Big plays from Putnam City North senior Milton Alford and takeaways from the North defense were key in the Panthers’ 23-0 win over Bartlesville Thursday (Oct. 17).
Senior Milton Alford rushed for 182 yards on 23 carries with two scores. Alford average 7.9 yards a carry in the win. As a team, North finished at 199 yards on the ground.
Junior Mason Jones completed 4-of-12 for 45 yards. Much of that total came on a 39-yard completion to fellow junior Bravion Stubbs.
The North defense picked off Bartlesville senior Nate Neal twice,including a pick-six by senior defensive lineman Craig Gooden.
The Panthers held the Bruins to minus-24 yards rushing. A bulk of that total was negative yardage from the Bartlesville quarterbacks Neal (-29) and freshman Michael Kent (-39).
Junior Bishop Moore led the team with 13 tackles and two for a loss. Senior Dameon Hardmon added 10 tackles and three for a loss.
Sophomore senior Jonnas Stinson-Powers had seven tackles. Senior Kelvin Tucker had six tackles with three for a loss. Senior Kyrie Caldwell also had six tackles and two for a loss. Another senior Kameron Oliver had four tackles with one for a loss.
“We had a lot of guys swarming to the ball,” Putnam City North coach Derek Lane said. “Jonaas (Stinson-Powers) did a really good job of just filling alleys and making sure that they couldn’t get outside in the run game.”
Lane also praised Caldwell for “putting putting pressure on the quarterback and then chasing them down.”
In addition to Gooden’s interception, senior Kyran Axtell picked off a pass well.
Axtell had a big assignment in the second half, following the Bruins’ leading receiver.
“He kind of had his hands full,” Lane said. “He did a good job of locking him down.”
PANTHERS PUT UP BIG NUMBERS, ALLOW SMALL NUMBERS
Through seven games, North is near the top of 6A (both divisions) in offensive yards (sixth, 269 yards a game) and points (seventh, 38.4 points a game) in statistics compiled by the website, IWasAtTheGame.com.
The Panthers are first in yards allowed (73 yards a contest) and points allowed per game (10.4). This puts North fourth in points differential (+20.8).
| 6A-II DISTRICT 2 | DISTRICT RECORD | OVERALL RECORD |
|---|---|---|
| Muskogee | 4-0 | 7-0 |
| Sand Springs | 4-0 | 5-2 |
| Putnam City North | 4-0 | 6-1 |
| Sapulpa | 4-0 | 4-3 |
| Bartlesville | 0-4 | 0-7 |
| Ponca City | 0-4 | 1-6 |
| Capitol Hill | 0-4 | 1-6 |
| Putnam City West | 0-4 | 1-6 |
DISTRICT 2 TEAMS EITHER UNDEFEATED OR WINLESS
North is in a four-way tie for first place in 6A-II-2 with top-ranked Muskogee, third-ranked Sand Springs and Sapulpa.
The bottom four teams in the district are all 0-4, including Bartlesville.
However, Lane said there is more to the Bruins than their record.
“They played a lot of their tougher teams at the beginning of the season. They have PC West and Capitol Hill, Ponca City. They still have those games left on the schedule,” Lane said. “So this is a team that will make it to the playoffs. If they can kind of stick together, they may be able to surprise the team in the playoffs.”
NEXT OPPONENT: Sapulpa
The Chieftains are 4-0 in district play after an 0-3 non-district start.
Sapulpa beat Bartlesville in overtime to open district play. They followed with a 58-0 rout over Putnam City West and a 28-7 win over Ponca City.
In those three early losses, the Chieftains’ margin of loss was about seven points.
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