OKLAHOMA CITY — Penalties, mistakes, turnovers and a second half surge by a Bartlesville team hungry for its first win sunk Putnam City North, 42-28, in a 6A-II-2 contest Thursday (Oct. 16) at Panther Stadium.

Tied 21-21 at halftime, Putnam City North coach Brian Lockart tried to keep his team calm after a back-and-forth first half.

“The game just kind of got away from us (in the second half),” Lockart said. “To be honest, they made more plays than we did, and penalties definitely did not help us.”

The Bruins (1-6, 1-3) went to their bag of tricks early.

Bartlesville junior Matthew Sears opened the game by recovering an onside kick at the North 47-yard line. The kick surprised the Panthers as the Bruins broke the huddle wand took off without stopping as senior Dillion Burson kicked the football.

Lockart said he knew Bartlesville had a propensity to try something like that and North practiced for it.

“We were in a position for it, but we just didn’t go attack the football.”

The onside kick recovery led to a 25-yard score on a double-reverse-flea flicker. Sophomore Michael Kent connected with senior Harrison Ketchum, who weaved through Panther defenders for a score.

Bartlesville tried another onside kick on the ensuing kickoff but Panther sophomore Kenneth Hamilton dove through a couple of Bruins to jump on the football at the Bartlesville 49-yard line.

North marched down the field, converting a fourth down and scored on a pitch pass to senior Josh Lombard from one yard out. Lombard added a 2-point conversion after a Bartlesville penalty on an extra-point try moved the football towards the goal line.

The back-and-forth battle swung back the Bruins on the next possession. Sophomore Daeton Stevens caught a screen pass from fellow sophomore Michael Kent and sprinted 55 yards to the North 33.

Kent tossed another touchdown pass six plays later. He stepped up in the pocket and hit sophomore Gavin Thomas in the back of the end zone on a ball that was tipped.

North answered just before the end of the first quarter. Senior Ryan Harris scored on a 39-yard run up the middle to take a 15-14 lead with 21 seconds left in the opening quarter.

The Bruins scored again after a long kickoff return landed them at the North 33-yard line. Four plays later, senior Sutton Williams scored on a 6-yard run.

On the ensuing kickoff, Bartlesville tried the huddle-break onside kick again. Junior DKarin Johnson fielded the kick and ran it back for a 47-yard touchdown.

Senior Heath Munnerlyn, a North soccer player who was drafted for kicking duties Wednesday, missed an extra point with Bruins behind the line of scrimmage and the game was tied, 21-21.

Munnerlyn was perfect on his two other extra point attempts.

Neither team scored for the rest of the half although the Panthers forced two turnovers-on-downs. The Bruins had three possessions deep inside North territory but the Panther defense kept them from scoring.

Lockart said the seniors on his defense who are inexperienced have improved.

“Even though they’ve been giving up a lot of points, they’re getting better. 
People may not see that on a scoreboard, but they’re getting better,” Lockart said “(They’re) Learning how to get off the field. The problem is, is when they need to get off the field, we gotta be able to sustain drives and help them.”

Neither team did much in the third quarter until North senior quarterback Mason Jones was intercepted by Bruin senior Ivan Griffith midway through the quarter. Two plays later, Williams scored on a 1-yard run to make it 28-21.

The Panthers would answer on the next drive as senior Terry Wilson, Jr. ran the ball four times for 46 yards. Harris capped the drive off with a 19-yard run to tie the game at 28-28 with 4:42 left in the fourth quarter.

From that point, North only crossed midfield only one more time.

Bartlesville answered with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Kent to junior Michael Sears with 1:32 left in the third quarter.

The Panthers had two drives stall, ending in punts.

After the second punt, the Bruins drained nearly six minutes off the clock. Williams finished the drive off with a 22-yard run with 1:45 left in the game. The Bruins led, 42-28.

The Panthers crossed midfield on the next drive but Jones fumbled the ball with a minute left to seal the win for Bartlesville.

UP NEXT

The Panthers (2-5, 2-2) host Sapulpa (5-2, 4-0) Friday (Oct. 24) at 7 p.m. in another 6A-II-2 game.

On Thursday, the Chieftains blanked Ponca City, 22-0.

Photographs courtesy of Richard T. Clifton.

	1	2	3	4	F
Bartlesville (1-6, 1-3)	14	7	14	7	42
Putnam City North (2-5, 2-2)	15	6	7	0	28