Lawton’s Miles Davis (3) runs after a catch as Midwest City’s Jacobi Johnson (15) defends during Thursday's first district game between Midwest City and Lawton at Rose Field in Midwest City. The two teams traded touchdowns throughout the game before the Bombers pulled out a wild 56-45 victory. (The Oklahoman)
MIDWEST CITY — Any coach will say it takes some luck to win a football game, and Lawton High had plenty of it on Thursday night.
Unfortunately for LHS, Midwest City had just a little more when it mattered the most.
Despite having two double-digit leads throughout the course of the game, the Wolverines couldn’t quite put the No. 4 Bombers away, leading to a district-opening 56-45 loss at Rose Field in Midwest City.
The game was a back-and-forth affair, featuring nine lead changes, 45 first downs and 1,030 yards of offense between the teams.
LHS coach Ryan Breeze said not taking advantage of great scoring opportunities cost his team the victory.
“We let them back in twice,” Breeze said. “We had them on the ropes multiple times. We don’t score to pull away, and we couldn’t get off the field. We have them at 3rd and 4th and long, and we couldn’t get off the field. With that being said, we had chances to win, and we didn’t. In the first half alone, we left five points on the board on missed extra points. Offensively, we had a lot of yards, but we had drives we didn’t capitalize on. Defensively, we have to get more stops.
“It wasn’t just one side of the ball — it was all three phases.”
LHS surrendered a 12-point lead in the first half, so when the Wolverines stormed back and grabbed an 11-point advantage after a Miles Davis 3-yard touchdown run with 9:28 remaining in the third quarter, the main focus was to stay focused.
And on the Bombers' next drive, the LHS defense did just that, forcing a 3-and-out to give the offense, which racked up with 432 yards, a chance to extend the lead to two scores.
Or so it seemed.
Facing a 4th-and-15 from the 50-yard line, Midwest City punter Elliot Janish lined up for what the Wolverines expected to be a boot down the field. Instead, Janish showed off his throwing ability, dumping off a short pass to Sam Sissions, who took it 45 yards down the left sideline.
Cameron Wilson finished off the drive on the next play with a 5-yard touchdown burst, trimming the Bombers' deficit to 39-34.
Wilson carried the ball 29 times for 182 yards and four scores.
While LHS was trying to defend the run, it also had to prevent Bombers star quarterback Preston Colbert from finding space in the secondary.
However, Colbert, who played in his first game since suffering an injury against Carl Albert in Week 1, wouldn’t be denied.
Colbert threw for 375 yards and four touchdowns on 19-of-39 passing, leading Midwest City on a 28-13 scoring run in the second half.
He didn’t manage those numbers without some luck, though.
The Wolverines, holding a 39-34 lead in the third quarter, seemingly had Colbert surrounded in the backfield for a sack, but the senior managed to evade the pressure just enough to find Andre Miles in the end zone for a 31-yard touchdown strike.
He wasn’t done there.
With the Wolverines once again leading, this time in the fourth quarter, LHS had the Bombers in a 3rd-and-long situation, and the secondary appeared to have covered Colbert’s deep pass perfectly. However, the attempted breakup went horribly wrong, and Miles snagged the ball off a tip and took it 61 yards to the Wolverines’ 18-yard line.
That play led to the game-winning touchdown for the Bombers, an 8-yard run by Wilson to make the score 48-45 with 5:12 remaining.
That was Colbert’s second completion off a tipped pass, the first coming on a 26-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter to Jerome Brown.
Brown and Miles combined for 275 yards receiving and four touchdowns on 14 receptions.
“We were in great coverage, it was just a fluke play,” Breeze said of Brown’s touchdown reception. “We should’ve gotten to it, but (Colbert) had too much time. But we had a pick go through our hands. But it wasn’t just that play. We had plays where we should’ve broke on the ball better and got picks.”
Despite not scoring in the fourth quarter, the Wolverines’ offense played perhaps its best game of the season.
Eric Wiley and Chateau Reed were an unstoppable pair for most of the game. Wiley completed 11 of 24 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns, with Reed catching six of them for 185 yards and all three scores.
“I thought (Wiley) played extremely well,” Breeze said. “We had a 3rd-and-long, and it was the first time they used a different coverage, but he gets the ball to Chateau and puts it on the money. Chateau made some big-time plays and big-time catches.”
Davis also had an impressive performance, rushing for 179 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries. He also returned a punt 57 yards for a touchdown to give LHS a 19-7 lead less than two minutes into the second quarter.
The Wolverines (2-2) now shift their attention to Deer Creek, which comes to Cameron Stadium next week. The Antlers lost to No. 1 Stillwater on Thursday night, 49-28.
“We have to get back to the drawing board and come up with a couple of ways to eliminate the mistakes in all three phases,” Breeze said. “The good thing is the kids played hard and didn’t roll over and die.
“I think we have a lot to build on, we just have to put it all together.”