Broken Arrow Clinches Home Playoff Game
Friday, November 06, 2009

Broken Arrow outscored Bartlesville 31-14 in the fourth quarter to clinch second place in District 6A-3 and a home playoff game, topping the Bruins 45-28 Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Broken Arrow.

It was a defensive first half that saw neither team able to do much with the ball until late in the second quarter when Terry Williamson scored on a two-yard run to put the Tigers up 7-0.

A touchdown pass from Kirby Schoenthaler brought the Bruins back to even heading into halftime.

Tiger quarterback Archie Bradley would dominate the second half. Bradley tossed the first of his two touchdown passes in the third quarter to give the Tigers a 14-7 lead.

The teams went to the fourth quarter tied at 14-14 and it looked like it was going to be a barn-burner.

Bradley gave the Tigers the lead when he zipped a five-yard touchdown pass to Zac Veatch. But, Schoenthaler matched it, tossing a 70-yard TD pass tom Michael Thompson to tie the game at 21-21.

But, Bradley gave Broken Arrow the lead for good when he scored on a six-yard run for a 28-21 lead.

The Bruins took a gamble on their next possession, attempting to convert on a fake punt. But, the pass fell incomplete and Bradley would later score on a six-yard run to give the Tigers a two-touchdown advantage.

The Bruins came back quickly, scoring on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Schoenthaler to Thompson with about three and a half minutes left to play.

After a 31-yard field goal by Carl Salazar boosted Broken Arrow's lead to ten, linebacker John Coleman shut the door on the Bruins, intercepting Schoenthaler and returning it 43 yards for the game-clincher.

Steven Hopper had 150 yards rushing to lead Broken Arrow. Hopper became the school's all-time leading rusher, passing Prince McKinney, whose 2,278 yard mark had stood for nearly four seasons.

The win means Broken Arrow will host Enid next week in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs. It also means Bartlesville will have to hit the road. Friday, head coach Ron Smith will take his Bruins to Owasso, where he used to coach.

It will be Bartlesville's first appearance in the playoffs in seven seasons.


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