Stigler football is the Week 9 winner of the Oklahoma Team of the Week, presented by the Oklahoma National Guard.
Courtesy photo
Week 9 Winner: Stigler Football
Coach Chris Risenhoover and his
Stigler (Okla.) Panthers keep knocking on the door.
After a 48-14 win over Roland last week, they appear prepared to knock it down.
The Panthers piled up 513 yards led by senior quarterback
Seth Sandlin
to improve to 4-2 on the season. This after they’ve piled up seasons of
10-2 and 11-3 the last two years, including a trip to the Oklahoma
State 3A semifinals.
They lost to eventual champion Kingfisher.
On
Friday, Stigler rushed for 330 yards and 10 different players carried
the ball led by Sandlin, who had 12 attempts for 133 yards and two
touchdowns.
He also completed 14 of 20 for 228 yards and two more scores, receptions from
Trace Jackson, a sophomore, and senior
Austan Drewry.
For
their big win, steady improvement and fast start, Stigler has been
selected as the MaxPreps Oklahoma Team of the Week, presented by the
Oklahoma National Guard. Risenhoover has been seeing the improvement all
season.
"Slowly each week we are getting a little better," he
said. "In all phases of the game. The time of our offense is exceptional
and our defense has been what has helped all season. We have matured
and developed and will continue to try to perform well and stay
healthy."
Against Roland, Jackson also rushed 10 times for 84 yards and two scores and
Shane Quick took his only carry to the end zone on a 34-yard run.
Sandlin,
a 6-1, 200-pound senior who also stars at strong safety, ranks second
in the state with 1,968 yards — 1,246 through the air and 722 on the
ground. Last year, Sandlin was second on the team with 1,191 yards and
13 touchdowns as a running back.
"He is an exceptional high
school athlete who is the total package," Risenhoover said of Sandlin.
"He has been around football for awhile. He played on varsity as a
freshman, so he has been under the Friday night lights for some time.
... He has the physical attributes — great speed and a great arm. He is
an experienced player, who has learned a lot. He's able to remain calm
and poised and he knows how an offense is orchestrated."
Stigler played superbly on defense on Friday, while getting 10 tackles from sophomore
Jim Quontez and nine each from senior
Ty Mitchell and sophomore
Tekoda Moore.
The secondary, led by Quontez and
Blaine Thompson, held Roland to just five completions in 11 attempts for 45 yards.
Stigler has a big jump in competition next week when it travels to undefeated
Checotah (6-0) on Thursday. Checotah went on the road to beat Stigler last season 22-13.
"We
know that we will have to win that game in order to preserve our
district championship," Risenhoover said. "The kids are really excited
about this game and really want that district title. Hopefully we can
pull an upset and beat an undefeated team."
