Over and out: Jenks ends Bixby's record win streak with dramatic 38-35 win

By Mike Moguin 

Jenks photo by Michael Kinney

BIXBY - A supporter from Jenks said, "Don’t ever count out the Trojans,” after his team backed it up Thursday night.

Ranked 12th in the state, Jenks hung on to win a 38-35 thriller against No. 1 Bixby on a national stage, as the game was broadcasted on ESPN2 at Lee Snider Field.

The Trojans (8-2 overall, 6-1 in District 6AI-1), led by the performances of quarterback Ike Owens, running back Jaiden Carroll, wide receiver Ty Walls, and a host of others, got ahead of Bixby early. It was a close game in the first half; then the Trojans broke it open in the second before the Spartans (9-1, 6-1) attempted to rally late.

The loss snapped a 58-game winning streak for Bixby, which had been a state 11-man record. It also puts both teams tied atop the district with Norman North.

Coincidentally, Jenks had been the last team to beat Bixby before Thursday, as the Trojans beat the Spartans in the 2018 season opener. Bixby went on to capture four straight Class 6AII titles and started this season 9-0.

The question entering Thursday's game was who would win this battle of last year’s Class 6A state champions of each division.

Jenks had won 16 of the last 29 state championships in the highest classification in the state, including four of eight in Division I since 6A split into two divisions in 2014. Or Bixby, which won seven of eight state championships in Division II since the same year. Bixby was moved up to Division I this year.

With Bixby winning its previous nine games by blowouts and scoring anywhere from 60-80 points and Jenks having a pair of losses, people favored the Spartans.

But what was likely overlooked was the fact that Jenks had some tests this year, including last week’s come-from-behind 35-34 overtime win against Broken Arrow, while Bixby had not been tested in any close games.

“As a team, you have to learn how to handle adversity,” Jenks coach Keith Riggs said. “And we’ve had to face a lot of adversity this year with our injuries this season, and then the comeback last week, so when you face adversity, when you’ve been through it several times, I think it’s easier to handle it.”

It showed as Jenks demonstrated control the whole game.

After a 17-14 halftime lead, the Trojans came out with Carroll busting through the line for an 80-yard touchdown on the first play of the second half.

Bixby responded to each Trojan TD in the first half with a score and was working to do so again as it drove to the Jenks 37-yard line. But Spartan quarterback Connor Kirby got picked off by Trojan defensive back Jalyn “Zeus” Stanford, who took it about 10 yards to the Jenks 34.

Two plays later, Carroll sped 63 yards to the Bixby 4. On the next play, Stanford - who also shares the backfield with Carroll - ran it for the TD. With 7:04 left, it was 31-14, Trojans.

“That’s what we play for,” Carroll said. “We talked about this all week long. We got to be able to run the ball, and to be able to come out and do that at the start of the second half is huge.”

But Bixby never gave up. Starting at their 30, the Spartans cashed in to cut their deficit to 10 as Kirby ran for a 44-yard TD less than a minute later.

The Spartans had an opportunity to draw within a field goal when they fielded a Jenks punt at the Trojan 33 early in the fourth quarter. But they lost possession when fumbling it back to the Trojans at the 44.

Jenks took advantage of it as it drove in, with Owens eventually scoring from the 1 in a pile-up.

Bixby added two more TDs with Kirby connecting with Sam McCormick from 12 yards with under three minutes left and Cale Fugate from 16 with under one minute.

The Spartans tried an onside kick, which was recovered by Jenks’ Sam Stone.

The Trojans scored first when Owens hit Walls for a 53-yard touchdown with over five and a half minutes left in the opening period. After making the catch, Walls raced down the right sideline, dragging a Spartan defender with him to the end zone, as Jenks grabbed a 7-0 lead.

Bixby answered back immediately as Kordell Gouldsby took a pitch and raced around to the left side of the field for an open lane covering 55 yards to the goal line, tying it at 7-all less than two minutes later. That’s where the first quarter would end.

But as the second quarter began, another exchange of scores took place.

Owens completed a big bomb for 50 yards to Khyler Beaty that moved Jenks to the Spartan 12-yard line. On the next play, Owens scored on a keeper, putting the Trojans back on top, 14-7, with 8:43 left in the half.

The Spartans answered back again as Kirby hit Jakeb Snyder in the back of the end zone from 19 yards, tying it again at 14-all over a minute later.

Bixby then had a chance to take its first lead when it drove near the Jenks’ goal line late in the second half, but were stopped by the Trojan defense a yard shy of the goal line on fourth down with 1:49 left before halftime.

Jenks responded by driving to the Bixby 5-yard line, but was forced to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Andrew Pursell with 3.9 seconds left, and it was 17-14 at the break.