Loss sets up do‐or‐die final game versus Hinton
EDMOND — When Watonga got the ball back with 3:11 to go, it had all the momentum and belief in the world.
After all, the 2021 Eagles have been here before. Minco. Crescent. Two big deficits, two comeback wins. And with 3 minutes and three timeouts, it seemed Watonga was destined for a third.
The Eagles had just notched a gigantic fourth-down stop against Oklahoma Christian Academy, giving Watonga possession near midfield trailing by just one point at 23-22. OCA had attempted to ice the game with first downs, or at least force Watonga to burn some timeouts, but had been stuffed on a fourth-and-short attempt.
Eagles quarterback Joe Jackson, who'd found his groove in the second half after a shaky first, started the decisive drive with three straight rushes and gained the first down on the third.
The Eagles were then set back by a holding penalty, but picked up 14 yards on the next play on a Dakota Morris reception, then 27 more on a Jackson scramble. Morris' catch was fumbled but recovered by Watonga, keeping them in business.
Suddenly, the Eagles were inside the red zone.
Their next play resulted in a 1-yard Jackson loss. Then, a false start penalty set them back more.
On second down, Jackson completed to Deondre Dunn, but only for seven yards. Jackson then kept the ball again for no gain.
Suddenly it was fourth down, with little time left on the clock. Watonga spent a timeout and talked it over, but with the cold wind howling and a virtually nonexistent kicking game all season long, the Eagles didn't consider a field goal try.
Jackson took the snap on the decisive play and looked to the end zone, rolling to his right and holding the ball for several seconds before uncorking a do-or-die pass.
It fell incomplete, giving OCA the ball back with just 16 seconds to play. There was nothing Watonga could do except call its final timeout and then watch the clock expire for a devastating one-point loss.
The grim emotion could be seen on the face of Eagles players, who lingered on the field and pounded the turf in grief. But their second-half effort had been nothing short of remarkable.
Watonga entered the third quarter trailing 13-0 after a rough first half where the offense couldn't get it going on the cool and blustery night. And the Eagles went down 20-0 right away after giving up another touchdown to OCA to begin the third.
But the Eagles put together a methodical drive to finally get on the board in the third quarter, capping it with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Dunn.
The unsuccessful two-point conversion attempt afterward, however, would prove the difference, as was the field goal that Watonga allowed on OCA's next drive for that team's final points of the ballgame.
Watonga scored again on its next possession, which spanned from the late third quarter into the fourth, and again on the possession after that. In fact, Watonga scored a touchdown on every possession of the second half — except the final one, when it was needed most.
After the game, Head Coach Skylar Watson said the weather was a challenge but claimed personal responsibility for the tough loss.
"(The wind) messes with the ball. It messes with throwing and doing what you need to do and all that. But at the end of the day, there's no excuse," Watson said. "I put this one on me. I'm going to go back to the drawing board. I told these kids that I won't sleep until we get the answers figured out."
Watonga returns for Senior Night on Thursday, Nov. 4 against District foe Hinton. Hinton and Watonga are both 1-3 in District play this season, ahead of winless Crescent. With four teams in each District advancing, that means the winner of Thursday’s game will make the playoffs, and the loser’s season is over.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.