OKLAHOMA CITY — Putnam City North stormed back once Friday (Sept. 4) against 5A Shawnee but a second comeback stalled and the Wolves escaped with a 37-32 win.

After a 66-19 blowout loss to 5A runner-up Bishop McGuinness in week zero, North coach Brian Lockart said there were no excuses for his young squad.

“They have to grow up now,” Lockart said. “To see the growth from last week, when really, really, just everything went wrong to seeing them fight, and to keep battling was good.”

Things went wrong early for the Panthers (0-2), who fell behind early in the contest after the first of two touchdown passes from Wolf senior Tal Leone. Less than three minutes after the first score, the snap sailed over the head of Panther punter Gustavo Carrillo into the North end zone. The freshman was able to usher the ball out of the end zone for a safety and avoid a Shawnee touchdown.

The tide turned when the North defense forced a turnover. Senior defensive end Adrienne Cheatam picked off Leone.

On the next play, the Panther offense came alive. Quarterback Owen McMahan connected with senior Dorian Bradford on a 15-yard score.

Shawnee’s Leone added a touchdown pass in the second quarter for a 16-7 lead but North scored twice before halftime.

With 3:29 before the intermission McMahan found senior Gavin Davis in the corner of the end zone. Then, North got the ball back after a punt.

The Panthers, helped out by two Wolf penalties, drove down the field and McMahan tossed another 14-yard touchdown pass, this time to junior Zak Pettie with :27 before halftime.

McMahan, a junior transfer from Edmond Memorial, threw for 320 yards and five touchdowns. He completed 22 of 51 passes and was picked off three times.

Lockart said McMahan is learning how to deal with the speed of the game after two varsity starts.

“Having to make your reads, your progressions and the game’s quick. He really improved from week one.”

The Panthers got the ball back after the break and scored on a McMahan 42-yard touchdown pass to junior Ryder Rosholt. McMahan scrambled and dumped it off to Rosholt, who weaved through defenders and down the North sideline for the score to give North a 26-16 advantage.

The teams traded turnovers and then Shawnee junior Riley Storie took over, with scores of five yards and a sprint around the edge for 48 yards which gave Shawnee the lead back, 30-26.

A short North punt gave Shawnee (1-1) good field position and the Wolves capitalized on a run by sophomore Aiden Kennedy. The lead was 36-26 early in the fourth quarter.

The Panthers didn’t wait long to answer as McMahan hit Pettie for a 59-yard score with 9:04 left in the game. Pettie got behind his defender and broke two tackles inside the 10-yard line before crossing the goal line.

Trailing 37-32, North went for two but the conversion failed.

Shawnee kept giving North chances. The Wolves looked like they were going to score again by Storie fumbled the ball out of the end zone for a touchback. However, the ensuing Panther drive stalled at midfield.

Two plays later, North got another chance. Sophomore defensive end Mosley Robinson recovered a Kennedy fumble with 1:34 left.

North got to the Shawnee 20-yard line after a 21-yard catch by freshman Rhylen Harris. But, McMahan threw three incompletions and his fourth down throw was picked off by Johnson with 19 seconds left to seal the Shawnee win.

Lockart praised his defense, which was blistered against the Irish last week but were in tough spots due to Panther miscues.

While the Wolverines had more size, North had more speed among the inexperienced group.

“We’re fast on defense,” Lockart said. “We move well.”

Despite the 0-2 start, Lockart exhorted his squad to keep working in the postgame speech.

“They don’t know what it’s like to win yet,” Lockart said after his speech to the team. “So, until they learn how to play a full game, once they get that, maybe they’ll understand what that looks like, but they’re close.”

UP NEXT

The Panthers host 6A-1 Edmond North next Friday (Sept. 11) at 7 p.m.

The Huskies (1-1) dropped a 40-30 contest to Deer Creek on Friday.

SHAWNEE – Johnson 29 pass from Leone (Snow kick), 10:41, 1Q
SHAWNEE – Safety, fumbled out of the end zone, 9:06, 1Q
PUTNAM CITY NORTH – Bradford 15 pass from McMahan (Munnerlyn kick), 3:37, 1Q
SHAWNEE – Slaughter-Bey 51 pass from Leone (Snow kick), 9:26, 2Q
PUTNAM CITY NORTH – G. Davis 14 pass from McMahan (Munnerlyn kick), 3:29, 2Q
PUTNAM CITY NORTH – Pettie 14 pass from McMahan (kick failed), :27, 2Q
PUTNAM CITY NORTH – Rosholt 42 pass from McMahan (kick failed), 9:27, 3Q
SHAWNEE – Storie 5 run (Snow kick), 5:51, 3Q
SHAWNEE – Storie 48 run (Snow kick), 1:22, 3Q
SHAWNEE – Kennedy 1 run (Snow kick), 10:31, 4Q
PUTNAM CITY NORTH – Pettie 59 pass from McMahan (run failed), 9:04, 4Q