Washington, last season’s Class 2A State Runner-up, arrived at Bethel last Friday night boasting its #2 ranking and 65-member squad and quickly spoiled homecoming for the Wildcats with a 56-18 win, handing the hosts their first loss of the season.
Bethel won the toss and deferred. Washington took its opening drive 71 yards on only three plays, scoring on a 52-yard pass. They led 7-0 only 56 seconds into the game.
The Wildcats answered with a sevenplay 60-yard drive when John Allred scored on a seven-yard run. Palomares’s extra point kick failed. Bethel coach Joey Ginn said, “There was no panic for us after they scored so quickly. We knew we had answers.”
Some of those answers were defensive players Austin Melson, Connor Hall, John Allred, and Corey Metscher. Ginn said, “Melson is just a freshman, but he’s been our dude out there. He’s our Bryce Tapley on the other side of the ball.” Melson had eleven tackles, including ten solo. Allred and Metscher had eleven and nine tackles, respectively. Hall had six tackles, and three of those were for losses.
The game was decided on each team’s next two possessions. Bethel was intercepted and forced to punt. Washington, meanwhile, scored in four plays of 68 yards and then five plays of 80 yards. When the first quarter ended, the visitors led 21-6.
Ginn said after the game, “I told our kids that we could be that kind of team that is used to playing in big games like they are.” The Daily Oklahoman ranked the game as the #8 game in the state.
Freshman quarterback Bryce Tapley threw deep to John Gordon for an 82-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 21-12. Tapley finished the game with 17 completions of 24 attempts for 278 yards. At the midway point of the season, the freshman quarterback has thrown for 1,199 yards while completing 70% of his passes.
The Wildcat defense stiffened and forced three consecutive punts, showing they could compete with one of class 2A’s best teams. Unfortunately for Bethel, however, Gordon muffed a punt return with 6:28 to go until halftime. With the way the ‘Cats had been playing defense, that was not too much of a concern. But, the officials made a mistake and allowed the muffed punt return to be advanced for a 23-yard Warrior touchdown, which extended the lead to 28-12.
It appeared that Bethel would erase that error on the ensuing drive as they marched 41 yards on ten plays before having to punt. Washington got the ball back with two minutes remaining and scored from the five with 39 seconds to go, taking a 35-12 lead into the locker room.
When the third quarter began, the teams traded punches. The Warriors scored on a 38-yard run and Bethel answered with Corey Metscher running through the defense from the six. Metscher rushed for 45 yards on 15 carries. For the season, he has rushed for 620 yards for an average per carry of 6.6 yards.
On that drive, Tapley faked a bubble screen and hit Gordon on a slant. Gordon exploded for a 47-yard gain. On the next play, Tapley hit Gordon again for fourteen yards to set up a first and goal.
Gordon set the school record last week for receiving yards in a game with 208 against CHA. On this night he topped that record by catching eight balls for 249 yards. For the year, the senior has 38 receptions for 873 yards. Ginn said, “It just shows you how good he is that he could do that against such a quality team. He’s a phenomenal athlete.”
Washington closed the scoring with 52 seconds left in the third quarter with a 40-yard scoring pass.
Though the final score left no doubt about who was the better team, Coach Ginn’s ‘Cats played well more often than not against the probable district champions. Ginn was positive after the game, “We can still do exactly what we want moving forward, and that is hosting a playoff game, and who knows? Maybe we can get another shot at them deeper in the playoffs.”
Bethel will be on the road tomorrow night in a district 2A-3 matchup with the Crooked Oak Ruf-Nex (1-3, 0-2). Kickoff is set for 7 pm. The stadium is not located at the high school. It is at 2805 SE 22nd street in Oklahoma City.
