Chandler splashed through a steady rain Friday night, beating Dewey, 35-6, and securing the home field advantage for the first round of the Class 2A playoffs this week.
As the runnersup in District 2A-4, the Lions will host the Hugo Buffaloes, the third-place team in district 2A-3 at 7 p.m. at Joe Telford Field. As has become an annual tradition, the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association offers free admission to veterans and one guest each.
The win was Chandler’s fifth in a row following a loss to district champion Metro Christian. The Lions finished 6-1 in district play and 7-3 overall. Hugo also brings a 7-3 record into the game.
“We did what we came to do, played how we wanted to play,” coach Jack Gray said. “We’ve been a growing team all year and getting better and better in the physical part of the game, coming out and imposing our will on people.”
“We’d love to be district champs, but that one was lost and there’s no getting that back. Our goal was to march through the rest of our district and get the home playoff game.”
A steady rain fell through most of the game, making the field and the ball slippery. Both teams were beset by penalties and fumbles, many of them caused by the rain. The Lions had several long runs called due to holding penalties.
“Penalties were a big factor tonight – we had a lot of them. And fumbles, too,” Gray said. “Some of the holds were due to guys slipping and falling down and not letting go.”
Javarious Wade got the Lions’ scoring started a minute and a half into the game when he trucked 45 yards into the end zone.
Hunner Robinson added the next score when he blocked a punt, picked up the ball and ran into the end zone.
Cruz Jackson scored the next two touchdowns, one on a 31-run and one on a 17-yarder. The second one made the score 28-0 with 8:07 left in the first half.
Ty Garver ran 11 yards for a touchdown to make it 35-0 with just shy of a minute left in the half.
Dewey added a touchdown in the second half to account for the final score. Hugo and Chandler haven’t played any common opponents, but the Buffaloes played a familiar team, getting by Prague, 30-24, in overtime at home last week.
“My approach is going to be the same it’s been the last four or five weeks. Concentrate on us and keep getting better on what we do. Understand what we’re going to see from them and counteract it. That’s been the key the last five weeks. We’ve been growing an getting better.