Wolverines establish tempo with lengthy game-opening TD drive in state quarterfinal win

Against a team loaded with fast and athletic skill players, Vian coach Gary Willis wanted to play keep-away. That meant establishing the run, working the clock and let the linemen pave numerous holes.

The Wolverines needed only the game’s opening drive to dictate the tempo Willis craved, an impressive 19-play drive which took 10:30 off the clock. Vian rode that into an efficient offensive performance en route to a 35-7 win against Beggs in the Class 2A, Division II state quarterfinals Friday night at St. John Stadium.

“We wanted to establish the run and keep the ball out of their hands,” Willis said. “That was probably the longest drive I’ve had (as a coach). … You don’t have many like that.”

The Wolverines (12-0) now will go on to the Class 2A, Division II semifinals and take on Colcord — which upended previously undefeated Holdenville in its state quarterfinal — at 7 p.m. Friday in Wagoner. With a win, Vian will be heading to Edmond and playing for a state title.

Vian’s opening series covered 76 yards and all 19 plays were runs, with the longest run from scrimmage covering nine yards. The Wolverines converted three third-down situations and two fourth downs, including a six-yard keeper up the middle from Masyn Wright for the drive-ending touchdown.

After Mikayah Mendoza’s extra point, it was 7-0 with 1:30 left in the first quarter, and Beggs had yet to get its hands on the ball.

Vian ended up running the ball 55 times, generating 272 yards, with Wright and Draighton Fletcher combining for 260 of those yards and four touchdowns.

Quarterback Cash Trammel needed to only throw two times, but completed both, one going for a big-play TD in the second half. He noted first off, a salute to the Vian offensive line, primarily consisting of left tackle Peyton Johnson, left guard Max Ross, center Garrett Hunt, right guard Nate Cheater and right tackle Cash Collins.

“It all starts with our linemen,” Trammel said. “They get a good push off the start and that allows our running backs to get good holes. They just make it happen.”

Trammel definitely had to marvel at how Vian’s offensive front dominated on that tone-setting opening drive.

“They really pushed it downfield for almost the whole quarter,” Trammel said. “That was pretty impressive, having the ball for the whole quarter.”

On Beggs’ opening drive, the Demons faced a third-and-short near its own 40yard line. But a snap was fumbled, and Vian defensive end Tristan Wiley made the recovery at that spot.

That led to another clock-churning drive, taking six plays and more than three minutes off the clock, and a TD was in the offing.

One play after Wright took a carry and hurdled a defender for a 12-yard gain to the Beggs 2-yard line, Fletcher got the call on the next play and plunged in for the score.

Mendoza tacked on the PAT for a 14-0 Wolverine lead with 8:39 left in the first half.

“We had some passing game plans, but we liked running the ball and keeping it out of their offensive guys’ hands,” Willis said. “They’ve got a lot of athletes over there, and we rather wanted to have it in our possession and killing the clock instead of (having) those athletes running all over the field. That was the game plan, and I thought the defense played well overall, a real good job.”

Near the conclusion of that half, the Demons made a march, advancing inside the Vian 15 yard line before facing a fourth-and-long. Beggs tried a swing pass, but Vian defender Jacob Brannick made the initial hit to eventually slow down the receiver, who was then brought down by a host of Wolverines, among them Wright, Fletcher and Riley Ellis.

Vian took over with seconds left and ran out the clock to keep the 14-0 lead intact at intermission.

Beggs got the second-half kickoff but was unable to move the ball, with Ellis getting a sack on third down, forcing the Demons (9-3) to punt.

Vian took over and put together another sustained series, going 44 yards in nine plays. Wright finished things off with his second TD on the night, taking a pitch around the right side, shaking off a would-be tackler and going in from five yards out.

The extra point from Mendoza extended the lead to 21-0 with 6:32 left in the third.

Beggs finally cracked the scoreboard on the ensuing possession, aided by a 52-yard pass play down to the Vian 5 yard line, where the Demons scored on the next play. They tacked on the PAT to cut Vian’s lead to two TDs at 21-7.

The Demons then attempted an onside kick. After it bounced once, Wiley was there to field it. This time, Vian put together its shortest scoring drive on the night, needing just two plays.

On a second-and-18 from the Vian 46-yard line following a holding penalty, Trammel dropped back and aired it out. Jacob Brannick, getting a step ahead of a defender, hauled it in near the Beggs 30 and went off to the races, completing the 54-yard catch-and-run.

“I saw the corner fall, (Brannick) made the cut, and I just let it go,” Trammel said.

Mendoza’s PAT gave Vian its three-score lead once more at 28-7 with 2:29 left in the third.

Beggs then went for it on fourth down in its own territory, but a keeper play was stopped a yard shy of the sticks from Vian defensive back Adoff Stahl.

Vian took over at the Beggs 35 yard line and ran several more plays. On the first play of the final quarter, Fletcher went in from two yards out, and Mendoza finished off a successful 5-of-5 in PAT attempts.

Near the midway point of the fourth quarter, Beggs drove inside the Vian 10-yard line and scored a touchdown, but it was called back due to a holding penalty. The Demons eventually faced a fourth down and attempted a pass, which fell incomplete.

Vian took over with 5:26 left near its own 15-yard line and — appropriately enough — ran out the rest of the clock. The Wolverines advanced to the Beggs 10 before taking a knee for the final plays, wrapping up the win.

In that win, the Wolverines picked up 18 first downs to just eight for the Demons, who finished with 206 total yards, 64 of those on the ground.

Wright ran 27 times for 134 yards, and Fletcher added 126 yards on 21 carries.

“Going in, we felt like we could (pass the ball more), but we didn’t want (to risk) an incompletion or an interception with those athletes,” Willis said. “When we established the run, we had (the passing) there on the back page but the (objective was) to bang out that clock and get out of here with a win.”

“I really liked our intensity change,” Trammel said. “They really flipped the switch on after the 10th game, and they know we can win it. They’re giving everything they’ve got.”