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Watonga Public Schools honored Breast Cancer Awareness Month Thursday with a "Pink Out" fundraiser to benefit cancer research at OU Medical Center. The district also honored local man Steve Coney, who is currently battling cancer, before Watonga's game against Crescent. From left: Kelly Manke, Michelle Hilterbran, Steve Coney, Kim Coney and Mindy Wigington. (Photo provided by Kyle Hilterbran)
WATONGA – When Crescent recovered the fumble, Watonga’s comeback seemed all in vain.
The visiting Tigers had just capped a fiveminute drive with their sixth touchdown, breaking the tie to go ahead 38-32. But they still had to kick the ball back to Watonga with 1:36 to play and all three timeouts available.
Deondre Dunn, already a hero with two touchdowns on the day, fielded the kick and made a nice return up to midfield. Then, disaster: The ball came loose, Crescent recovered, and the Tigers had a chance to ice the game with a single first down.
Fortunately for the Eagles, their defense rose to the occasion.
After a short run, the Eagles tripped up Crescent quarterback Kade Varner in the backfield for a four-yard loss, setting up third and long. But running back Luke Descher got most of that back for Crescent on the next play, coming down about 2 yards shy of the marker.
Lining up for a short fourth down try for the game, the Tigers shot themselves in the foot – a delay-of-game penalty backed them up 5 yards, making the try much harder. Crescent lined up as if to go for it anyway, but opted instead for a sneaky squib kick by Varner.
The ball never left Varner’s foot. Watonga’s Kale Smith sliced through the Crescent O-line, blocked the punt and fell on top of it to give Watonga possession at the Crescent 36 with 58 seconds to play.
Having spent all three of its timeouts during Crescent’s possession, the Eagles worked quickly and started the drive with two incompletions. But they picked up a wild first down when quarterback Joe Jackson connected with Ivan Carmona as he was being tackled; two plays later, Jackson found Dunn for a 19-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left to play.
That knotted the game at 38, and Watonga decided to go for two as it usually does. Watonga had struggled to convert its two-point tries earlier in the game, but this time Jackson rolled right and found Dunn in the end zone.
After his costly fumble, Dunn more than redeemed himself with an athletic, onehanded snag in the end zone as he fell out of bounds, barely converting the try for the winning two points to end the game at 40-38.
Dunn finished with 118 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Jackson had 200 yards and three touchdowns through the air, while rushing for another 157 yards and two more scores on the ground.
Caymon Wieczorrek ran for 55 yards, Phoenix Whiteshirt had three receptions for 35 yards, and Dakota Morris caught three passes for 25 yards.
As has sometimes been the case for Watonga this season, the Eagles started slowly and gave up the first two scores of the game. Crescent took the opening kick and drove 65 yards for the opening score, but Watonga couldn’t answer on its initial drive.
After Watonga fumbled the ball away during its second possession, the Tigers took advantage of good field position and went up 14-0 with less than a minute left in the first quarter.
Watonga picked up steam after that, but the Tigers kept pulling the margin back to 14. The teams traded scores throughout the second quarter, then entered halftime with a 20-12 Crescent advantage.
Watonga scored immediately after halftime with its longest play of the day, as Dunn busted the Crescent coverage and found himself free downfield, running 75 yards untouched into the end zone after Jackson’s pass. The Tigers, though, scored on their next two possessions, including after a Jackson interception midway through the third.
It was Watonga’s second turnover of the day, but the Eagles got one back quickly when Whiteshirt recovered a fumble late in the quarter. That drive resulted in a 4- yard Jackson rushing touchdown, and set Watonga up for the game-tying score in the fourth quarter.
That scoring drive was capped with another short Jackson run, followed by a successful two-point pass to sophomore receiver Chris Sanders.
After the game, Watonga Head Coach Skylar Watson said he “couldn’t be more proud” of the way his team “fought to the end.”
“We preach to these kids that E plus R equals O at all times, which is: Event plus Response equals Outcome,” Watson said. “Just sticking to our guns and trusting our brothers, and continuing just to improve every single week.”
Watonga will return on Friday for its Homecoming game against non-District opponent North Rock Creek (3-4). The game kicks at 7 p.m., with Homecoming ceremonies scheduled for 6:30.