Guthrie stuns East Central to advance on

Guthrie made the trip up the turnpike as underdogs to the No. 4 ranked team that was riding a 9-game winning streak and came back to the G with their ticket punched to next weeks state semi final game.

Guthrie now awaits the Bixby Spartans who took down undefeated Shawnee, also on the road, to set up a rematch of the 2007 state title game.

Site, time, and date have not been confirmed, but is expected to be Friday night, 7:30, at Pioneer Stadium in Stillwater. Stay with GSP for the announcement to come as early as Saturday.

Guthrie improves to 8-4 and for the second time this season has a 4-game winning streak.

Things did not start out as planned for the Jays as East Central quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead after both teams traded 3-and-outs to start the game. The Cards needed just four plays to go on a 57-yard drive that saw East Central do what they wanted to do on rushing the ball.

Guthrie was 0-3 when their opponent had scored first this season.

However, much like the entire game, Guthrie responded.

The first response was a hook up that Jays fans have seen this year. Bryan Dutton to Kentrell Brothers. The duo connected on a 39-yard connection on a rifle of a throw to beat the safety, who was coming over to help.

Brothers then line up behind the center on the apparent point after, but with the majority of the offensive line off to the left, Guthrie hiked the ball and Brothers got in for the 2-point conversion to give Guthrie their first lead 8-7 with 5:34 to play in the opening quarter.

East Central stalled on their next drive and Guthrie was set up for their third offensive set, but fumbled the ball on first down and the Cards pounced on it and took advantage of it on the next play.

The very speedy Chakel Armstrong took the hand off and went 22-yards to give the Cards the lead back 14-8 with the point after.

East Central got the ball back minutes later and appeared they would take a first quarter lead, but that is when Brothers struck again.

East Central quarterback Dillion Wallace took a shot gun snap and attempted a quick pass to his left, but Brothers came out of nowhere at the line of scrimmage and intercepted the pass for a pick six from 22-yards out and gave the lead back to the Jays, 15-14. Brothers now has four interceptions on the year and leads Class 5A in sacks.

Brothers finished with 14-points and was named the Farmers and Merchants Bank Player of the Game for his efforts on both sides of the ball. The Tyler Nichols Heart of a Champion Award was presented to the Guthrie defense.

The final score in the first half was another quick strike for the Cards. This time it took two plays and just 13 seconds.

Jaimon Gilstrap took his first carry 43-yards to the 1-yard line and then finished off with a score, on the next play, to send East Central into the locker room with a 21-15 lead.

Online Surveys & Market Research

The game saw just one score in the third quarter, but it was set up with one of the most intriguing plays you have ever seen on any level. The Jays appeared they were going to go for a fourth down and short play. The offensive line hurried to the ball, but did not come set when an whole new (field goal) unit came onto the field.

The direct snap instead of going to the holder, Dutton, it went to the kicker Hank Hudson who then tossed it down the left sideline for receiver Corbin Crockett, who at the time, was all by himself.

The pass was incomplete at the goal line, but pass interference was called and resulted in the Jays getting an automatic first down to keep the drive alive.

However, the drive stalled and Guthrie elected to go with a Hudson 33-yard field goal that sailed between the uprights and Guthrie pulled within three, 21-18 with 3:34 to play in the third quarter. Hudson's kick appeared it could have been a 40-plus field goal with the strong leg.

Perhaps the most impressive drive of the night came from the Cards with a 12 play drive that ate up over 6:00 and 70-yards, but only resulted in a 21-yard field goal by Antonio Escobedo and East Central regained their six-point advantage, 24-18 with 9:57 to play in the game.

East Central's ensuing kick sent senior Dustin Bohanan back to his 2-yard line and took off from the near side to the far side all the way to his 45 with the 43-yard kick return to set up what would be the state semi final pass and catch.

On the first play from scrimmage, the young freshmen quarterback Dutton dropped back on a play action pass and found first year player in senior Crockett in stride for a fan roaring 55-yard touchdown to give Guthrie their first lead in the second half and for good, but at the time still had 9:48 left to play.

East Central had three more possessions left in the game and two of them were in Guthrie territory. The second of the three drives went all the way down to the Guthrie 16-yard line with 2:15 left to play and the Cards were forced to go with a potential lead changing 35-yard field goal by Escobedo, who had made 10 this season with his longest coming from 42-yards. However, a high snap went over the head of the snapper and Escobedo in a last ditch effort threw the ball and was caught by a Cardinal linemen and was ruled for illegal touching to give the ball back to the Jays with 2:09 to play.

The Jays offense was able to take the clock down to :50, but were forced to punt and with a money snap from sophomore Hayden Seifert and a solid punt from senior Zach Olsen, the Cards had one final chance to pull off the come from behind win starting from their own 49-yard line.

Wallace's first pass was connected for a 17-yard reception to the Jays 34-yard line, but on the next play Wallace went for gold with a pass near the goal line. With one-on-one coverage, senior Devin Williams came away with his second interception of the season to officially send the Jays to the state semi's.

The win over East Central keeps the Jays a perfect 3-0 against the Cards with all three wins coming in the playoffs, including two at East Central (2002 and 2009).

Guthrie and Bixby had met three years in a row in 2005, 2006, and 2007. The '05 and '06 games were split in Bixby and Guthrie defeated the Spartans in the 2007 State Championship game, 16-3, on the campus of Oklahoma University.