OKLAHOMA CITY – With his team in a scoreless tie with Southmoore at halftime Friday (Nov. 15), Putnam City North’s Kyran Axtell waited for the second half kickoff to come down. To Axtell, it seemed like the ball was up in the air “forever.”

Standing at the North 29-yard line, Axtell said,” I was just like, I hope I don’t just get blasted.”

The senior caught the ball, made one Sabercat miss as he went upfield and then he saw a big hole.

“I was like, I’m about to go get it,” Axtell said. “So I just took off.”

Axtell sprinted 71 yards to break the scoreless tie and lead the fifth-ranked Panthers to a 21-0 first-round playoff win over Southmoore.

Up to that point, it was the Panthers’ defense and special teams that played a big role.

On Southmoore’s opening drive, the Sabercats drove to the North 14-yard line before North’s defense recovered a fumble.

North (8-3) went backwards on offense and Axtell found himself punting with the wind at his back from the back of the end zone. He took a low snap and booted it. The ball bounced at the 50-yard line and rolled to the Southmoore 23-yard line for a 67-yard punt.

Neither team would score in the first half, although Southmoore reached North 16-yard line before being turned away on fourth down by senior Tyrie Caldwell.

After Axtell’s kickoff return made it 7-0 in the third quarter, the Panther defense spurred the offense. Senior Milton Alford fumbled at the North 16-yard line but Southmoore gave it back two plays later when senior quarterback Taven Hayes fumbled and North senior Kameron Oliver recovered it.

North drove the ball 73 yards for a score, capped off by a 13-yard strike on the run by junior Mason Jones to Oliver. North led, 14-0, with :46 left in the third quarter.

On the next possession, Southmore was poised to answer after Hayes connected with senior Kasen Rinehart for 42 yards to the North 27-yard line. Axtell ended the threat on the next play with an interception in the end zone.

North coach Derek Lane jokingly referred to Axtell as North’s “Jim Thorpe,”comparing Axtell to the late Oklahoman multi-sport star and Olympian.

“(Kyran) just does a bit of everything,” Lane said. “The interception helped seal the deal and when he punts, he does a great job of flipping the field for us and giving us a good field position.”

North had to punt on the next possession after Axtell’s interception, but Southmoore gave it up two plays later when Hayes was picked off by Oliver at the North 15-yard line.

North cashed in after the turnover. Alford, who had produced 71 yards at that point but also fumbled twice, finally broke through.

Alford took a handoff from Jones, almost tripped, broke two tackles and squirted through the hole for a 62-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach at 21-0 with 7:10 left in the contest.

Southmoore had three possessions after that but only threatened to score once. Junior Jarrett Rogers snuffed out the scoring threat with an interception with 2:16 left in the contest.

Lane was complimentary of the Panther defense which gave up some yards but got the shutout.

“They’re kind of a bend-but-don’t-break type defense,” Lane said. “We give up a few plays but then they usually figure out.”

With the win, North won its first playoff game since 2020. Before the 2020 win, North’s last playoff win was in 2004, when Oklahoma Heisman winner and NFL quarterback Sam Bradford was a junior at North.

“I think it’s huge for our program,” Lane said. “I tell these seniors all the time, they’ve been a great leaders for our team.

“I’m just very proud of this senior group because they took the team on their back and said, ‘hey, we’re not going to get beat the first round.’ “

Class 6A-II OSSAA Football Championship
FIRST ROUND/FRIDAY, November 15, 2024
Putnam City 26, Bartlesville 14
Putnam City North 21, Southmoore 0
Sapulpa 46, Lawton Eisenhower 31
Piedmont 48, Ponca City 7
Muskogee, Bye
Stillwater, Bye
Choctaw, Bye
Sand Springs, Bye

QUARTERFINALS/FRIDAY, November 22, 2024
Putnam City at Muskogee, 7 p.m.
Putnam City North at Stillwater, 7 p.m.
Sapulpa at Choctaw, 7 p.m.
Piedmont at Sand Springs, 7 p.m.

SEMIFINALS/FRIDAY, November 29, 2024
TBD

CHAMPIONSHIP/SATURDAY, December 7, 2024
TBD, 7 p.m. (University of Central Oklahoma)

UP NEXT

Putnam City North (8-3) travels to third-ranked Stillwater (8-2) next Friday (Nov. 22). The Pioneers had a bye for the first round of the playoffs. A 6A-II power, Stillwater won the state title in 2022 and fell in the title game last season to Muskogee.

“They have a lot of experience in the playoffs,” Lane said. “They do have a defense that’s kind of like a ‘chaos’ defense. They’ve got guys moving around, so we’re going to have to be sound on our blocking schemes.”

The Pioneers’ two losses are to 5A top-ranked Carl Albert and 6A-II second-ranked Choctaw. After the loss to the Yellowjackets Oct. 17, Stillwater outscored their final three opponents, 135-14. That total included a 58-0 rout over Southmoore Nov. 8 to end the regular season.

Photographs courtesy of Richard T. Clifton

	1	2	3	4	F
Southmoore (4-7)	0	0	0	0	0
Putnam CIty North (8-3)	0	0	14	7	21