Pirates blanked by Wilburton in season opener
In the preseason, Gore Pirates football coach Brandon Ellis believed two things about his team — that his offense would be very hard to stop and his defense would stymy the opposing offensive unit. Unfortunately, in the Zero Week season opener against the Wilburton Diggers on Friday night at K.G. Horn Stadium, neither happened.
The Pirates struggled moving the ball consistently except for a couple of drives, and the Diggers — and namely running back Jason Wilkett — had little problems in moving the ball as Wilburton blanked Gore 14-0.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Diggers (1-0) broke the scoreless deadlock on an 80-yard touchdown run by Wilkett with 10:56 left before halftime. Troy Johnston’s extra point put Wilburton ahead 7-0.
On the ensuing possession, the Pirates (0-1) fumbled the ball with Wilburton linebacker Drey Franklin making the recovery at the Gore 46 with 9:21 remaining in the first half.
On Gore’s next possession, Gore senior quarterback Tate Brooksher was stopped on fourth down at the Wilburton 33-yard line with 3:41 remaining before halftime.
After the Pirates stopped the Diggers on the ensuing possession, Brooksher returned the punt 20 yards to the Gore 38-yard line with 1:04 left in the first half, but the Pirates did not score. Thus, Wilburton enjoyed a 7-0 halftime lead.
The Pirates’ defense stopped the Diggers on fourth down at the Gore 33–yard line with 2:42 left in the third quarter to help keep the Pirates only down a TD at 7-0 entering the final period.
It looked like the Gore offense was finally going to have a successful drive, but the Pirates were stopped on downs at the Wilburton 13-yard line with five minutes left in the game.
The Diggers sealed the deal with Wilkett’s second long-distance touchdown run, this one covering 83 yards, with 3:26 remaining to play. Johnston’s PAT upped Wilburton’s advantage to 14-0.
The Pirates tried to mount a successful offensive drive of the ensuing kickoff, but Brooksher’s pass was intercepted by Wilburton defensive back Braiden Grossnicklaus with 2:34 left to play.
“Hats off to Wilburton,” Ellis said. “They wanted it more than we did. We’ve got to go back to work. It’s learning, and we applied that Monday. We’re going to get back to work. A loss always hurts on your home field, but one good thing about it is that it’s a non-district game. We can learn from it.”
The Pirates will return to action with a road game against the Keys Cougars at 7 p.m. this Friday in Park Hill.
