Bixby rolls past Owasso in Battle of the 'Burbs, 49-14

Bixby’s first game in Class 6AI was a lot like its previous 49 in 6AII — at least during the final three quarters.

After a slow offensive start, the third-ranked Spartans rolled to a 49-14 victory over No. 4 Owasso in the first Battle of the ‘Burbs, presented by QuikTrip, before 21,500 fans Thursday night at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

The Spartans extended their 11-man state record to 50 consecutive wins as they defeated Owasso for the first time since 1985. They had only played twice since then — in 2010 and ’11.

Bixby overcame a scoreless first quarter and three early fumbles.

“It was pretty darn ugly,” Bixby coach Loren Montgomery said. “I know as a coach it was, turnovers everywhere. Proud of our defense for hanging on and doing a good job. We had several goal-line stands and I think that was big and we were able to take control of the game, mainly with our running game.”

A big question going into the season opener was who would be Bixby’s starting quarterback. For the record, Connor Kirby took the first two snaps and shared duties with Austin Havens, a move-in from Owasso in his Bixby debut. Both were effective.

Kirby accounted for 279 yards and three TDs, including the go-ahead 85-yard run in the second quarter. Havens completed 15-of-20 passes for 118 yards and a TD.

“We just played really well as a team,” Havens said. “The first quarter didn’t really go our way and the first half didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but it’s all about how you come back and finish after halftime.”

And the Spartans finished very well as they outscored Owasso 35-7 in the second half after leading only 14-7 at halftime.

Another question was how would Bixby’s ground game fare after the graduation of two-time World state player of the year Braylin Presley. It fared just fine as Kirby rushed for 129 yards while running back Jersey Robb had 17 rushes for 88 yards and two TDs.

Bixby held Owasso to 127 yards in the second half.

“Hats off to our defense,” Montgomery said. “I thought our defense played great.”

Owasso quarterback Mason Willingham, who passed and ran for a TD, completed 23-of-38 passes for 300 yards.

However, a pass he definitely would like to have back came on the first snap of the second half. Sam McCormick jumped a sideline route and returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown that set the tone for the Spartans’ dominating third quarter and deflated the Rams. It also didn’t help that the Rams didn’t have Alabama commit Cole Adams in the second half due to an apparent injury. Adams caught seven passes for 132 yards before halftime.

Later in the third, Bixby added TDs on runs of 1 yard by Robb and 20 by Kirby for a 35-7 lead.

Owasso answered early in the fourth with Willingham’s 22-yard TD pass to Anthony Hills, but Bixby’s Cody Crull returned the ensuing kickoff to the Owasso 45, eventually leading to Robb’s 6-yard scoring run. McCormick scored his second and the game’s final TD on a 35-yard pass from Kirby with 5:08 left.

The Rams’ kicking woes, just as was the case in a pivotal loss at Union last year, had a big impact. Owasso missed two short field goals early and passed on a third in the second quarter on a fourth-and-goal from the 15. On the play after that failed, Kirby raced 85 yards for the go-ahead TD. Kirby added the 2-point run, giving Bixby a 14-7 lead that it carried into halftime.

The Rams went into halftime with only seven points even though Willingham passed for 212 yards.

After Owasso missed two field goals, Willingham’s 1-yard run opened the scoring early in the second quarter. That TD was set up by Kale Pennington’s fumble recovery, followed by Willingham’s 13-yard pass to Ethan Shaw.

Bixby’s Ethan Williams recovered a fumble at the Rams 23, the Spartans got on the scoreboard when Havens fired a 13-yard TD pass to Jakeb Snyder. However, the extra-point kick was missed, leaving Owasso ahead 7-6 with 7:02 left in the first half.

The Rams’ advantage, however, lasted only three minutes longer as Kirby’s long-distance run after another Owasso missed scoring opportunity ignited another Bixby rout, its first since moving up to 6AI although likely not its last this season.

And Montgomery had some scary words for Bixby’s future opponents.

“We expect to play a little bit better football than that,” Montgomery said.

BIXBY 49, OWASSO 14

Bixby;0;14;21;14;—;49

Owasso;0;7;0;7;—;14

OWA — Willingham 1 run (J. Adams kick)

BIX – Snyder 13 pass from Havens (kick failed)

BIX – Kirby 85 run (Kirby run)

BIX – McCormick 20 interception return (Hoffman kick)

BIX – Robb 1 run (Hoffman kick)

BIX – Kirby 20 run (Hoffman kick)

OWA – Hills 22 pass from Willingham (Dugan kick)

BIX – Robb 6 run (Hoffman kick)

BIX – McCormick 35 pass from Kirby (Hoffman kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

First Downs — BIX 20, OWA 12; Rushes-Yards — BIX 36-232, OWA 23-77; Comp-Att-Int — BIX 21-33-0, OWA 23-39-1. Passing Yards — BIX 268, OWA 300. Fumbles-Lost — BIX 4-3, OWA 4-2. Penalty Yards — BIX 5-55, OWA 8-76. Total Yards — BIX 500, OWA 377. Punts-Avg. — BIX 3-29.0, OWA 3-36.3.

Dean Ruhl, Tulsa World, contributed to this story.