— FORT GIBSON – Handicapped for one quarter of the game, the No. 7 Fort Gibson didn’t miss a beat as the Tigers kept the scoreboard ringing like a pin-ball machine, routing Tulsa Rogers 59-8 at Leo Donahue Tiger Stadium.

Starters Jake Gandara, Seth Taylor and Ned Adair were forced to take the first quarter off because of team infractions on the eve of the homecoming game. The three entered the game at the start of the second quarter.

“We had a few kids that broke team rules and they were handed down punishment,” said Tiger coach James Singleton.

The initial disruption of the starting lineup did not phase Fort Gibson as they improved to 4-0 overall, 1-0 in District 4A-4 action. Rogers fell to 1-3, 0-3 in league play.

“We executed well on both sides of the ball tonight,” said Tiger coach James Singleton. “We took care of business and stepped up and did a great job. We spent the week focusing on ourselves, make yourself a better player and I think we did that tonight.”

Without the three starters early, the Tigers offense looked for a play maker and only needed one play to find him. Sophomore running back Tristan Johnson took the hand off from quarterback J.R. Singleton on the opening play and sprinted 60 yards untouched, 18 second into the game.

The sophomore again came through for the Tigers on their next series. This time, after a 20-yard Roper punt, Johnson took the pitch from Singleton and jogged in from 28 yards out to put the Tigers up 14-0 with 9:03 to play in the opening quarter.

Four short minutes later, J.R. Singleton found a wide open Jordan Landon for a 37 yard strike with 5:56 left in the first quarter. After Jon Terronez found a Roper fumble six seconds later at the Roper 18 yard line, Terronez took a the handoff from Singleton and lumbered in for a score of his own.

Up 28-0 entering the second quarter, Gandara finally saw the field and it only took him three carries to find the end zone twice, once from 27 yards out and the second a 45 yard sprint with 7:36 to go in the second stanza forcing his frustrations out on the visitors.

Daniel Mielnik capped off the scoring barrage in the first half with a 35 yard field goal with 1:57 before halftime and a 45-0 lead.

When the Ropers finally caught their breath, Gandara and Johnson had combined for 188 yards rushing in just under a quarter of work for each.   

With the Tiger offense rolling, the Tiger defense couldn’t be forgotten, holding the Ropers to minus 17 yards rushing at halftime and minus two yards entering the end of the third quarter. The Ropers Dedric Cherry dashed in from 54 yards out to end the third quarter, with all starters on the bench for the Tigers.

“We really worked on fundamentals this week and worked on us getting better,” said junior linebacker Brian Cerveny. “They had some speed but we pursued well and our defensive line was getting a huge surge and pushed them back.”

With a running clock and no stoppages, Gandara’s final appearance came with 8:07 to go in the third quarter when on the first play of the series he busted up the middle for his third touchdown of the night and a 52-0 lead. He ended the night with 136 yards rushing on just five carries.

Kyle Martin finished off the slaughter for the Tigers with a 8 yard run with 5:35 left in the game.

“I am happy with the way we played and we learned something about ourselves as a team tonight,” Singleton said. “We have  a big game next week (Broken Bow) and I am sure they have some payback in mind. They are a heavyweight in our district and we have to be prepared to play.”

 

Fort Gibson 59, Tulsa Rogers 8

WRHS    0    0    8    0–8

FGHS    28    17    7    7–59

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

FGHS – Tristan Johnson 60 run (Daniel Mielnik kick) 11:39

FGHS – Johnson 28 run (Pass fail) 9:03

FGHS – Jordan London 37 pass from J.R. Singleton (Mielnik kick) 5:56

FGHS – Jon Terronez 18 run (Zach Drain run) 4:59

Second Quarter

FGHS – Jake Gandara 27 run (Mielnik kick) 9:41

FGHS – Gandara 45 run (Mielnik kick) 7:36

FGHS – Mielnik 35 Field Goal 1:57

Third Quarter

FGHS – Gandara 41 run (Mielnik kick) 8:07

WRHS – Dedric Cherry 54 run (Kyree Mason pass to LaQurious Taft) 1:59

Fourth Quarter

FGHS – Kyle Martin 8 run (Mielnik kick) 5:35



TEAM STATS

                                    FGHS             RHS

First Downs    11    7

Rushes –Yards    22-352    25-87

Passing A-C-I    3-1-0    19-6-1

Passing Yards    37    80

Punts – Avg.    0-0    5-20

Penalties Yards    6-65    2-20

Fum – Lost    1-1    1-1

Individual Leaders

RUSHING -FGHS – Jake Gandara 5-136, Tristan Johnson 2-83, Michael Ritchey 6-47, Kyle Martin 4-29,  J.R. Singleton 2-11, Jon Terronez 1-18, Seth Taylor 1-10

PASSING - FGHS – J.R. Singleton 1-4-0-37

RECEIVING - FGHS – Jordan London 1-37