Pirates come up short against Regent Prep, welcome Wewoka on Thursday night for homecoming

The Gore Pirates fell to the Tulsa Regent Prep Rams 68-36 in a key District AII-3 contest at Regent Stadium on Friday night in Tulsa.

Gore and Regent Prep were both beaten the previous week, so Friday’s game was vital to stay in the chase for the district championship.

The Pirates (3-3 overall, 1-2 in district play) dug themselves into an early hole and were never able to climb out of it. They still had some solid efforts in the game though.

Devon Mannon finished with a gamehigh 257 rushing yards on 21 carries and scored three touchdowns.

Cole Brooksher gained 114 yards on 15 carries while Tate Brooksher finished with 104 yards on the ground on 16 carries. They both reached the end zone once. The Rams (5-1, 2-1) led 28-0 after the first quarter. Mannon, however, scored on the opening play of the second period on an 80-yard run down the left sideline. Regent Prep scored on the ensuing drive, but Mannon answered again with a 90-yard TD run at the 9:19 mark of the second quarter.

The Pirates were successful on two-point conversions after both of those touchdowns. Tate Brooksher ran in the first one and threw the second one to lineman Antonio Parker.

Cole Brooksher got the final touchdown of the first half for Gore on a 2-yard run with 4:04 left in the second period. The halftime deficit was 48-22.

A 2-yard touchdown run from Mannon with 1:49 left in the third quarter was sandwiched in between a pair of scores from the Rams.

Tate Brooksher scored on a 56yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth period and tossed to Ayden Cox for another successful 2-point conversion.

The Pirates finished with 504 yards of total offense, had 18 first downs, turned the ball over twice, and were penalized five times for 60 yards.

“It was two different types of football styles,” Gore coach Brandon Ellis said. “They were the hurry-up, fast-pass style, and we wanted to control the clock with the ground game. I was proud of the boys because they didn’t quit. They played all four quarters. That to me was huge. You can’t ask for much more than that.”

The Pirates (3-3 overall, 1-2 in district play) will return home to face Wewoka at 7 p.m. Thursday at K.G. Horn Stadium for homecoming.

The Tigers (1-5, 1-2) got their first win of the season and in district play last Thursday night with a 30-12 home win over the Allen Mustangs. The Tigers lost both of their first two district games, losing 5522 to Central and 48-22 to Liberty, after losing all three non-district games — 44-12 to Konawa, 52-0 to Holdenville and 48-6 to Velma-Alma.

Still, the Tigers have the ability to cause problems for the Pirates.

“We haven’t seen them in a long time,” Ellis said. “I think they’re well coached. They’ve got some playmakers. It’s going to be an exciting ball game.”

Ellis said the key to a victory is going back and executing fundamental things.

“It again goes back to fundamentals,” said Ellis, whose team will be healthy going into Thursday night’s game. “We can’t shoot ourselves in the foot. We have to sustain and finish drives. We have to get them to three-andouts. Field position is going to play a huge part, so special teams I believe will play a huge part in this game.”

However, Ellis said he is concerned how his players will handle the potential distractions of homecoming festivities before the game.

“It’s a short week,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of distractions. Last year at homecoming, it worked out in our favor. We were fired up and beat a pretty good Pocola team. Hopefully, we won’t listen to all the outside noise and go play football.”