the air) in the win.

“The offense is slowly getting better and trying to find that rhythm in our routine,” Alexander said. “I think we figure ran the ball better. We just got to keep improving and we see a lot of growth.”

6A-II DISTRICT 1	DISTRICT RECORD	OVERALL RECORD
Choctaw	4-0	5-2
Stillwater	3-1	5-2
Putnam City	3-1	5-2
Piedmont	3-1	5-2
Southmoore	2-2	3-4
Lawton Eisenhower	1-3	2-5
Northwest Classen	0-4	1-6
U.S. Grant	0-4	0-7

While expected, the win was important for the district race. The Pirates are in a three-way tie with Stillwater and Piedmont at 3-1. Putnam City ends the regular season at Piedmont.

UP NEXT

The Pirates (5-2, 3-1) host 6A-II power Stillwater Friday (Oct. 25). The Pioneers (5-2, 3-1) fell to 6A-II-1 leader Choctaw, 35-28, Thursday (Oct. 17).

Stillwater knocked Putnam City out of the playoffs last season in the quarterfinals, 56-7, before going on to the title game before losing to Muskogee.

Photographs courtesy of Danielle Johnson.

	1	2	3	4	F
Putnam City (5-2, 3-1)	22	14	14	6	56
U.S. Grant (0-7, 0-4)	0	0	0	6	6