Lions finish third; head to Luther for playoffs
The Lions completed a remarkable turn-around to their season Friday, plowing Holdenville 71-18 on Senior Night.
The win put the Lions at 6-4 for the season and in third place in the district. Now they’ll hit the road for the playoffs this week and will head back to Luther, where they lost to the Lions in the second game of the season.
That loss -15-14 - was part of a 1-3 start against a schedule that was heavily front-loaded. The Lions opened against rival Stroud, which went undefeated; lost to Luther, which went 8-2; beat Mount St. Mary; and lost to Jones, which was 9-1 and won its district.
After that, Chandler rolled, winning five of its last six, the only loss coming to Meeker.
Friday, the Lions had no trouble with Holdenville, jumping out to a 39-18 lead at halftime.
They ran for 329 yards, with freshman Casmen Hill going for 153 yards and two scores and senior Dylan McKinney running for 133 and finding the end zone twice.
Chandler completed only two of four passes, but both of those went to Dylan Mahan for touchdowns.
Defensively, senior Taylor Clagg led the way with eight tackles.
Chance Sullivan and Traydon Richardson had six each. Caedon Parris, Cameron Telford and Ethan Manning had four each.
With a win against Luther on Friday, the Lions would play the winner of the Sperry-Kansas winner on the road next week.