Correction
This story incorrectly identified a Memorial High School football kicker. Marshall Gilbert's 42-yard field-goal attempt was blocked Friday against Broken Arrow. Gilbert made a 30-yard field goal. This story has been corrected.
BROKEN ARROW — Any concerns about No. 3-ranked Broken Arrow overlooking Memorial on Friday night at Tiger Field were unfounded. The Tigers scored on seven of their first eight possessions en route to a 61-3 victory.
Quarterback Archie Bradley completed 6-of-10 passes for 92 yards and three scores. Steven Hopper led Broken Arrow with 62 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
The Tiger defense held Memorial to 59 yards and allowed just one first down in the second half.
“We asked them this week to come out focused,” said Tiger coach Ron Lancaster, whose team improved to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in 6A-3 district play. “We wanted them to explode on offense and explode on defense.”
The Tigers jumped on Memorial less than two minutes into the game. After holding the Chargers to a three-and-out, Bradley hooked up with Alex Cochran for a 52-yard touchdown strike on Broken Arrow’s first offensive play.
“That’s a play we practiced all week,” Lancaster said. “We really executed well on it.”
Memorial (2-5, 0-5) bobbled a punt attempt, which allowed Ronnie Price to recover it at the Charger 3. On the next play, Hopper ran it in for a 14-0 lead.
Bradley’s second touchdown pass came on the next drive when he found Brady Robinson for a 7-yard score.
Memorial’s next drive ended when Casey Mathis tackled QB Tyler Simms in the end zone.
The Chargers’ ensuing kickoff resulted in points on a dazzling run by Price. The senior bobbled the return, recovered and spun around, then took off down the right sideline. Aided by a pair of crushing blocks, Price jetted for a 66-yard score and a 30-0 lead with 1:51 left in the first quarter.
Memorial had four turnovers in the first half, all or which the Tigers cashed for scores. Nick Hall stripped the ball, recovered and rumbled 55 yards to set up a 13-yard TD strike from Bradley to Nick Gorman on the first play of the second quarter.
Another Charger fumble turned into Hopper’s second TD, this time from 7 yards out. Richie Fruechting tacked on a 2-yard score with 2:23 left until halftime, which was set up by Jon Coleman’s interception.
Memorial had a chance for points on its final drive of the half, but Marshall Gilbert's 42-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Price.
The Tigers held Memorial to 21 yards of offense as they built a 51-0 lead by intermission.
In the second half, Carl Salazar added a 39-yard field goal and Michael Alemen scored on a 17-yard run.
