Bishop Kelley knocks off Memorial in 5A showdown
BY BARRY LEWIS World Sports Writer
Friday, October 26, 2012
10/27/12 at 11:38 AM
Find scores, game stories and reaction to Friday night action.
Bishop Kelley senior cornerback-wideout Zach Washington has a knack for producing pivotal plays, and he delivered another on Friday night.
Washington returned an interception 15 yards for a touchdown with 33 seconds left in the first half to help propel seventh-ranked Bishop Kelley past No. 6 Memorial 25-0 at Angelo Prassa Field.
“Zach has been a huge player for us,” Kelley coach J.J. Tappana said. “Against Coweta in Week 3, which was a major major game for us. he had two huge plays (a fourth-quarter TD and a clinching interception). And last week he had two big touchdown plays. He’s one of those kids who is stepping up.”
Washington helped the Comets (7-2, 6-0) wrap up the District 5A-3 title. It is their first district title since 2009 and second since 1985.
“All four years of high school I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Washington said. “We came together and did it. It’s an incredible feeling.”
For the second straight week, Washington scored on a key play in the final minute of the first half. Last week at McAlester, he caught a 41-yard TD pass with 35 seconds left to give Kelley a lead going into intermission. Later, he added the winning TD catch at the end of the third quarter.
Washington’s latest big play came on defense. Kelley led only 6-0 on Friday when Washington jumped a pass in the left flat, bobbled it but held on and returned it for a touchdown with 33 seconds remaining before halftime.
“We had been scheming for it all week, we’ve seen it in film, everyone else did their job, I had to do mine and it was an easy read,” Washington said. “I was thinking I had to catch it. I saw they had a bad snap and the ball didn’t come out right, either, and I just tried to get a hand on it and come down with it.
“It’s the biggest interception that I’ve had.”
The Comets built on their 12-0 halftime lead as Austin Morris scored on a 17-yard reverse with four minutes left in the third quarter.
“We caught them on a reversal play before and I didn’t think they were expecting it again,” Morris said. “Our quarterback (Brady Goforth) threw a great block on that one and our line did a great job, too.”
Morris’ TD came after the Comets’ Andrew McNulty stopped Memorial’s Kejuante Austin for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-1 at the Chargers 29. Morris had 19 carries for 131 yards, with 84 yards and 10 carries coming after halftime.
“It wasn’t the prettiest game, we didn’t play our best, but we played well enough to win,” Morris said. “We kept running and wearing them out. We kept going at them and attacking them and eventually they wore down.”
Goforth scored his second TD of the game on a 1-yard keeper with 2:15 left after the Chargers turned the ball over on downs at their 27.
The Comets posted their first shutout of the season as they held the Chargers (8-1, 5-1) to 197 yards.
“Our defense stepped up and we’ve come a long way since our 0-2 start,” Washington said. “Our defense has been doing it all year.”
Austin had 61 yards on 19 carries. Memorial quarterback Keith Driver was limited to 97 total yards. Driver had accounted for 2,084 total yards and 17 TDs in the first eight games.
“We take these big runners as a challenge,” Tappana said. “Every year, we say we’re going to try to take away the biggest thing they (opponents) do -- the guys you read about all the time. And that’s how we challenge our defense. That’s how we challenged them this week. They were scoring (43) points a game. The defense is stepping. They’re good kids and good kids make good coaches.”
After a scoreless first quarter that included only four first downs, Goforth scored on a 5-yard run to give the Comets a 6-0 lead with 10:13 left in the first half after the Chargers had lost a fumble at the Kelley 29.
It appeared that would be the only scoring going into halftime until Washington’s TD return.
“We were not in a good situation and he made a great play for us,” Tappana said.
Associated Images:
Memorial's Jermain Rathod is hit by Kelley's Lota Ezenwa and Zachary Washington in the first half of their District 5A-3 district Friday. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World
Memorial's Wess Bowman celebrates after a play during the his team's game against Durant in early October. TOM GILBERT/Tulsa World
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