Seventh-ranked Beggs got out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead and held on to beat Stroud, 27-12, Friday night.
The Tigers, who are nearing the end of a brutal stretch of district games against three top-seven teams, now stand at 1-2 in district and 2-4 overall. They host No. 1 Holdenville this week on Thursday.
“We gave up a few big plays,” Stroud coach Josh Presley said. “They have some really good athletes over there and we knew it would be a chore keeping those guys in check.
“Sure enough, they got loose a few times on us. Besides the chunk plays, I feel we did a pretty good on defense. We gave up one big punt return that cost us.”
The Tigers have been through a meat grinder of a district schedule so far. Their first four district opponents have a combined record of 21-3.
Stroud sits fifth in District 2A-II-4 with a 1-2 record, but holds a tie-breaker over Wilburton, which is in fourth place but hasn’t played the tougher teams yet.
No. 1 Holdenville, No. 6 Hartshorne and No. 7 Beggs are atop the district with 3-0 records.
“I was proud of our kids,” Presley said. “We got down two scores right before the half and our kids battled in the second half. We came back and made it 21-12. I was proud of the way they responded because they could have folded their tents at halftime and didn’t.
“They chose to keep fighting and that’s what we talked about - put an entire game together.
“I told them ‘the scoreboard may not reflect it, but we’re getting better.’ Every week we’re getting better and making the reads quicker.
“We did a good job staying ahead of the chains for the most part and didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot as much as we have in previous games. Not committing a penalty here, missing a key block, things like that.”
Against Holdenville this week, the Tigers will face an old-school single wing offense.
“We’ll have to be physical,” he said. “They’ll put everybody in the box and be foot to foot. It’s block down and kick out, and you have to be hoss enough to stand up to it.”