WARR ACRES — Any worries Putnam City coach Willis Alexander had about his second-ranked Pirates looking past U.S. Grant Thursday (Oct. 16) and ahead to next week’s matchup with Stillwater didn’t come to pass.

“They came out and concentrated,” Alexander said via phone. “They
played really well. They played like we expect them to play.” 

Putnam City’s point parade continued in the 56-0 rout of the Generals in a 6A-II-1 contest at Pirate Stadium.

The win marked the fifth win of the season in which Putnam City scored has scored 50 or more points. PC is now 6-1 and 4-0 in district play.

Like last week’s 64-0 win over Lawton Ike, the Pirates scored four touchdowns in the first quarter.

Senior CJ Turnbull threw two scores and ran for another in the opening quarter.

Original added a special teams touchdown with 2:57 left in the first quarter. Senior DeJon Ackerson blocked a Grant punt and fellow senior Nasir Nelson ran it in for touchdown.

Like a lot of the routs this season, Putnam City had a lineman line up in the backfield and score. Alexander’s son, senior defensive lineman Tripp Alexander, scored from two yards out in the second quarter.

Senior Rodgerick Sloan had a receiving and rushing touchdown in the contest.

Senior receiver Mitchell Taylor caught an 8-yard score in the back corner of the end zone. Taylor reached up and caught Turnbull’s high arcing pass over a Grant defender, while keeping his feet inbounds.

Junior Bryson Vanover, Turnbull’s backup, got his first touchdown pass of the season. He connected with sophomore Marcico Petties on a slant for a 28-yard score in the third quarter.

Alexander praised his defense for a shutout and said his offensive line “protected very well,” helping Turnbull in another big offensive game.

Despite another tough season for Grant, Alexander saw signs of life from his long-struggling opponent.

“That’s probably one of the better Grant teams that I’ve seen a long time. They have some good looking kids.They just don’t have a lot of them.

“The one thing they didn’t do: they didn’t stop playing hard and you can admire that. You can give a lot of credit to their coaching staff.”

UP NEXT

The second-ranked Pirates travel to top-ranked Stillwater (6-1, 4-0) next Friday (Oct. 24) at 7 p.m.

The winner will take control of the 6A-II-1 race.

Putnam City will be looking for its first win over the Pioneers since 1985, including four straight losses from 2016-2019. Stillwater went 2-1 against PC last century, winning games in 1957 and 1984. Original’s lone victory in the series came in 1985.

Stillwater downed the Pirates in the state quarterfinals in 2023. Last season, a second half surge by the Pioneers broke a 7-7 tie at halftime as Stillwater earned a 28-7 win.

The Pioneers survived a comeback bid from fourth-ranked Choctaw for a 21-14 win Thursday.

Photographs courtesy of Danielle Johnson.

	1	2	3	4	F
U.S. Grant (2-5, 0-4)	0	0	0	0	0
Putnam City (6-1, 4-0)	28	21	7	0	56