Stroud converted a 4thand-25 pass play from near mid-field in the last minute Friday night to set up a 32-28 win over Wilburton in the district opener.
Senior Aiden Collins caught the pass and ran it inside the 10-yard line and then scored the winning touchdown on a jet sweep.
“Aiden came through again,” said coach Josh Presley. “We threw a backside crossing route to him and then he cut back against the grain. The corner and outside linebacker fell down and then he outran everyone down to the 7- or 8-yard line. Then we punched it in a couple of plays later to win, 32-28.
“I was talking to Coach Hines, who has been here longer than I have, and I told him that’s the craziest victory we’ve had in a long time. I can’t think of anything quite like that.”
The win evens the Tigers’ season record at 2-2 and puts them at 1-0 in district going into this Friday’s game at home against unbeaten Hartshorne.
“This was crucial for the playoffs, to go 1-0,” Presley said. “Wilburton is one of the better teams in our district and they’re fighting for a playoff spot.
“You’ve got Wilburton, Hartshorne, Beggs and Holdenville, so the toughest part of our schedule is back to back to back to back.”
Stroud surrendered a long touchdown to tie the score just before the half, and Presley said the Tigers talked at halftime about the need to overcome that adversity.
“It’s good for a young team to fight through some adversity and that’s what we talked about,” he said. “We let them score to get back in the game and we find ourselves in a dogfight. We talked about having to stay together, and that was the biggest thing. You have to say together and not splinter.
“You have to keep playing hard, and they did that, so it gives them a little confidence for the next time we’re in that situation.”
Presley said the dramatic fourth-down play didn’t go quite as the Tigers planned. He said Wilburton’s safety identified the play and was closing in after the catch.
“But Aiden stuck his foot and went the other way,” he said. “He’s quicker than a cat. When he cut back against the grain, it was a foot race to the sideline and you’re not catching him in a foot race.”
Stroud finished with 298 yards of total offense, Presley said, and Collins accounted all but 32 yards of it.
Presley had praise for this defense squad.
“I was really happy with our D line,” he said. “We got some good pass rush out of those guys. We put pressure on all night and got several sacks. That was a big thing for us throughout the night.”