MUSKOGEE-- There was not much on the line Friday night except pride and the Ponca City Wildcats earned some big pride points by defeating the Muskogee Roughers 35-28.

One thing that was a source of pride for the Wildcats was that they executed the game plan very well, which amounts to moving the ball on offense and grinding down the game clock in the process.

Ponca City ran 66 offensive plays to Muskogee’s 41, an indication that the game plan worked.

Coach Scott Harmon was quick to point that out as he was sharing his thoughts.

“We just played pretty well,” he said. “We made some plays in the passing game and controlled the ball to keep their powerful offense on the sidelines.”

“The defense caused two turnovers and we had to deal with some injuries on both sides of the ball. Everyone stepped up and went out with a great win on the road.”

In addition, Harmon said he was happy for the senior players on the team, because Friday’s victory gave them 12 career wins in a Wildcat uniform. This year’s seniors were freshmen when Harmon took over the reins as head coach. There were no victories their freshman season, but then they experienced 5 as sophomores, 3 in last year’s COVID-19 stricken season and 4 this year.

The two turnovers the coach mentioned came at the beginning of the game and were crucial to the Wildcats’ success. Devin Zimmerschied intercepted a pass on Muskogee’s first possession, which led to a touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, Muskogee fumbled and the Wildcats’ recovered, which led to a second score. Muskogee trailed 14-0 early in the game.

The Roughers have a very explosive offensive attack, which is led by the passing arm of young quarterback Jamarian Ficklin. When it was all said and done, Ficklin had completed 21 of 33 passing attempts for 312 yards. He successfully threw to five different receivers. Jayden Bell caught nine passes for 125 yards and Kayden McGee caught six passes for 93 yards.

Muskogee wasn’t as successful running the ball, but did pick up 100 yards on 20 plays. One can easily see why Harmon was happy that his team controlled the ball as well as it did.

A big contributor to Ponca City success in controlling the ball was running back Blake Bristow, who had a banner night carrying the ball 40 times and picking up 236 yards in the process. The Wildcats’ final touchdown drive went 67 yards and consisted of 13 plays. Bristow carried the ball on 12 of the plays and gained all but three of the yards. That drive consumed seven minutes.

Quarterback Tay Moore completed seven of 12 passing attempts and 85 yards. Ayden Kreger was his most successful target, catching three passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. All in all Ponca City had 383 yards total offense, 298 coming on the ground.

First downs were basically even, with Ponca City earning 20 and Muskogee 19.

The win gave the Wildcats a 4-6 record for the season and fifth place in District 6AII-2 with a 3-4 mark.