BY THE UNOFFICIAL OILER
CLAFLIN -- Homecoming is supposed to end with a celebration. Friday night at Central Plains, the Oilers came awfully close to giving the home crowd one.
Instead, they gave everyone something else -- one heck of a football game, a fourth-quarter comeback, a tie at the end of regulation and an overtime finish that is going to sting for a while.
The Oilers fell to Kiowa County 34-28 in overtime, but the final score doesn’t tell nearly enough of the story.
The Oilers travel to defending state champion Coldwater South Central (3-1, 1-0 District) Friday.
"We committed too many turnovers and had missed opportunities," said Oiler coach J.D. Johnson. "That definitely was a tough one. We've got to learn from it and improve next week."
This one had everything. Big catches. Big hits. Lead changes. Plays that looked like touchdowns until a flag said otherwise. A late interception. A fourth-quarter comeback. And then, finally, overtime.
The Mavericks converted a fumble recovery into Jacob Hogan's touchdown and Hogan's 2-pointer gave the Mavericks an early 8-0 lead.
But the Oilers weren’t going to stay quiet.
Richard Hayes made a terrific 1-handed catch. Then a big pass to Broc Klima moved the Oilers about 35 yards, all the way to the Kiowa County 12-yard line.
Facing fourth-and-15, Brodie Crites took matters into his own hands and ran the ball into the end zone for the touchdown.
The 2-point attempt came up short.
Kiowa County was held to a three-and-out on its next possession, as the Oiler defense dug in.
The second quarter brought more Oiler fireworks. On third-and-six, Teagan Scheppmann caught a deflected pass and turned it into a 30-yard gain, putting Central Plains at the Mavericks' 10-yard line.
Crites found Keeton Robison for the touchdown. Robison hauled in the 2-point conversion, to give the Oilers a 14-8 lead.
Neither team could get comfortable.
The Oilers missed a shotgun snap back to the Oiler 5-yard line, forcing a punt.
Kiowa County's Hogan scored a touchdown with eight seconds before halftime and added the 2-pointer for a 16-14 lead.
Kiowa County's Hogan scored his third touchdown for a 22-14 lead.
The Oilers answered.
Central Plains had two big plays called back by penalties, including a touchdown. But the Oilers didn’t let that derail them. At 6:19, Crites found Richard Hayes for a 25-yard touchdown.
The two-point attempt came up just short when Crites scrambled toward the goal line and took a hard hit. The Oilers had cut the deficit to 22-20.
Hogan scored his fourth touchdown on fourth down for a 28-20 lead.
The Oilers were down, but they weren’t done. Not even close. The fourth quarter belonged to the fight.
The Oiler defense forced a three-and-out to start the quarter. Later, Central Plains stopped Kiowa County on fourth-and-eight, with Richard Hayes and Teagan Scheppmann teaming up for the tackle and the turnover on downs.
Oiler Keeton Robison broke loose. Robison ripped off a 13-yard touchdown run, and added the 2-point conversion.
With 1:51 left in regulation, the game was tied 28-28. The homecoming crowd had its game back.
The Oiler defense held Kiowa County again. With 31 seconds remaining, Scott Lamatsch came up with an interception after the ball popped loose.
The Oilers couldn’t quite turn it into a winning score before the regulation clock ran out.
Regulation ended 28-28. Officially headed into overtime.
One touchdown could put Central Plains in front.
Instead, an Oiler fumble ended the possession on a controversial ruling. The Mavericks' Boone McDonald scored the game winner.
And just like that, the game was over.
Kiowa County 34, Central Plains 28.
For a moment, the homecoming lights didn’t feel quite as bright.
That’s the hard part of football. You can fight back from behind. You can tie the game with less than two minutes left. You can make the defensive stop. You can get the late interception. You can give yourself another chance.
And sometimes, even after doing all of that, the football still doesn’t bounce your way. That one is going to hurt. It should.
But heartbreak isn’t the whole story.
The whole story is that the Oilers kept fighting. They didn’t fold when they fell behind. They answered. They didn’t let the lead changes rattle them. They kept playing.
And when they were down eight points in the fourth quarter, they found a way to tie the game and force overtime.
That’s the part worth carrying forward. The loss will sting. That’s natural. But this team has already shown what it can do when things don’t go according to plan.
So the Oilers will pick themselves up, learn from this one and get back to work. Because football doesn’t stop after a tough Friday night. There’s another game coming.
Another opportunity. Another chance to put on the green and go play football.
Homecoming may have ended in heartbreak. The Oilers have more football to play. And they’ll move forward together.
Kiowa County (1-1, 3-2) 8 8 12 0 6 — 34
Central Plains (1-1, 4-1) 6 8 6 8 0 — 28
KC—Hogan 5 run (Hogan run); CP—Crites 15 run (pass fails); CP—Robison 10 pass from Crites (Robison pass from Crites); S—Hogan 9 run (Hogan run); S—Hogan 4 run (run fails); CP—Hayes 25 pass from Crites (run fails); S—Hogan 2 run (run fails); CP—Robison 13 run (Robison run); KC—McDonald 2 run
RUSHING—KC—60-311; CP—32-105; Robison 20-105; Klima 5-12; Lamatsch 1-3; Rogers 1-0; Crites 5-(-15).
PASSING—KC—1-8-1, 7; CP—Crites 12-27-1, 148.
RECEIVING—CP—Hayes 4-41; Schepmann 1-40; Rogers 4-36; Klima 3-31.
