Gore’s defense outscores Crescent in convincing quarterfinal win

H A R R A H – T h a n k s to three defensive touchdowns and a quickstrike offense the Class A second-ranked Pirates recorded their highest point total of the season Friday night at Harrah High School’s Evans Field as unbeaten Gore improved to 13-0 with its convincing 69-13 quarterfinal victory over Crescent (10-2).

The Pirates will take on undefeated and thirdranked Hominy (13-0), a 46-13 winner over eighth-ranked Hooker, in a semifinal contest Friday night inside Jenks High School’s Allan Trimble Stadium. Gore’s 13 wins are the most in school and its semifinals appearance is also a first.

“Oh man, it was a good one,” an emotional Gore head coach Brandon Tyler said after the game. “To get to where we are has been a fun ride, it’s been a good ride. We made some adjustments there at halftime defensively and once we did that our defense played good. I don’t know how many turnovers we had for touchdowns tonight but it was a lot. Offensively I think we only ran 10 plays in the first half but I knew coming in they were going to have a tough time stopping us. Our offense is pretty explosive and I thought we did a job there. Once we got settled in defensively we did a great job.”

Gore received the game’s opening kickoff Friday night and the Pirates grabbed the early lead when quarterback Noah Cooper completed a 71-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ben Kirkpatrick on the third play of the drive with 10:22 remaining. Christian O’Connor’s extra-point kick made the score 7-0.

Almost seven minutes later Crescent got on the board when running back C.J. Wilson caught a 16 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kade Varner and Varner’s PAT tied the score at 7-all. Key plays in the Tigers’ 11-play, 76 yard scoring drive were an 11-yard run by Wilson and 12 and 17-yard throws from Varner to tight end Chism Watson and Wilson, respectively. On the ensuing kickoff Blue Steward’s 36-yard return gave the Pirates a first down at the Crescent 44. Running back Gunner Dozier ran for 11 yards on first down before Cooper’s 27-yard carry took the Pirates to the 6, and on the next snap Dozier crossed the goal line to give Gore a 13-6 advantage with 3:03 remaining.

Sixteen seconds later Gore linebacker Jackson Duke returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown and O’Connor’s PAT upped the lead to 13 (20-7).

The Tigers started their final scoring drive of the game from its 25 and with 10:18 remaining in the second stanza quarterback Tanner Rice ran for a 5-yard touchdown to make the score 2013. Runs of 13 (Wilson), 10 (Varner) and 9 yards (Rice) and a 15-yard pass to Rice from Varner were key plays in the 11play, 75-yard scoring drive.

Duke returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to the Gore 48 and his 16-yard run on second down was followed by Dozier’s 34-yard scamper into the end zone with 10:18 left.

Moments later Duke picked off his second throw of the contest and on first down from the Crescent 19 he completed a halfback pass to Kirkpatrick in the end zone. O’Connor’s PAT with 8:02 to go before the intermission gave the Pirates a 34-13 lead.

Gore’s offense did not touch the ball for the rest of the half but the Pirates added to their advantage at the 4:45 mark when O’Connor raced 87 yards into the end zone after picking off a Crescent pass.

With time running out Wilson’s 18-yard carry on a draw play took the Tigers to the Gore 17 but on the final play of the half O’Connor and Cooper prevented Wilson from making a touchdown catch in the end zone.

The Pirates led 41-13 at the break. Fifty-eight seconds into the second half the Pirates added to their lead when Cooper returned an interception 34 yards for Gore’s seventh TD of the contest.

Less than a minute later Cooper, a linebacker on defense, stripped the ball from a Crescent runner and returned the fumble five yards to the Tigers’ 33. After runs of 5 and 11 yards by Dozier, Cooper kept the ball for a 17-yard touchdown with 9:17 to go in the third.

After Gore’s defense forced the Tigers to punt for the first time Dozier ran for the 24 yards to the Crescent 15. On the next play Dozier flipped the ball to Cooper after being stood up near the line of scrimmage, and Cooper took the ball to the end zone for a touchdown at the 4:03 mark.

Near the end of the period Gore defensive back Tyler Lane returned an interception 23 yards to the Tigers’ 37 and with 8:08 left in the game when Pirates’ wide receiver Tate Brooksher completed a 16-yard touchdown throw to wide receiver Beau Brown. O’Connor, who made all of his nine point-after attempts, ended the scoring.

“I thought our kickoff-cover team did a tremendous job the other night,” Tyler said.

Gore’s top tacklers in the game were Duke (20 total tackles), Dayne Perryman (15), Lane (12), Garrett Dozier (10), Gabe Dozier (9), Cooper (8), Nick Wolf (7), Cas Moore and Liam Edwards (6 each), Blane Barnes, Keigan Reid, Wyatt Marrel, Chester Abercrombie and Bladin McCartney (5 each), Steward and O’Connor (4 apiece) and Alex Hallum (3).

Gabe Dozier, Perryman and Douthit each had two tackles for loss and Perryman also had a sack.

Duke picked off two passes and O’Connor, Lane and Cooper intercepted one apiece and Cooper caused and recovered a fumble.

Gunner Dozier was Gore’s leading rusher with 99 yards on 10 carries and Kirkpatrick caught two throws for 90 yards.

Tyler praised the Gore crowd at Friday night’s game.

“I’ve been at Gore my whole life and have never seen a crowd like that, especially on the road,” Tyler said. “It was pretty special seeing that many people there and I felt like they kind of set the tone for us. I thought our crowd traveled well and I was very pleased.”