WEATHERFORD — Tears of joy have been a common sight in the seven state championships Tipton has played in throughout the past decade.
When the clock struck zero on Friday night, several Tigers broke down in tears, including junior Logan Nunley, who stood in disbelief near the 50-yard line of ASAP Energy Field at Southwestern Oklahoma State University’s Milam Stadium.
With teammate SemaJ McBride a few yards behind him gesturing Southwest Covenant’s fourth down pass had fallen incomplete, indicating the game was officially over, Nunley — who had secured a critical interception in the end zone earlier in the second half to rob a Patriots’ score — let the waterworks flow.
Tipton 50, Southwest Covenant 34.
After all the ups and downs throughout the 2018 title campaign — from uncharacteristically losing two games in the first month of the season and not being ranked No. 1, No. 2 or even No. 3 heading into the playoffs to temporarily losing their best player to a broken collarbone injury — there was good reason for Tipton to cry.
Because only when Tipton realized its potential 3-peat was in jeopardy while trailing 34-28 in the fourth quarter did the Tigers truly appreciate just how much back-to-back-to-back meant to them.
“These guys mean the world to me. There’s nothing like this,” said Tipton quarterback Lane Chandler, who had four total touchdowns (2 passing, 2 rushing), accounted for 222 of Tipton’s 528 yards of total offense and led the go-ahead 7-play, 97-yard drive late in the fourth quarter. “It’s the greatest feeling in the world.”
Only twice in the past seven state championships games since 2011 has Tipton ended the title game (2011, 2013) in tears of sorrow. Five times the Tigers have shed tears of joy and finished the season with the “greatest feeling in the world” and a Gold Ball in tow.
Not far from Nunley celebrating was Chandler, a fellow junior who had another reason to cry after losing his grandfather about 10 days before the football season started.
“He was one of my biggest supporters,” said Chandler, who took to one knee at midfield and let the tears flow before one of his other biggest supporters, senior teammate SemaJ McBride came over and consoled him.
“We just 3-peated, man,” McBride told Chandler in that heartfelt moment. “We did this for him.”
“Once Lane knelt down, I knew it him hard,” said McBride, the standout senior who valiantly bounced back from his broken collarbone injury in October and scored all three of his touchdowns from the final minute of the first half on in addition to running for 160 of his 162 yards in the second half and hauling in 43 yards through the air. “I had to uplift him.”
“It was really emotional because that was my best friend and SemaJ has been there for me more than anybody,” Chandler echoed. “That was a really special moment we shared together.”
As hundreds of joyous Tipton fans made their way on the field to take celebratory photos with their beloved Tigers and their newest shimmering gold trophy, Tipton coach Travis White tried to put into words just how special the ceremonious moment was for the football dynasty that won its third straight Gold Ball, its seventh state championship in program history (1952, 1997, 2012, ’14, ’16, ’17, ’18) and its fourth Class C title in the past five seasons.
“It’s special. It’s been such a weird year,” White said. “I’ve been with these seniors since fifth grade. It’s more than special.”
In a somewhat sloppy game that featured seven total turnovers — five of which were fumbles — and was tied at 20 at halftime, White was baffled how Tipton still managed to win the game despite allowing 568 yards to a potent Patriots’ offense.
“This was such a hard-fought game, and the way that we turned the ball over, I still don’t really know how we won the football game,” White said. “Not taking anything away from them because they are a heck of a football team, but I don’t think we could’ve played a worst first half. We are looking around at halftime, though, and see it's still tied, 20-20. I guess we can go win this thing.”
Thanks to short field position, McBride caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from Chandler on the first play of the drive to score and tie the game at 20 with 22 seconds left before halftime.
Tipton (12-2) came up with four takeaways and relied on its championship mettle to take down previously unbeaten Southwest Covenant (12-1), which entered the playoffs ranked second in Class C.
“It sounds cliché,” White said. “But I think it was just experience, playmaking and tradition in the end.”
On the go-ahead 97-yard drive, Tipton’s championship poise showed from the moment they entered the huddle following a brilliant coffin corner punt by the Patriots.
“This is what champions are made of,” Chandler told the Tigers during the pre-snap huddle in the back of their own end zone.
Five of Tipton’s seven running plays for 97 yards on the drive went for 10 or more yards as the Tigers chipped away and bulldozed the Patriots downhill.
“JJ (Smith — 144 yards, TD), SemaJ and Lane had some good runs on that drive. We ran a couple sets we hadn’t ran the whole game and got them (Patriots) on it,” White said.
For the players, they fed off Chandler’s confidence and high football IQ.
“Lane knows the game of football so well,” McBride said. “Whenever he calls plays, we just know we have to execute and go 100 percent every snap. We have to make something happen.”
Even when trailing 34-28 with 9:20 remaining, Tipton didn’t panic.
“It was a game of attrition,” White said. “We figured this was going to be a back-and-forth type of game and a lot of possessions with their spread offense throwing the ball so we just tried to keep plugging.
“It was sloppy but we made the plays when we needed to. In the fourth quarter, we showed we were in a little bit better shape. We just outlasted them.”
The Tigers showed just that midway through the fourth quarter when Chandler read and snuffed out a screen pass before laying a punishing hit to force a decisive punt in a tie game.
“The hit by Lane was the play of the game,” White said. “They had a great play call and had us beat. We were stunting and on a tunnel screen that they were running, that’s exactly what you want. Lane just made a heck of a play.”
“It was probably the biggest momentum changer in a tie game,” echoed Chandler. “They were getting anything they wanted on our defense, but that big hit changed the momentum and it felt like they folded after that.”
It was part of a 22-0 fourth quarter run by Tipton to pull away for good and win a third straight state championship.
Senior tight end Bryce Waugh, who caught three passes for 120 yards, including a 43-yard dime down the seam from Chandler to tie the game at 34-all with 8:20 remaining, cited several of his teammates stepping up, such as Taegan Abrams, coming in at guard and making plays in weird sets as well as Nunley, who came up with the third quarter interception, one of two Southwest Covenant red zone turnovers.
White, too, had praise for unsung heroes, most notably seniors Kobe Gipson and Chandler Segovia — who had the exclamation point sack in the waning seconds — for their work in the trenches and unselfish plays on offense and defense.
“My teammates stepped it up all night,” Waugh said. “That really shows how hard work and dedication helps you at the end of the season.”
The Tigers’ often overlooked defense, which had scored a pair of defensive touchdowns in each of the past two state title wins, forced a punt and two turnover on downs for three straight fourth quarter stops to help the offense seize control of the game.
“Defense was still a big part of it. We weren’t able to score touchdowns off our stops and that hurt us, but our defense stood strong, especially at the end of the game,” said Waugh, a four-year defensive starter and captain for Tipton. “We did what we needed to do and made the plays in the fourth to come back and win it.”
When the going got tough that fourth quarter, Tipton turned to its championship ways — exactly the type of resolve the loyal fan base and the entire state knew the Tigers were capable of showing.
It’s the eye of the Tiger.
“They made us show our true colors in this game,” McBride said. “We could’ve hung our heads or given up at any time. We lost momentum a couple of times, but we all pushed each other to keep picking our heads up. It’s not over yet. We’re still in this.”
McBride and the Tigers proved once again that it’s not over until Tipton says it’s over.
After a roller-coaster season, Tipton still proved the Class C title goes through Southwest Oklahoma and the blossoming 8-man dynasty in Titletown.
Year after year, Tipton and fellow 8-man football powerhouse Shattuck of Class B showcase they are by far the greatest small school football show on the Oklahoma gridiron.
Congratulations Titletown Tipton, you’ve earned this — again.
solson@swoknews.com