— HASKELL – Haskell coach Greg Wilson wanted to see how his young Haymakers could handle adversity after starting 2-0. Friday night’s game with Spiro was the perfect test.

Haskell overcame a sluggish start and used a tough defensive performance to defeat Spiro, 24-14, at A.B. Shockley Stadium.

“Our team needed to see this,” said Wilson whose Haymakers start 3-0 for the first time since 1998. “I never want to fall behind by 14 points, but we needed to see how we would handle adversity going into district play next week. It was gut check after gut check.”

Haskell’s offense had no problem scoring the first two games, but Spiro held the Haymakers to just 12 yards rushing in the first half. Haskell’s only spark of life was a 66-yard touchdown pass from Alex Wheeland to Colby Graves early in the second quarter after Haskell fell behind 14-0.

It was the defense that kept the Haymakers in the game early. Except for a 72-yard touchdown run by Jermaine Jimmerson, the Haskell defense kept the Bulldogs in check for most of the first half. Haskell sacked Spiro quarterback Trevon Mitchem five times and forced four fumbles.

“They did not look that fast in the mud against Muldrow last week,” Wilson said. “We got a taste of how fast they really are real quick. But our kids believe in their team mates and no one tries to do too much.”

Haskell took momentum into the locker room at halftime with a little trickery. Wheeland hit Brody Enkey, who turned an perfectly executed the hook and lateral and Jordan Presley took the pitch and raced 60 yards to cut the lead to 14-12 with 46 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Haymakers had more success moving the ball in the second half, but penalties proved to be Haskell’s biggest nemesis. After Riley Atwell recovered a Bulldog fumble, Haskell moved to the Spiro 15 before two major penalties stalled the drive at the 45.

“Coach Owens and coach Ward did a good job adjusting at halftime,” Wilson said. “Sometimes in weather like this the offense is not potent, but they got the offense together and came up with a good plan for the second half.”

Wheeland’s 25-yard punt return set up Haskell’s next possession at the Spiro 23. It took the Haymakers just three plays to take its first lead, 18-14, on a 4-yard run by Wheeland.

Haskell had the chance to put the game away after moving to the Spiro 1-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. But, I penalty and incomplete pass ended the drive at the 6.

Spiro gave Wilson’s Haymakers one last gut check after moving to the Haskell 35 yard line. But on fourth down, the defensive line pressured Mitchem and forced a fumble that was return by Haskell’s Britt Williams to the Bulldog 40.



HASKELL 24, SPIRO 14

Spiro    7    7    0    0–14

Haskell    0    12    0    12–24



Scoring summary

First quarter

SHS – Knighe Rhoden 14 fumble return (Hunter Wilson kick) 0:58

Second quarter

SHS – Jermaine Jimmerson 72 run (Wilson kick) 10:06

HHS – Colby Graves 66 pass from Alex Wheeland (pass fail) 9:47

HHS – Jordan Presley 68 pass from Wheeland (pass fail) 0:46

Fourth quarter

HHS – Wheeland 4 run (run fail) 11:11

HHS – Wheeland 33 run (run fail) 1:42



Individual stats

Rushing – Spiro, Jermaine Jimmerson 16-163; Haskell, Alex Wheeland 18-118.

Passing – Spiro, Trevon Mitchem 10-23-1 117; Haskell, Wheeland 4-7-0 150.

Receiving – Spiro, Malik Walker 4-55; Haskell, Colby Graves, 3-82.