Staff writer
BRIAN BLANSETT Chandler spotted Bristow two early touchdowns, but wrote a new script for the rest of the game and came away wth a 21-14 win Friday night in the home opener.
The win lifts the Lions to a 2-0 record going into next week’s game at Poteau.
Chandler scored the game-winner on a fourth-and-24 pass from Alec Jackson to Corbin Hollon with 1:31 to play, but couldn’t breathe easily until sophomore Coniah Ritchie intercepted a pass just outside the Bristow goal line with 27.9 seconds to play.
The game was played in three distinct phases: Bristow dominating early, Chandler slowly changing the flow in the second quarter and then taking control in the second half.
“They hit a few home run plays on us, some passes on the stop-andgos,” Chandler coach Jack Gray said about Bristow’s early success.
“We let them get on top of us, but when we kept everything in front of us, we played well, very sound and solid.
“And then we got our offense going again.”
Chandler wasn’t able to score until after some half-time offensive changes.
“There were a couple of things they were doing defensively that they did a good job,” Gray said.
“So we changed how we were going to block some things, got back into some heavy personnel, went double tight ends.
“We were a little skittish about that because we had a freshman tight end and a sophomore tight end after losing Stran Messer, but we just decided ‘let’s see if they can get it’ “The line hooked up and we put some drives together and got some good shots.”
Bristow quarterback Jon Montgomery scored the first touchdown with a five-yard run on the Pirates’ first possession.
He tossed a pass for the second one, connecting with Caleb Alexander for a 45-yard catch-and-run touchdown that went down the Bristow sideline with 16 seconds left in the first quarter.
That was the highwater mark for Bristow, however.
The Lions stopped the Pirates the rest of the half and started their comeback in the third quarter when Carson Clagg ran for a twoyard score with 6:25 left in the period.
Clutch catches by Ty Garver and Braxton Estes for first downs kept the drive alive.
Jackson scored early in the fourth quarter on a sneak. Landon Miller’s extra-point kick knotted the score at 1414 and set up the dramatic final possession, when Chandler stopped Bristow and moved the ball down to the Pirates’ 16.
But the Lions moved backward at that point and eventually faced a fourth-and-24 at the Bristow 30.
They emptied the backfield on the fourthdown play and Jackson found Hollon over the middle just outside the goal line.
Hollon had the first down to keep the drive alive, but he towed a Bristow defender into the end zone for the game winner with 1:31 left.
Behind the first time in the game, Bristow suddenly became efficient again and put together a drive of mostly short passes and navigated deep into Chandler territory.
Ritchie ended the threat with an interception of a Montgomery pass into a crowd just outside the end zone.
“I didn’t expect to catch it,” Ritchie said. “I didn’t expect it come through that many people.”
But it did, and he did.
And Chandler had the victory.