Metro Christian QB Kirk Francis airs it out as Patriots move to 5-0
By Christian Potts
TULSA - Kirk Francis generously passed out touchdown throws like Christmas gifts, spreading the wealth to seemingly half the Tulsa Metro Christian student body.
Perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration. But the senior quarterback had a huge game, throwing six touchdown passes to five different Patriot receivers, helping Metro improve to a perfect 5-0 on the season and score a 63-28 victory against visiting Perkins-Tryon on Friday night.
While Francis gets a lot of the final accolades for his team's offensive success, he and his coach both agree it's a total team effort that made the whole thing go.
"You've got to have the guys up front to give you time, and when you've got time, that's everything," head coach Jared McCoy said. "And then past that, we've got guys that can take the top off it."
In all, five of those Patriots - Breck Nauman (twice), Mario Darrington, Will Bierman, Jaxson Grimes and Tagg Campbell all found the end zone on touchdown receptions.
It was part of a night where Francis completed 23-of-42 passes for 408 yards as Metro piled up 535 total yards and crossed the 40-point plateau for the fourth time in six games and got to 60 for the first time.
"The guys up front don't get enough love," Francis said of his offensive line. "I didn't get sacked (Friday). They're playing amazing.
"And the receivers make me look so good, both after the catch and before the catch, watching film, just in everything; they work so hard and I'm so proud of them."
Ironically, in such a high-scoring game, the Patriots' defense had quite a bit to do with it.
While Perkins did manage 397 total yards, it took the Demons 73 total plays to get there, and they only had two plays of more than 20 yards all night.
Perhaps the biggest play by the Metro defense came with just over nine minutes remaining and Metro leading, 42-28. The Demons were driving inside the Patriots' 25-yard line and facing a fourth-and-1, trying to punch in a touchdown to get back within one score.
Perkins went to its bruising junior running back Tre Stevenson, who had been gaining momentum as the night went on and seemed like a pretty sure bet to get the first down. But he was met in the backfield by Metro's Isaac Penland and Seth McCoy, and thrown for a loss.
"Coach (Adam) Taylor has just been motivating us, one play at a time, and we just told each other that play, one play at a time, let's go get it, and we went and got after him," said Penland, who also was in on two of Metro's four sacks of Perkins quarterback Tanner Dawes.
Metro also forced three turnovers, recovered a muffed kickoff and got a late score of its own on a 65-yard fumble return by Corley Wagner. That capped off a late three-touchdown surge following the big fourth-down stand that made the final score of the game much more lopsided than much of the night had looked.
"It tends to happen that way sometimes late in a game," McCoy said. "It gets away from you a little bit. The final score was absolutely no indication of the dogfight of a game that it was."
In fact, the Demons, who dropped to 4-2, 1-1 in District 3A-1, still very much look the part of a playoff team.
They battled back from multiple deficits behind their tenacious quarterback Dawes, who completed 17-of-25 passes for 209 yards and touchdowns to Beck Smith and Cutter Greene.
Stevenson was a load carrying the ball as well, rushing for 120 yards and Perkins' other two scores, on 18 carries.
"Our defense played well (Friday), but hat's off to (Perkins) and their coaching staff," McCoy said. "They've got great kids and they did a great job of making it really hard for us.
"We got stops late when we needed them, but early it made it really interesting; it was kind of blow-for-blow there."
"We knew that they were a great football team," added Francis. "They were our first district test, and we knew they were going to fight until the end, and they did, but we had a great whole game on both sides of the ball.
"We went out and executed, and I'm really proud of our guys."
The game provided an opportunity for the Patriots to take a big step in hopes of claiming the District 3A-1 championship. Metro now stands 5-0 and 2-0 in the district, tied for the district lead with Anadarko.
The Patriots already have impressive wins on their resume against Class 4A power Poteau and Prairie Grove (Ark.), both of whom are otherwise undefeated on the season.
"You want to keep improving, and I saw some things (Friday) we could have done better, so that's good," McCoy said. "You certainly don't want to peak at this time of year. But I feel good about where we're at."
The Patriots continue district play next week with a home game against McLoud. The Demons will travel to Anadarko for their next district contest.
