WEATHERFORD — Moments after the back-to-back defending state champions broke down their victory postgame huddle Friday night, Tipton junior running back and linebacker Jeremiah Smith had a few words of his own to say to his fellow Tigers.
“I’ll go to battle with all of you guys any day,” said a spent Smith, who ran for 221 yards and three touchdowns on the football field of Southwestern Oklahoma State University following fourth-ranked Tipton’s 50-28 shellacking of third-ranked Pond Creek-Hunter in the Class C semifinals.
“That shows why we’re a family,” said Tipton junior quarterback Lane Chandler, who threw a 70-yard touchdown pass and scored on a 96-yard pick-6 while helping secure a pivotal goal line stand with Smith just before halftime. “We’re all brothers and stick up for one another no matter what happens.”
Now these gridiron brothers are one win away from winning their third straight state championship together. Tipton (11-2) can win the program’s seventh Class C state championship (1952, ’97, 2012, ’14, ’16, ’17) and fifth in the past seven years.
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Chandler said of playing in another state championship. “There’s nothing like it.”
To hoist yet another Gold Ball, the still blossoming dynasty must take down an unbeaten team in second-ranked Southwest Covenant (12-0) which pulled away from top-ranked Buffalo (12-1) for a 42-20 victory in the other Class C semifinal Friday night in Alva.
The Class C title game will once again be played in Weatherford this Friday at 7 p.m. at SWOSU, the same location Tipton won its last two state championships.
“If you’re playing late November and early December, there ain’t nothing easy about it. We’re gonna have to play well. I’m excited. It just goes to show you can’t look at early stuff in the year,” said Tipton coach Travis White, referring to how Buffalo clobbered Pond Creek-Hunter by 32 points earlier this year to win the District C-1 title. “Apparently Southwest Covenant is really good. They look fast and scrappy — not real big up front so we’re gonna see if we can do some things up front. They’re similar to Pond Creek to where they’re gonna scheme you on a lot of things.”
Tipton crushed Coyle, 62-28 in the quarterfinals while the Patriots — who feature a talented quarterback in signal caller Ben Webb, who threw two of his six touchdown passes in the fourth quarter of the semifinal win — dismantled Coyle, 48-24 in Week 7.
“Their QB can run, too. He’s not as big as his brother,” White said of Webb, who replaced his older brother, the Patriots’ starting QB last season. “He runs well, maybe a bit faster and has some good receivers.”
Friday will be Southwest Covenant’s first ever title game appearance.
“They are excited to face any of the powerhouses in Class C,” said Southwest Covenant coach Trey Cloud whose undefeated Patriots are averaging 52 points per game. “We know we can play with anybody, now we get our chance to do it.”
Respecting all but intimidated by few, the Tigers also know they can play with anybody.
Tipton echoed that bold statement in the semifinals by securing five straight defensive stops, notching three sacks and grabbing two takeaways while scoring 36 unanswered points to pull away from Pond Creek-Hunter.
“I think we came out here with big heads,” admitted Chandler, as the Tigers got off to a sluggish start and trailed 12-8 in the first quarter. “We didn’t think Pond Creek would play as hard as they did. We though the intimidation factor would be there, but it wasn’t and they played hard. When they got down, they started getting chippy so we had to keep our composure.”
Chandler kept his composure and managed the game brilliantly. In addition to several standout plays on the defensive side of the ball, Chandler dropped a dime down the sideline and hit SemaJ McBride in stride on fly for a 70-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.
“We have talented route runners and having SemaJ really helps me as a quarterback to assert that deep ball threat and put the defense on their heels,” Chandler said.
Not many quarterbacks at the high school level know how to dissect a defense and knowing what can make one crumble while trusting his weapons. The same sharp instincts that Chandler displays under center are reflected on the defensive side of the ball at safety.
Chandler showed tremendous vision and patience after his interception as he waited to pick up several blocks down the sideline to score a game-changing touchdown. When he contained the edge on third-and-goal and stuffed PCH’s best player, Noah Miller, who had been wreaking havoc on the Tigers, he also forced a fumble before Smith jumped on top to rob the Panthers of a potential score before halftime.
“I don’t even know how Lane was up there, but he’s pretty instinctual,” White said. “Chandler responds really well. He amped up his game and solidified that side. That jet sweep with them pulling their guard is a really tough play to defend.”
It was a typical 8-man game featuring explosiveness in the open field as the Tigers, who had 429 yards of total offense, and Panthers combined with five offensive plays of 20 yards or more in the first quarter alone.
Three of Tipton’s six touchdowns came from 70 or more yards out. The two teams accounted for six touchdowns from 50 or more yards out.
“It was so weirdly similar to really the past two years,” White said after realizing the semifinal script read eerily similar to the past two state championship games when Tipton scored on several explosive plays and had interception returns in both victories over the Panthers.
In fact, in 2016, Tipton had two interception returns for touchdowns.
“Nobody was panicking," White said. "Even though we jump out fast on a lot of our opponents, these guys respond. We’ve been in this situation and understand every game is four quarters long.”
Just like the Tigers didn’t panic when trailing after a pair of bruising Miller touchdown runs early on, they stood firm when PCH attempted to make a valiant fourth quarter comeback.
A sack by Tipton senior linebacker Damian Fierro forced a third-and-long and eventually led to a PCH turnover on downs midway through the third quarter, which appeared to seal the Panthers’ fate.
But PCH wouldn’t go quietly as John Thophilus caught back-to-back touchdown passes, including a 79-yard score on a jump ball on the sideline from Tyler Kerr to trim into Tipton’s lead, 44-20 with 8:21 remaining.
Just 14 seconds later, JJ Smith — who had shot out of a cannon for an 86-yard touchdown run to give Tipton a 30-12 lead before halftime — put the game to bed for good when he broke free down the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown run to put a 50-burger on the Panthers for the second straight season.
“We got playmakers,” White said.
While the Tigers tout plenty of playmakers, Tipton has had to adapt after losing SemaJ McBride to a broken collarbone injury. McBride’s collarbone is still healing and not completely back to normal, but he is healthy enough to play and he made a big impact in limited usage his first game back Friday.
In addition to providing a morale boost, Tipton’s best player recovered a Smith fumble in the end zone in the opening quarter, caught a 39-yard pass on a post route while falling on his shoulder and flashed his blazing speed on the 70-yard fly for a second score.
“SemaJ has only practiced four days. He’s been sitting out. For him mentally to come out and play like he did and be a deep threat, it really helps us out,” White said. “He’ll play next week. I was worried more than anything about him rolling and falling down. We thought we could put him out on the edge. It was one of those deals where we were trying to limit his exposure. When we got up big 44-12 we were pulling him. He’s not quite there yet, but every day is better and he’s good and he didn’t re-break it.”
As agonizing as the McBride injury was, White believes it took something that significant to wake up the other Tigers, who uncharacteristically lost two regular season games in the first three weeks this fall.
“I’m gonna be honest with you. I think it took SemaJ breaking his collarbone for our guys to amp it up and start playing,” White said. “He’s such a great player so when he broke his collarbone we thought, we better get going. It’s been a weird year, but I’m pleased and impressed with where we are at and getting to this point is great.”
While every Tiger has stepped up in the wake of McBride’s injury, White noted the core veterans have changed their leadership tone without one of their brothers.
“The core of it is Bryce Waugh, Lane Chandler, JJ (Smith), Kobe Gipson, Chandler Segovia — those guys are stepping up and we’re fixing to go do this,” White said. “If we get SemaJ, great. If we don’t, we’re still going to go do it.”
While Southwest Covenant will be no pushover, Tipton’s unique path to the title game has the Tigers playing hungrier than ever before.
Come Friday, the dynasty which is thriving in its own Golden Age could hoist a third straight Gold Ball.