While the offense struggled with turnovers and penalties at times, the Durant defense was up to the task with its best performance of the season in a 44-0 thrashing of Tulsa Edison on the road last week.
The Lion defensive unit finished with a plethora of tackles for loss and finished by yielding only 36 total yards and three first downs to the Eagle offense on the way to its first shutout since a 53-0 win over East Central midway through the 2022 campaign.
Durant will be back on the road Friday looking for its third straight victory, but first win over Shawnee since 2015. The Wolves enter the contest with an identical 2-1 district mark as the Lions and are 4-2 overall in their first year back in Class 5A following two seasons in 6A.
Against Edison, the Lion offense got off to a blazing start before miscues began to pop up as Cole Robbins hit Holdan Robinson for a 43-yard pass on the game’s opening play.
A couple of Stephen Manhard runs pushed the Lions ahead for the first of nine red zone trips and Robbins capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown run just a minute and 44 seconds into the game.
Two possessions later the Durant offense penetrated into the Edison red zone once again before bogging down and settling for an Otto Baskin 37-yard field goal with 11 seconds left in the quarter for a 9-0 edge.
The Lions utilized a mixture of passes and runs on the next series for a 13-play drive that took 5:39 off the clock and ended with a 16-yard scoring toss from Robbins to Damien Almos. Less than a minute later it was a 23-0 Durant lead when Jayden Rangel picked off an Edison pass and rumbled 49 yards to paydirt.
A third quarter fumble inside the Edison 10 thwarted a Durant opportunity halfway through the third stanza but the Lion defense got it right back with a Mason Bacu fumble recovery.
Coach Todd Vargas’ offensive unit was unable to cash in, turning the ball over on downs before Robinson got it right back with an interception two plays later to end a sloppy third quarter.
Rangel found the end zone on the first play of the final frame with a 21-yard run that ignited a 21-point quarter.
Durant immediately came up with its third turnover in the matter of four Edison offensive plays with a fumble recovery at the Eagle 15. The Lions lost a total of two yards in three plays but converted fourth down when Robbins fired a 17-yard strike to Ryder Jones for the touchdown.
Lion reserve provided the final points when Brodi Payne bolted in for a threeyard score to finish out a 42yard scoring drive.
Robbins finished the contest 12 of 19 through the air for 181 yards with Jones leading the receiving corps with four grabs for 69 yards. Robinson tallied three catches for 54 while Joseph Flores added two for 20.
On the ground, Manhard led the way with 11 carries for 60 yards with Rangel contributing 38 yards on six totes. Britton Trotter also had five rushes for 28 yards.
