The Guthrie Bluejays had the top-ranked Carl Albert on the ropes throughout the night only to see the Titans rally late on a fourth down play.
The rival game is always built as one of the state’s top games, and the 51st meeting was exactly that. Carl Albert tossed a 5-yard touchdown score with 45 seconds left to secure a 24-21 win.
The Titans, who have won seven of the past eight 5A state championships, secured their 20th straight win to stay unbeaten at 9-0. Guthrie suffered their first loss and fell to 7-1.
There were multiple firsts to take place in the game.
Both teams trailed for the first time in the 2023 season, and Guthrie surrendered their first touchdowns all season.
Guthrie led for the majority part of the game.
In the first quarter, senior Josh Varnell blocked a Titans punt to set the Jays up inside the 5-yard line. Two plays later, senior Jaylen Harper, who finished the night with 101 rushing yards, scored on a 2-yard run.
Guthrie increased the lead to 14-0 with a 10-play, 82-yard drive with a touch of trickery.
On a first-and-goal play from the six-yard line, everyone inside the stadium was not surprised to see Harper get the ball. However, everyone in the stadium was not ready for a Harper pass. The pass found a wide-open senior Eli Plagg.
Carl Albert was forced to punt on four of their five offensive drives in the first half.
On their last drive of the half, junior quarterback Kevin Sperry Jr., a talented four-star recruit who moved in from Dallas in the offseason, found a wide-open Marcus James, a junior transfer from Bishop McGuinness, for a 35-yard score to pull the Titans with seven, 14-7, at the half.
The lone third-quarter score was a 27-yard field goal by Ethan Spiwak and the Titans cut the lead down to four,14-10.
Carl Albert’s first lead, 17-14, came with 8:43 left in the game. On the first play from scrimmage, following a Titan block punt, senior running back Xavier Robinson scored on a 21-yard run.
Robinson, a three-star Oklahoma commitment, finished with 96 rushing yards on 17 carries.
On the ensuing drive, Guthrie responded with a 10-play, 48-yard drive. Senior quarterback Hayden Calvert scored from 1 yard out and the Jays were back in the lead, 21-17, with 4:08 left to play.
Carl Albert started their game-winning drive from their own 35-yard line. On the third play of the drive, Sperry delivered a perfect pass to junior Trystan Haynes, a four-star recruit with offers from all the major college programs, for a reception to the seven-yard line.
Robinson gained four yards on first down and one yard on second down as the stadium rose in excitement with the powerful Titan offense going head-to-head with the Jays’ powerful defense.
On third down, Sperry was hit for a loss back to the 5-yard line. And just like that, the game came down to one play.
Out of a timeout, Carl Albert sent Haynes, Robinson, and Sperry to the right. James, the tight end on the right, went left against the grain and received a poised pass from Sperry.
The Jays had 45 seconds left to find a miracle but could not manage a first down.
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