Jeff Kaley
BRAY — At least for the moment, Waurika has shed the monkey it was sharing with Bray-Doyle.
Gil Griffin ran for 150 yard and three touchdowns, Levi Henderson added a pair of scores, the Donkeys repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with penalties and Waurika rolled to a 34-13 win Thursday, in a meeting of District A-4 teams that entered without a victory.
“It wasn’t pretty, but it wasn’t bad. It’s nice to get that ol’ monkey off our backs. I already feel lighter,” head coach Larry VanBeber said, after the Eagles regrouped from an early deficit and rose to 1-6 overall and 1-5 in A-4.
Senior backs Griffin and Henderson combined for 229 of Waurika’s 275 total rushing yards and accounted for all five touchdowns, playing key roles in sending the Donks to 0-7 overall and alone in the basement of A-4.
The win, which also got a boost from Bray-Doyle’s 15 penalties, puts the Eagles in position to duplicate a stretch drive in 2008 that saw WHS win its final four games and finish 5-5. Although the best the Eagles can hope for this time is a 4-6 overall mark, VanBeber felt a victory, in WHS first-ever football game at B-D, could carry over.
“We still had some problems tackling and in pass coverage on defense, but I was really happy with our two big backs (Griffin and Henderson) and how our line blocked,” he said. “I was really happy with Jace Dunn (who was playing his third game at quarterback). He continues to please me right and left.
“I was glad we scored some points and that we found some ways to get the ball distributed around and mix it up on offense.”
Kickoff returns were the catalyst that brought both teams out of the blocks quickly.
The Donks’ Keaton Green fielded Henderson’s game-opening kick, and after a little sleight-of-hand, Joshua Butler ended up breaking 45 yards to the WHS 40. Quarterback Cody Douthit carried three times in a five-play series capped by the senior zipping around right end for a 28-yard touchdown.
An extra-point kick attempt by Dakotah Whaley was no good, but with 9:06 remaining in the first period, the Donkeys had a 6-0 edge.
The Eagles replied immediately, as senior Robert Gilmore took Logan Mayes’ kickoff and flashed 50 yards to the B-D 30. Griffin and Henderson combined for seven straight rushes and WHS evened the score at 6-all when Griffin covered the final 13 yards at the 5:26 mark.
Bray-Doyle regained the lead with an 11-play, 48-yard drive. Running back Brodie Helton had a key 11-yard run in the series and Douthit hooked-up with Heath Maxwell on a 15-yard pass that turned a third-and-10 situation into first-and-goal at the WHS 9.
Two plays later, Douthit scored on a 5-yard run and Mayes kicked an extra-point that gave B-D a 13-6 edge, with 53 seconds remaining in the initial period.
However, Bray-Doyle would not score again, and the Eagles regrouped to score the go-ahead touchdown five minutes later.
A 51-yard punt by Mayes seemed to put the Eagles in a tight spot at their own 13-yard line early in the second quarter, but Waurika got a huge play with 8:06 remaining in the second quarter. Quarterback Dunn found Gilmore open behind the secondary and the wide receiver turned the play into a 65-yard gain from the WHS 18 to the B-D 17.
Griffin followed with an 11-yard run and Henderson scored on a 6-yard counter play that trimmed the Donks’ lead to 13-12.
With 7:08 left in the half, Dunn made it 14-13 by connecting with freshman Mason Wilkerson for a 2-point conversion pass, and the Eagles were ahead to stay.
In the final minute of the first half, the Donks used a 24-yard pass from Douthit to Mayes in driving to the WHS 10. At that point, B-D started what would be 25 minutes of frustration.
On second-and-5, the Donkeys got a 3-yard run to the WHS 7 from Douthit to the WHS 7, but on third down, WHS linebacker Dusty Davis nailed Helton at the WHS 8 for a 1-yard loss. With time running out on the half, Douthit lost track of the down count, and when he spiked the ball on fourth down, it gave possession back to the Eagles.
After the intermission, Waurika got off to a slow start when Butler intercepted a pass by Dunn on the Eagles’ first play. Then Waurika’s powerful running backs and Bray-Doyle’s penalties became decisive.
Griffin gave the Eagles a little breathing space with 4:20 remaining in the third period by scoring on a 2-yard run. Dunn hit Tyler Fuller for a 2-point conversion that gave WHS a 22-13 edge.
Meanwhile, the Donks couldn’t gather any momentum on offense or defense, due in large part to eight infractions that resulted in 70 yards of penalties in the third frame.
Bolstered by a 25-yard run from Griffin, the Eagles were driving when the fourth quarter began. The six-play, 67-yard series ended on Griffin’s 1-yard TD run, putting WHS in front, 28-13, less than a minute into the final period.
Bray-Doyle tried to tighten things by going 67 yards and getting as close to the end zone as the WHS 1. But after the Eagles got a key tackle-for-loss from Robert Rodriguez and another B-D penalty set the Donks back to the WHS 8, Wilkerson intercepted Douthit’s pass to the end zone.
Waurika ate up 4-1/2 minutes with an 11-play, 78-yard drive to the Donks’ 6 yard-line. Although that surge didn’t produce a score, with 1:41 to go, Fuller intercepted a Douthit pass at the WHS 48 and returned it 46-yards to the B-D 6.
Thirty seconds later, Henderson capped his best rushing performance since breaking his left hand three games. A 6-yard TD burst pushed the senior’s game total to 79 yards and put the Eagles in front 34-13.
Douthit had a hand in most of Bray-Doyle’s 263 total years, leading the Donks with 65 yards on 18 rushes and completing 14 of 18 passes for 153 yards. Nine of those completions went to Mayes, who finished with 63 yards receiving.
Waurika’s defense got a team-high 11 total tackles from Griffin, while Henderson and Dunn were each in on 8 stops. Cornerback Bobby Harris had 7 total tackles, while Davis was credited on 5.
Rodriguez’s 3 tackles included a sack and a tackle-for-loss, and he also recovered a fumble, while Evan Waid had a fumble recovery.
In Week Eight, the Eagles host Wilson, which got off to a 3-3 start but dropped a 48-8 in Week Seven.
“We’ve got three more games coming up (Wilson, Empire and Rush Springs) that we’ll match-up pretty well in,” VanBeber said. “Now that we’ve finally got a win, I hope we can continue on and finish strong.”
