Sandite of the Week: Ethan Baxter

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

This week Sandite Pride would like to recognize Charles Page High School freshman Ethan Baxter as Sandite of the Week for his outstanding performance at the Tulsa Edison Green and White Tournament this past weekend.

Baxter leads his team in scoring this season with four goals, three of them coming in a single game this weekend. His hat trick led his team to a 4-1 victory over Regent Prep to snap a five-game losing streak. 

He scored his first goal of the season in a 4-0 shutout of Muskogee in the opening week. He scored his first goal of the Regent game on a header less than 8 minutes into the game, then added his second exactly 4 minutes later. 

The Sandites are now 2-7 for the season and came in 6th of 8 teams in the Edison Tournament.

Sandite of the Week is a weekly recognition given to any one person with significant ties to the Sand Springs community who accomplishes remarkable achievements during the Sunday through Saturday week preceding the award. Prior achievements may be noted in the article, but do not bear direct influence on the selection committee which only considers prior week accomplishments. Candidates may be nominated by anyone by emailing SanditePrideNews@gmail.com. Bylaws prevent the giving of the award to anyone for two consecutive weeks, but any recipient may be nominated and awarded again in the future, so long as the weeks are not consecutive. Final selection is made by a majority vote of a three-person staff committee. 

Businesses or organizations seeking to sponsor the Sandite of the Week award may contact the above email for inquiries.

Sandite All-Stars: Your leaders in offense

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

It's been a tremendous season for the Sandites. While they're technically 5-4, on the field they're 7-2, not even including the Guthrie game that we were leading 18-7 when it was called off due to lightning. Two of our losses come from forfeitures (due to an ineligible player) that were actually wins of 61-8 and 33-7. So while the books say otherwise--we all know that realistically Sand Springs is 8-2, which (were it official) would make it our best record since 1997.

Not to mention we beat Booker T in total yardage of 232-217 and we're the only team to score first on them all season. We're also one of only two teams to lead them at any point all season. We also dealt Bixby their first shut out in seven years.

So who are the incredible players that have made all this impossible?

The following stats include both forfeitures and the Guthrie game. Whether officially recognized or not, they did happen.

Passing

The leader in passing is first-year starting junior quarterback Hunter Greathouse who has completed 71 of 140 for 1271 yards and 13 touchdowns, averaging 9 yards per pass attempt and 18 per completion. His season long is 70 yards against Guthrie, but has connected for huge throws in every game he's been in, including 63-yarders against Booker T and Bixby, and a 60 against Claremore. His best game this season was against Sapulpa when he threw 10-18-0-204 for 3 touchdowns. He is currently third in 6A-II.

  • Multi-purpose junior Kasey Bales also has a 37 yard pass against Enid and is 1 for 2 this season.
  • Freshman QB Caden Pennington connected on 1 of 2 passes at Hale for 8 yards. 
  • Senior holder Jacob Taber has had to throw a couple of passes this season due to bad snaps and is 1 of 2 for 5 yards.

Receiving

Senior Trace Fleischman is the go-to-guy on receptions with 26 catches for 593 yards and 4 touchdowns. His longest reception of the season was 70 yards against Guthrie. He is the #4 receiver in class 6A-II.

Kasey Bales is the only Sandite with both passing and receiving yards this season. He has 17 catches for 265 yards and 3 touchdowns. His longest reception of the season was 63 yards against Bixby.

Sand Springs has several other talented receivers.

  • Lane Lettich 10-165 and 2 touchdowns, long 44.
  • Ty Fain 7-107 and 1 touchdown, long 37.
  • Payton Scott 2-74 and 1 touchdown, long 59.
  • Josh Taber 4-50 and 1 touchdown (on his first play of the season), long 27.
  • Jake Ward 4-34, long 13.
  • Dalton Honneycut 2-26, long 13.

Rushing

Senior Lane Lettich is the clear leader on the ground for Sand Springs. He currently has 172 carries for 813 yards, averaging 4.73. He has 13 touchdowns and a long of 29 yards against Muskogee. His best game of the season was against Sapulpa where he carried 23 times for 133 yards and two touchdowns, though he had three touchdowns against Hale as well as Claremore. Lettich is #7 in 6A-II at rushing.

Trailing Lettich is sophomore Payton Scott who will likely be the starting tailback next season. He sits at 93 carries for 705 yards and 7 touchdowns with a long of 45 against Ponca City. He averages 7.58 yards-per-carry and his season-best was a breakthrough 17-200 and 2 touchdowns against Ponca. Scott is #9 in 6A-II at rushing. 

Lawton is the only other team with two players in the top-10 for rushing yards. 

Other Sandites with rushing yards are

  • Trace Fleischman 16-86, long 31.
  • Ben Norte 14-79, long 36.
  • Hunter Greathouse 50-25 and 2 touchdowns, long 23.
  • Tony Chinchilla 2-21 and 1 touchdown, long 11.
  • Kasey Bales 3-9, long 16.
  • Jaxon Starling 1-1.

#3 Sand Springs (5-4, 5-2) will enter the playoffs for the fourth-consecutive season tonight at #8 Stillwater (5-5, 3-3) and is the favorite to win. Sand Springs's offense averages 3.5 touchdowns per game.

Week 10 Rankings and Predictions

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

#1 Booker T Washington (8-0, 6-0) District 1

#7 Muskogee (3-6, 3-3) District 1

Don't expect any surprises here. Muskogee's a far better team than they've been in recent years, but after being knocked out of playoff contention there's little likelihood that they'll find the motivation to upset the #1 undefeated team. Expect OSU-commit Justice Hill to rush for a couple hundred yards as usual and Dakari Willis will probably look to stretch his arm out a bit before the playoffs.

The pick: BTW 56, Muskogee 14

#2 Bartlesville (8-1, 5-1) District 1

#13 Claremore (2-7, 0-6) District 1

Bartlesville consistently gives up points, but also consistently scores substantially more. It'll be a blow out, but I doubt it'll be a shut out. The Zebras have had a rough time this season with injuries, but they've still got heart and won't go down without a fight. Between Colton Penrod and Jarron Hilger, however, it should be a clear Bruin victory.

The pick: Bville 48, Claremore 13.

#3 Charles Page (4-4, 4-2) District 1

#4 Bixby (6-3, 4-2) District 1

Bixby has fallen quite a bit from their early season performance and barely edged by Muskogee last week in overtime while Sand Springs was close to upsetting top-ranked Booker T. On paper, this should be a clear pick. However, there's a lot of bad blood between the Sandites and Spartans after Bixby injured several Sand Springs players last year and beat them twice--once in the regular season and once in the semifinals. Muskogee's players hadn't even made it home yet before Twitter was blowing up with Sandite tweets calling out Bixby last week. The playoffs are locked up for both teams, but they'll be battling for the #3 seed so it should be a shootout, just like last year's 34-31 week 10 game. Bixby has one of the best runningbacks in the state in Nic Roller and Sand Springs has the best defense so it should be a great matchup.

The pick: Sand Springs 41, Bixby 35.

#5 Lawton (7-1, 5-0) District 2

#11 Choctaw (5-4, 2-3) District 2

The Wolverines wrapped up a district championship last week against Midwest City and their only loss was a rivalry matchup against the undefeated #1 team in 5A. Choctaw is coming to do battle, however, as they need a win to hold onto a playoff berth. 

The pick: Lawton 48, Choctaw 24

#6 Midwest City (6-3, 4-2) District 2

Midwest City elected not to play a fourth non-district game and is taking a week off before the playoffs.

#8 Putnam City West (4-5, 2-3) District 2

#14 Enid (2-7, 1-4) District 2

It's down to the wire for PCW. The Patriots are already experiencing their best record since 2000, but after a big time upset by Eisenhower last week it still remains to be seen if they'll clinch their first playoff appearance since 1996. On paper, it should be locked up. But if Enid overcomes PCW like Ike did, then Choctaw will take the bottom seed in the playoffs.

The pick: PCW 47, Enid 35

#9 Stillwater (4-5, 3-2) District 2

#15 Eisenhower (1-8, 1-4) District 2

It's too late for Ike to reach the playoffs, but it's not too late for them to bump Stillwater down to the bottom seed and at least move up from the bottom rank of the division. The Eagles will be flying high after their 50-28 dominating upset @ PCW last week.

The pick: Stilly 38, Ike 35

#10 Ponca City (2-6, 1-5) District 1

#12 Sapulpa (2-6, 1-5) District 1

The Chieftains pulled off a narrow 1 point win last week against Claremore in the lowest scoring game of the season for 6A-II, but it was their first win since week 2 and it was an upset. Expect Dae Williams to cross the 1500 season rushing mark. Ponca doesn't have any huge stars like Williams, but they have a better talent-spread among the players. Keep your eyes on QB Conner Larson and the RB/WR combo of the Arita brothers. 

The pick: Ponca 35, Sapulpa 21

My Record

  • Week 1: 10-2 (.833)
  • Week 2: 12-2 (.857)
  • Week 3: 6-3 (.666)
  • Week 4: 6-2 (.750)
  • Week 5: 5-3 (.625)
  • Week 6: 8-0 (1.00)
  • Week 7: 8-0 (1.00)
  • Week 8: 7-1 (.875)
  • Week 9: 6-2 (.750)
  • Overall: 68-15 (.819)

Week 8 Roundup and Week 9 Rankings

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

#1 Booker T Washington (7-0, 5-0) District 1

#4 Bixby (5-3, 3-2) District 1

The Hornets continue to be the indisputable top team in 6A-II, slaughtering last year's State Champions to beat the spread by an astounding 40 points. Turnovers were the name of the game, as the Spartans gave up two fumbles and threw two interceptions. Despite 270 yards of total offense, Bixby only entered the endzone once on a 3 yard rush by Nic Roller. Washington relied on a predominately rushing offense for 375 yards against only 79 from the air, but don't count out their passing game against future opponents as QB Dakari Wilson was 8 for 11 with no interceptions. Sparta falls to fourth in the rankings, but despite a massive beatdown this week, Bixby's still a big favorite to make the playoffs where anything can happen.

The pick: BTW 35, Bixby 30

Results: BTW 52, Bixby 7

#2 Bartlesville (7-1, 4-1) District 1

#13 Sapulpa (1-6, 0-5) District 1

No surprises here, the Bruins rebounded excellently after a field-goal-loss to BTW to bring down the hammer on Sapulpa. A devastating air raid by QB Colton Penrod amounted to 430 passing yards and seven passing touchdowns against the Chieftains.

The pick: Bville 47, Sapulpa 20.

Results: Bville 56, Sapulpa 21.

#3 Charles Page (4-3, 4-1) District 1

#7 Muskogee (3-5, 3-2) District 1

The Sand Springs Sandites swap places with the Spartans after a dominating defensive performance that outdid all expectations against the previously 6th-ranked Roughers. Muskogee has definitely improved as a team since last year, but the legendary Sandite secondary is better than ever and continues to develop as the season progresses. The O-line put up some massive blocks creating holes for Payton Scott and Lane Lettich to both cross the 500 rush-yard mark for the season and Hunter Greathouse easily surpassed 1000 passing yards. Jason Cooper picked off three Muskogee passes, one for a touchdown that was called back due to holding. 

The pick: CPHS 35, Muskogee 21.

Results: CPHS 34, Muskogee 10.

#5 Lawton (6-1, 4-0) District 2

TX #754 Triple A Academy (4-5)

The pick: Lawton 61, Triple A 7

Results: Lawton 51, Triple A 7.

#6 Midwest City (6-2, 4-1) District 2

#12 Choctaw (4-4, 2-3) District 2

The Bombers took a rough upset to Stillwater a few weeks ago, but it's looking like the Pioneers may have simply pulled a fluke because since then they barely edged out Choctaw and lost to PCW, both of whom were clearly defeated by MWC. District 2 seems to be having a hard time deciding who their best teams are besides Lawton, but I think we can count on the Bombers to put up a solid post-season performance. It wasn't the cleanest win of the season, but it sets up MWC for a district championship battle with Lawton next week. MWC jumps two spots.

The pick: MWC 27, Choctaw 13

Results: MWC 28, Choctaw 21.

#8 Putnam City West (4-4, 2-2) District 2

#9 Stillwater (3-5, 2-2) District 2

The Patriots have done an excellent job this season, already outdoing their previous season record by three wins with two winable games left. While they may not be in legitimate state title contention, they've got a lot to be proud of, climbing more since the preseason rankings than any other team to potentially make it to the playoffs for the first time since 1996.  PCW moves up one spot while Stillwater drops two.

The pick: Stillwater 38, PCW 36

Results: PCW 35, Stillwater 26

#10 Ponca City (2-5, 1-4) District 1

#11 Claremore (2-6 0-5) District 1

One of the closest games of the night, Ponca City pulled out the edge on Clarmore. Ponca trailed 347-333 in total offensive yardage and gained less yards-per-play, but completed more first downs. Ponca threw an interception, but Claremore recovered a Wildcat fumble. Both teams had about 70 yards in penalties. Claremore held a 24-16 lead deep in the third but Ponca rallied from behind and recovered a pooch kick to run the clock out.

The pick: Ponca 44, Claremore 33

Results: Ponca 29, Claremore 24.

#14 Enid (2-6, 1-3) District 2

#15 Eisenhower (0-8, 0-4) District 2

The Plainsmen picked up their first true win of the season, edging out the Eagles in a massive offensive shootout. Brian Banks caught for 109 of Enid's 262 passing yardage and Devin Pratt picked up a career-high 260 rushing yards for four touchdowns. Ike's Rico Bussey finished with 222 yards of total offense.

The pick: Enid 27, Ike 16.

Results: Enid 44, Ike 41.

My Record

  • Week 1: 10-2 (.833)
  • Week 2: 12-2 (.857)
  • Week 3: 6-3 (.666)
  • Week 4: 6-2 (.750)
  • Week 5: 5-3 (.625)
  • Week 6: 8-0 (1.00)
  • Week 7: 8-0 (1.00)
  • Week 8: 7-1 (.875)
  • Overall: 62-13 (.826)