ADA – Holding on to a 10-point lead at halftime Friday (Nov. 22), Bethany turned to its defense and ground game for a 30-6 win over Ada in the Class 4A quarterfinals at East Central University’s Norris Field.

The Bronchos meet third-ranked Tuttle Dec. 6 in the semifinals at a site to be announced by the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association.

“I’m super proud of our kids,” Bethany coach Jon Arthur said via phone. “They came out and played what’s probably our most complete game of the whole year.”

The Bronchos (10-2) had a 16-6 lead and took the ball into Ada territory on the opening drive of the third quarter. Bethany senior Jackie Payne’s pass over the middle was tipped into the hands of Ada senior JD Dugan.

Two plays later junior Judson Gilliland picked off Ada junior Brock Broyles and sprinted to the end zone for 26-yard interception return to extend the lead to 23-6 with 6:41 left in the third quarter.

A short kick on the ensuing kickoff gave Ada good field position.

With the Bronchos defending Ada’s offensive weapons in the air, the Cougars went to the ground. Junior Caron Richardson rushed the ball eight times on a 10-play drive down to the Bethany 5-yard line.

“We wanted to stop what they were best at which was throwing to their good receivers,” Arthur said. “We knew we had the we might give up a little bit in the run game there.”

Facing a fourth-and-three, Broyles tried a pop pass over the middle to the end zone. Bethany senior Brock Cross got a hand on the ball, knocking it away from an open Ada receiver.

With 2:03 left in the third quarter and backed up at the 5-yard line, Bethany turned to its ground game and Gilliland to seal the deal.

The Bronchos drove 95 yards in a drive that ate up over 11 minutes of game clock stretching into the fourth quarter. Bethany ran the ball 18 times (11 by Gilliland) in the 20-play drive.

Junior Evenson Malaska scored on a 15-yard run to put the game out of reach at 30-6 with 2:55 left in the contest.

The time-consuming drive achieved something Arthur wanted his team to do, keep the offense on the field.

“(Ada is) obviously good offensively and, and if we’re on the field, the thing they do the best is not on the field,” Arthur said.

After the Malaska score, Ada moved the ball to the Cougar 41-yard line but senior Wyatt Geissler intercepted Boyles to end the threat.

In the first half, Bethany looked like they would run away the game. After a short Ada punt after the opening drive fizzled, the Bronchos’ opening drive was capped off by a 19-yard connection between Payne and Geissler with 8:38 left in the opening quarter.

Each offense stalled until the second quarter when a bad snap on a Broncho punt attempt gave Ada the ball at the Bethany 39-yard line.

The Cougars cashed in four players later when Richardson ran it in from the 8-yard line. The extra point failed and Bethany led, 7-6, with 8:44 left in the second quarter.

Bethany opened the next drive with a fumbled handoff to Geissler but the Bronchos recovered it. Bethany rebounded with a 12-yard drive, capped off by a Gilliland 1-yard run with 2:53 left before halftime to make it 13-3.

Cross snuffed out good field position for Ada on the next possession, intercepting Broyles.

That led to more points before halftime. Junior Griffin Tarrant booted a 20-yard field goal with three seconds left before the intermission to make it 16-6.

In unofficial stats, Gilliland rushed for 136 yards on 29 carries with a score. Payned added 32 yards on seven carries. Malaska had 25 yards and a score.

Payne completed 8-of-18 in the air for 128 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Geissler was the main target with five catches, 97 yards and a score.

According to Arthur, Geissler became the school’s all-time receiving yards leader with his yardage in the win. He broke the mark set by Ben Lawson in 2019.

Class 4A OSSAA Football Championship
FIRST ROUND/FRIDAY, November 15, 2024
Tuttle 34, Elk City 6
Hilldale 21 Miami 9
Ada 53, Cushing 50
Bethany 28, Weatherford 6
Elgin 43, Ardmore 0
Sallisaw 27, Grove 26 (OT)
Wagoner 49, Poteau 21
Clinton 21, Blanchard 20

QUARTERFINALS/FRIDAY, November 22, 2024
Tuttle 49, Hilldale 7
Bethany 30, Ada 6
Elgin 49, Sallisaw 0
Wagoner 29, Clinton 0

SEMIFINALS/FRIDAY, December 6, 2024
Bethany vs. Tuttle, 7 p.m. (Yukon High School)
Elgin vs. Wagoner, 7 p.m. (East Central University)

CHAMPIONSHIP/SATURDAY, December 14, 2024
TBD, 1 p.m. (University of Central Oklahoma)

UP NEXT

Bethany (10-2) faces Tuttle (12-0) for the second time this season. Tuttle beat Hilldale, 49-7, Friday (Nov. 22) in its quarterfinal game.

The Tigers beat Bethany, 42-19, Oct. 11 in a 4A-2 district contest. The 19 points scored by the Bronchos is the second-most by a Tuttle opponent this season, trailing 5A Guthrie, who lost to the Tigers, 31-24 in the season opener Aug. 29.

Since the Bethany/Tuttle game on Oct. 11, Tuttle’s opponents have averaged six points a game while Tuttle has averaged 43.8 points a contest.

Photographs courtesy of Kristie Escoe of Life in Action Photography.

	1	2	3	4	F
Bethany (10-2)	7	9	7	7	30
Ada (8-4)	0	6	0	0	6