Indians fall in homecoming heartbreaker

Coalgate scored with 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter to rally for a 26-21 win over Comanche last Friday night.

The Indians had built a 21-7 halftime lead, but couldn’t find the endzone in the second half, allowing the Wildcats to claw their way back.

“First, I have to tell my coaches how much I appreciate their hard work because it’s obvious to everybody that we’re a little short on numbers,” said Gary Robinson, head coach. “We’ve got a lot of injuries and other things happening and we’re having to piece things together right now. Those guys are doing an outstanding job patching things together, not even so much X’s and O’s, but we’ve got kids playing out of position. We’ve got a left tackle playing quarterback.”

The left tackle was Levi Slovak, who was called into service early in the second quarter following the starting quarterback’s ejection stemming from an on-field altercation.

The Indians were up 7-0 at that point. Slovak did have a memorable first throw as his first pass turned into a 19-yard touchdown pass to Rylan White that gave the Indians a 14-0 lead with 7:18 to go in the half.

The Wildcats came back to cut the lead to 14-7 with just under three minutes remaining. Comanche, however, would get one more score in on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Slovak to Cooper Dobbins with 14 seconds left in the half.

The Indians’ first score of the half came on a 2-yard run by running back Klayton Smith that gave his team the early lead.

Coalgate would cut the lead to 21-14 in the third quarter on a one-yard run

The Wildcats scored again to open the fourth quarter, but Comanche blew up the extra point attempt and held a 21-20 edge.

Coalgate would make the most of their last possession when they scored on a 22-yard touchdown pass over the middle to give them the first lead of the game. The Wildcats led just 28 seconds the entire game, but it was the last 28 seconds.

Comanche had a glimmer of hope on the ensuing kickoff before fumbling the ball near midfield where Coalgate recovered.

“I think we let another one slip away,” Robinson said. “It’s just one of those things. I think we are playing better than we have in the past. Our offensive line has been dominating the past two games. We’re getting four or five yards a run and marching down the field and scoring touchdowns. But, there are other times when we get down to the 20 and we’re not finishing for whatever reason. Those are the drives that are kind of letting it slip away. We’ve got to learn to finish and we’ve got to learn to win.”

It doesn’t get easier for Comanche this week as the Indians travel to Dibble. The Blue Devils are 4-1 and on a four-game winning streak, including a win over defending state champion Davis.

“They’ve got the two best backs I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Robinson said. “The week after they play us, they play Holdenville and that’s probably going to be for the district championship.”

Comanche dropped to 1-4 and 0-2 in district play with the loss to Coalgate.