Facing their third huge test of the season, the Caddo Bruins set themselves up for a prospective district title last week with a wild 48-40 triumph on the road at Quinton in a battle of unbeatens.
The Bruins never wavered despite trailing at various points, including 4032 in the third quarter, before tightening things defensively with a decisive 16-0 scoring flurry over the game’s final 15 minutes.
“It was a heck of a football game,” Caddo head coach Chad Speer said. “It was a tough, physical game that went back and forth. They (Quinton) were pretty much everything we thought they would be. I was very proud of the way our kids responded and stayed with it even through some adversity. We kept hitting them in the mouth and made them turn it over a couple times in the second half and we held them scoreless the last 15 minutes.
“I think having been through the fire like we were against Dewar and Weleetka had prepared us well. It definitely helped ease our tension, especially on the road in a tough environment. We had great support from our fans and the kids felt it. We missed some opportunities but kept grinding and making plays when we had to. It was really good to see us limit the penalties because that had been a point of emphasis for us. It puts us in a really good position for the district title.”
Scoring was a virtual stalemate through the opening half as each team scored eight points in the first quarter and 18 in the second while battling to a 26-26 halftime deadlock in spite of a couple of Caddo turnovers.
The Bruins forced a fumble and recovered it on the second half kickoff before the hosts pushed to a 40-32 edge midway through the third frame. That’s when the Caddo defense slammed the door while holding the Savages out of the end zone the rest of the way.
Caddo evened things late in the third frame and took the lead for good in the fourth when Corbin Stoner connected on a deep fourth down pass to Jake McKay for the touchdown. Stoner threw for 213 yards, completing 15 of 28 passes with four scores. He also ran for three scores and three two-point conversions.
McKay was the top target with nine receptions for 98 yards, scoring twice, but Camarian King also snagged a pair of touchdown passes with three grabs for 61 yards. Carson Robinson also tallied three catches for 54 yards.
Returning from injury, Bayler Black had one of his better rushing outings by carrying for 52 yards on 12 totes with McKay contributing three rushes for 33 yards.
Although they gave up 40 points, the Bruins had some monster defensive performances throughout led by a whopping 26 tackles from McKay with 23 more coming from Black, who also recovered a fumble. Jase Counce tossed in 19 tackles, R.G. Workman had 13 and King pitched in 11 tackles as well.
“It was a huge momentum swing to recover the fumble on the second half kickoff,” Speer added. “We also had a lot of success with our new package on two-point conversions that was critical. I thought we did a really good job defensively even though we gave up 40 points. We made some big plays at the end and forced Quinton out of its comfort zone.
“The main thing this does is put us in position to not have a true road game in the playoffs as long as we can advance. There were a lot of positives but we have to continue finding ways we can improve over the final three weeks and get a lot of kids quality reps.”
That three-game stretch begins Friday when the Bruins host Elmore City for Homecoming with a 7 p.m. kickoff.
