An expected nip-and-tuck battle with Keota definitely lived up to billing last week as Caddo celebrated Homecoming with a pivotal 33-32 thriller over Keota in a district showdown.
Coach Jeff Wigington’s Bruins scored on five of their final six offensive possessions with the only non-touchdown coming with Caddo running out the clock for the key victory.
The Bruins improved to 7-1 on the season and will be back home for Senior Night this week looking to set up a district title showdown at Dewar next week. Even more importantly though, the Bruins secured a fifth straight trip to the football playoffs.
“There were a lot of people there for Homecoming and you could feel the atmosphere,” Wigington commented. “It was a great turnout by the fans and we gave them a really good, exciting game to watch. We knew going in that possessions were going to be limited because of the offensive style that Keota runs and we definitely got tested. We didn’t score on our first possession when we got inside the 10 yard line, but luckily we scored every other time until we were running out the clock.
“We ran our offense and took what they gave us. It was an all-around great game. We needed a close game to see how we reacted and I was pleased with what I saw from the kids. There was no panic and they kept their focus and showed the improvements we have made since our one loss.”
After going back and forth through most of the contest, Keota scored with just over two minutes remaining to narrow the gap to just a point but failed on the ensuing two-point conversion try.
The Lions attempted an onside kick, which Caddo recovered and the Bruins picked up one first down to milk off the final seconds.
The majority of the Bruins’ 398 offensive yards came on the ground with 291 rushing led by quarterback Cale Wigington’s 185 yards on 24 carries, including three for touchdowns. Boen Proctor had a strong outing as well with 13 attempts for 106 yards and a score.
Although the running game controlled most of the night, Wigington was solid through the air as well, hitting six of his eight pass attempts for 107 yards and a touchdown.
One of the completions was a 51-yard connection to Jake Mullens that went for a score. Jake McKay caught four for 46 yards with Proctor snagging one for 10.
On the defensive side, six Bruins posted double figure tackle totals against the Keota grind-it-out running game, sparked by a monster 19 tackle effort from Mullens.
McKay contributed 15 stops and Jase Counce notched 13 with 10 tackles apiece coming from Noah Dry, Proctor and Dillon Speers.
McKay also booted three extra points in five attempts, which proved critical in the final margin.
“It really came down to the extra points,” Coach Wigington said. “We made three and they only converted one two-point conversion. Being able to kick those wound up paying dividends. Cale had a good game and we were able to get Boen going pretty well as well. Offensively we played great and then played bend but don’t break defensively in the second half after allowing them to get behind us on some first half play action passes.
“Locking up a playoff spot was great but there is a lot of work left to do. We win this week and there’s a pretty good chance of wrapping up a first round home game. Then we set ourselves up to play for the district title in Week 10. There are still some areas we need to continue to grow and get better. We’ve got a chance this week to send our seniors out with a win in their final regular season home game.”
