Any drama in Meeker’s first-round playoff game against Oklahoma Christian School was evaporated within the first 12 minutes of play Friday.
The Bulldogs scored on two runs, a pass and a blocked punt and rang up 25 points before the first quarter was over and went on to win 44-14.
It was Meeker’s first playoff win in three tries under head coach D.J. Howell and it moved the Bulldogs into a second-round matchup against Metro Christian, which is 11-0 and hasn’t been challenged this season “My first thought is that I am very thankful that the boys played so well, that we took what we worked on all week and were able to go out and execute and do such a great job,” Howell said. “I’m thankful I get to keep coaching them another week in the playoffs.”
The win was Meeker’s sixth in a row this season and snapped a four-game playoff losing streak that dated to the Bulldogs’loss at Lone Grove in the second round in 2015.
The Saints came into the game as winners in five of their last seven, but the Bulldogs quickly dashed any hopes they had of pulling the upset.
Caden Wolford ran 45 yards for a score with less than two minutes expired, J.J. Bloomer ran for a 1-yard touchdown seven minutes, Wolford ran across from the nine with 1:41 left in the first quarter, then Zach Cook capped it off with a 25-yard return of a punt that had been blocked by Brendan Alexander.
Cook appeared to have been stopped a couple of times but he powered his way through the bodies, broke clear and sprinted to the end zone grass.
After an extra-point kick, it was 25-0 Meeker and there wasn’t a great deal of suspense left.
Dakota Gabbert returned a punt for a touchdown in the third quarter, quarterback Jacob Martin ran for a score shortly after Alexander’s third blocked punt and then Martin hit Gabbert on a 49-yard throw and run to close out the Meeker’s scoring.
The Bulldogs celebrated at the point by dousing Howell and the coaching staff with coolers of iced water, which Howell said he didn’t mind, even on a chilly night.
“I’ll take four more of those,” he said, walking off the field.
Meeker was 2-3 after losing to Jones on the road, but the Bulldogs have played impressive ball since.
“They keep getting better as a football team,” Howell said. “I am very proud of them — I can’t even express how proud I am of them.