Stroud went 97 yards on three plays in the fourth quarter for the winning score and beat Chandler, 21-14, Friday night.
The victory snapped a four-year winning streak by the Lions in the ancient rivalry. It was the first win in the series as the head coach for Stroud’s Josh Presley and the first time for his seniors to take home the BancFirst Historic Route 66 Bedlam Trophy, presented annually to the winning team.
“It’s huge,” Presley said. “These guys beat us the last four years. We told our guys: ‘This is the year.’
“Our guys worked hard. They practiced with a great attitude and I can’t say enough good things about them.
“They’ve worked extremely hard through the summer and fall camp. They deserved it.”
For the Stroud seniors, who’ve made it to the state quarterfinals the last two years and gone a combined 20-6 for those seasons, beating their rivals was an achievment that had eluded them.
“I’ve been with those guys since fourth grade, coaching little league football,” Presley said. “They’ve been nothing but awesome. They have the best work ethic. There are 11 of them and I couldn’t be happier for them.
“They’ve earned it.” Chandler coach Jack Gray gave credit to the Tigers for getting the win.
“Hats off to Stroud,” he said. “They have good coaches and good players.
“We found some areas we need to improve. That’s why we schedule the way we do in non-district. You want to win them, but it’s not about padding records. It’s about finding out where you need to improve.”
Presley said the three-play, 97-yard drive in the fourth quarter was the decisive moment in the game.
“Mighty Mo is a powerful thing,” he said. “We go down and score and get a turnover and then all of a sudden we start knocking those dudes off the ball a little bit.
“I feel that was the swing of the game right there.” For the first quarter and a half, the teams tested each other like boxers jabbing in search of a weakness.
The Tigers scored first, when Jacob Beck ran for 3 yards for a touchdown with 3:30 left in the second quarter. He tacked on a run for the two-point conversion, making it 8-0.
Dylan Baker set up the score with a three-yard run for a first down on fourth down.
Chandler roared back quickly, getting a touchdown from Ty Garver, who took a pitch and ran 40 yards to the end zone less than two minutes later. Javarious Wade added the two-point conversion by hauling in a tipped pass, re-tying the game at 8-8.
The Tigers retook the lead just before the end of the half on a 21-yard scoring throw from Baker to sophomore Aiden Collins with seven ticks left in the half. The run for conversion failed, learing the score 14-8.
Chandler knotted it again early in the third quarter after Chace Buchanan recovered a Stroud fumble on the second half kickoff.
Quarterback Cruz Jackson paid it off when he ran 26 yards for the touchdown with 10:40 to play in the third. Kason Presley blocked the kick on the extra-point try, leaving the score tied at 14-14.
The score remained that way until a pivotal threeminute stretch of the fourth period, which starrted when Jackson ran to the Stroud 5-yard line on fourth down. The officials called for a measurement and studied the ball and the stick for several seconds while both teams and the crowd held their collective breath. The referee eventually signalled a first down, setting up the Lions with a first-and-goal from the five.
Chandler couldn’t punch it in and eventually faced a 4th-and-goal from the 20. Stroud intercepted a pass on the fourth-down play at the 6, but a personal foul pushed it back to the 3.
At that point, backed up to their own goal line, the Tigers struck quickly, with Baker hitting Beck on a long pass to the Tigers’ 49. A penalty on Chandler added 15 more, then Baker passed to Collins, who made a highlight reel reception, leaping and bringing in the ball as he fell to the ground at the 2.
Presley, the fullback, packed it over from there, capping a threeplay, 97-yard drive that took just 45 seconds.
Cash Wright kicked the extra point, making it 21-14 with 8:11 to play.