Tishomingo pulls away late to beat CHS

It was a game Comanche head football coach Gary Robinson felt his team won everywhere but the scoreboard against Tishomingo in its district opener.

“When we got out on the field with them, I quickly realized we were the better team,” Robinson said. “When they scored touchdowns, it was mostly on big plays. Their first touchdown was a long pass. Then we get the ball and drive it down their throat at four and five yards a pop. We’re driving it down their throat. We’re just dominating and taking time off the clock. We go down and score. We did that all night long. They would score on a big play and then we would drive the ball down. We just didn’t finish at the end.”

The Indians suffered a setback when running back Erik Roy went down with a leg injury after making a big run.

“I think we would have gone down and scored on that drive if he hadn’t gotten hurt,” Robinson said. “He was down for a good 30 minutes and I thought our kids would respond, but for whatever reason, they just became really emotional and lost it from that point. But I’m proud of the boys. I’m proud of the coaching staff. They played hard and in my mind, we won the game. I felt like we were the better team and played a better game than they did, and just because of a few different circumstances, they just kind of ran away with it there in the fourth quarter.”

Comanche led 18-14 at the half, but Tishomingo would outscore the visitors 32-6 in the second half to take the win.

For Comanche, Roy had 24 carries for 124 yards before his injury. Klayton Smith finished out the game at running back and had 22 yards on nine carries.

Comanche quarterback Carson Vansickle was 12-of-21 for 148 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Receiver Cooper Dobbins also threw a pass and was 1-for-1 for eight yards and a touchdown. His touchdown pass came in the second quarter when he connected with Evan Gay. 

Vansickle had a 28-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Epperson in the third quarter and a 14-yard touchdown pass to Kanon Clift in the second quarter.

The Indians are preparing for homecoming this week against Coalgate. 

“Last year, we were up with two seconds to go in the half, and they threw that little ripple pass and scored on a long run and we just did not ever overcome that,” Robinson said. “That’s just football and those things happen. I felt like we were the better team last year and I feel like we are the better team this year and I feel like we ought to win this game and I expect to win Friday night.”

Coalgate is 1-3 overall and 0-1 in district play on the season. They lost to district foe Holdenville, 62-0, last week. 

Robinson thinks the key will be to keep the team focused. The incident with Tishomingo that led to a Tishomingo coach resigning is behind them, but a full week of homecoming festivities is ahead of them.

“There’s homecoming, there’s the parade, there’s the bonfire, there’s pep rallies and stuff like that,” Robinson said. “I want them to have fun as a high school kid, but at the same time, the main event is Friday night. We reminded them that without a football game there is no homecoming. Some of them are 17 and 18 years old and they get that and they understand. They are being mature about it. This district is still wide open.”

The homecoming parade starts at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, followed by the bonfire. There will be an Alumni Chili Supper in the high school commons room from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The alumni homecoming court will be presented at 5:45 p.m. and the high school homecoming court will be presented at 6:25 p.m. The game will kick off at 7 p.m.