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Bobby Lewis
OKBlitz.com Reporter
TULSA, Oklahoma – Thursday’s regular season 5A-3 finale was supposed to decide who would get the two-seed and play at least one home game in the playoffs. Instead, it was reduced to a ho-hum Bixby at Booker T. Washington game with virtually nothing on the line outside of bragging rights.
The two teams played sloppily in the early going. The Spartans and Hornets notched more interceptions than points scored in the first quarter. Bixby threw one interception, and Booker T. threw two. The Hornets made things worse by fumbling a shotgun snap near the endzone. Calvin Barnet’s snap sailed over the head of quarterback Eric Bennett. The senior quarterback was taken down for a safety to give Bixby the first lead of the game.
The Hornets would bounce back. Players on the sidelines wore special Senior Night t-shirts with the slogan “Hornets are Unity” printed on them, honoring the class of 2010. The team played very unified after those first early mistakes.
Booker T. finally found the scoreboard in the second quarter on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Bennett. That score capped off a long drive in which Booker T. dominated the line of scrimmage and ran wild on the Spartans. The Hornets added a field goal before the half to take a 10-2 lead into the break.
In the second half, defense shined for both sides. In the third quarter, Hornets defensive back Terrance Taylor picked off his second pass of the night to swing momentum to the home team, but Bixby didn’t allow the Hornets any kind of scoring opportunity outside of a missed 38-yard field goal late in the half.
Bixby had a chance to tie the game inside of two minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Spartans’ sophomore quarterback T.J. Eckert threw to the back of the endzone for Taylor Schuler but Dante Barnett skied for the interception, sealing the game for Booker T. Washington. The Hornets survived to win 10-2.
“We know in our hearts that we are the best team in 5A,” Calvin Barnett said after the game. “We tried to prove tonight that we’re the best team in the state.”
Booker T. Washington finishes the season with a 5-5 overall record, including a 3-4 district mark. Outside of the three forfeits, the Hornets only truly lost one district game. Bixby owns the two-seed in this year’s playoffs and awaits their first round opponent.