Carson Clagg ran for 130 yards and two firsthalf touchdowns Friday to lead Chandler to a 26-6 win over ancient rival Stroud.
It was the Lions’ fourth straight win over Stroud, but was much closer than the last three. The game was still in doubt until Braxton Estes scored to put Chandler up by 20 with 5:54 left in the game.
Chandler now prepares to host Bristow, which beat Cushing, 34-21, in a non-district game Friday and Stroud heads off to Colcord, which lost 27-20 to Kansas.
Despite the win, Chandler head coach Jack Gray wasn’t pleased with the Lions’ play. They were plagued by penalties and loose balls and Stroud’s big, physical running backs gashed them for several long runs in the first half, including a 48yard touchdown run by Kason Presley.
“We’re disappointed in how we played overall with all the penalties, snaps, limiting our drives, especially early in the game.
“Our offense played pretty well, but we’d have snaps between our legs putting us in 1st-and-15 and 1st-and-20,” he said. “Penalties, illegal procedures. We justplayed sloppy. It happens in Game 1.”
Chandler took a 14-0 lead on two touchdown runs by Carson Clagg and point-after kicks by Landon Miller.
The first came with 6:14 left in the first quarter, when Clagg ran in from four yards away and the other when he went in front five yards out with 10:39 left in the second.
Stroud answered quickly, getting a powerful 47-yard scoring run from Kason Presley with 9:52 left in the first half. The kick was blocked, leaving the score at 14-6.
In the third quarter, Chandler recovered a fumble on the Stroud 28-yard-line and Jackson hit Ty Grver on a touchdown pass on the next play. The final score came on a 2-yard pass to Estes with 5:54 left in the third quarter.
After Stroud’s first-half running the ball, Gray said, Chandler revisited their original defensive game plan.
“We told the guys to do what we told them in the first place. We had to regive them that memo,” he said. “Just show up and do what you’re supposed to do. I think they were a little worried about a play-action pass over their heads, playing a little safe and let them get the edge on us.
“Basically, it was just follow the game plan and let’s get this thing rolling.
“They were driving the field on us. We were bend, not break. I’m surprised we held them to the score we did, because they piled up a lot of yards on us.”
Stroud coach Josh Presley said he was pleased with his team’s effort, despite the loss.
“I thought our level of physicalty was pretty good,” he said. “Our kids played hard throughout the game, all the way to the end of the game.
He said the Tigers’ approach to Chandler - heavy on the running backs and play-action passes - will be the script for the rest of the season.
“We’re a running team,” he said. “Our strength is our running backs and off line.
“We put Chandler behind us now. That was week 1, and we’re on to week 2.”