The Okmulgee Bulldog varsity football team evened their season record at 1-1 last Friday night with a 42- 18 thrashing of the visiting Wewoka Tigers at historic Harmon Field.

Prior to the non-district contest, Okmulgee Public Schools held their Homecoming festivities, as senior Aaliyah Harrison was crowned the 2021-22 All-Sports Homecoming Queen.

Following the crowning, the Bulldogs took the field and looked to deter any chances of Wewoka spoiling Harrison’s special night.

After sputtering offensively on their first series, the Okmulgee squad overcame an early 6-0 deficit to outscore the visiting Tigers 42-12 over the final 39:09 to walk away with the convincing victory.

The Bulldogs were originally scheduled to have this coming week off due to opening their 2021 season during ‘Zero Week’ on August 27, but will be in action in Week 3 due to having their non-district game September 3 at Antlers canceled due to COVID-19 issues at OPS that week.

Instead of using this week as an Off Week to get better prepared for their District 2A-7 opener next Friday against 2-time defending Class 2A state champion Metro Christian, the Bulldogs will welcome Tulsa’s Crossover Prep to town for a non-district contest.

Friday’s home game against Crossover Prep is slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff at historic Harmon Field.

Wewoka opened the scoring in last Friday’s non-district battle at the 3:09 mark of the first quarter on a 59-yard TD run by quarterback Aaron Hamilton. The try for two was unsuccessful, giving the visitors the early 6-0 advantage.

The Bulldogs had an answer for the Wewoka score, as Ronan Martin raced around the left side of the Okmulgee offensive line and rocketed down the sideline 31 yards to paydirt with 49 seconds left in the opening frame. Joseph Robertson called his own number on the conversion try, crossing the goal line to put the Okmulgee gridiron squad in front, 8-6, after the first 12 minutes of action.

Wewoka went back in front, 12-8, on a 22-yard pass from Hamilton to Brayden Davis at the 6:12 mark of the second stanza, while Robertson’s 3-yard run at 3:12 of the second put the Bulldogs in front to stay, 14-12.

The Okmulgee squad took a 22-12 lead into the halftime break when DeWayne Parks scored from seven yards out with 58 seconds left in the first half. Robertson then completed the 2-point conversion pass to Gavin McCurdy to extend the Okmulgee lead to 10 at the intermission.

The next Okmulgee score occurred at the 8:43 mark of the third quarter on a 1-yard run by Martin. The try for two was unsuccessful to push the Bulldog lead to 28-12. The TD run by Martin was set up by a 59-yard punt return by McCurdy.

With 4:21 left in the third, Hamilton connected with Jackson Kincade on a 35-yard aerial strike to cut the Okmulgee lead to 28-18.

The Bulldogs put away any comeback chances by the Tigers with a pair of scores in the final frame.

A 1-yard run by Robertson at the 9:08 mark of the fourth quarter pushed the Okmulgee lead to 34-18, then Parks capped off the 42-18 victory with a 39- yard scamper and successful conversion run with 7:16 left in regulation.

The Okmulgee defense forced a turnover with an interception at the Okmulgee 7 late in the fourth quarter. Following a 48-yard run by Kelton Patterson, Robertson executed a QB kneel to run out the remaining time off the game clock to preserve the 42-18 victory for the host Okmulgee Bulldogs.

Most of the offensive yardage for the Bulldogs last Friday came on the ground, finishing with 327 yards on 38 carries.

Robertson was the top rusher for Okmulgee, finishing with 121 yards on 14 carries and two scores. Martin was next in the rushing column with 82 yards on 15 carries and 2 TDs, followed by Parks with 5 carries for 62 yards and two scores.

Besides Patterson’s 48-yard gallop near the end of the contest, the only other Okmulgee ballcarrier in the ground game was McCurdy with three carries for 14 yards.

Robertson completed 2 of 6 pass attempts in the contest - a 7-yard pass to D’Mari Harp and a 3-yard pass to McCurdy.

Okmulgee 42, Wewoka 18

Wewoka: 6 - 6 - 6 - 0 (18)

Okmulgee: 8 - 14 - 6 - 14 (42)

First Quarter

Wewoka - Aaron Hamilton, 59-yard run (Pass Failed); 3:09

Okmulgee - Ronan Martin, 31-yard run (Joseph Robertson run); 0:49

Second Quarter

Wewoka - Brayden Davis, 22-yard pass from Hamilton (Run Failed); 6:12

Okmulgee - Robertson, 3-yard run (Run Failed); 3:12

Okmulgee - DeWayne Parks, 7-yard run (Gavin McCurdy pass from Robertson); 0:58

Third Quarter

Okmulgee - Martin, 1-yard run (Run Failed); 8:43

Wewoka - Jackson Kincade, 35-yard pass from Hamilton (Pass Failed); 4:21

Fourth Quarter

Okmulgee - Robertson, 1-yard run (Pass Failed); 9:08

Okmulgee - Parks, 39-yard run (Parks run); 7:16

Team Stats

First Downs: Wewoka 14; Okmulgee 13

Rushing: Wewoka 26-235; Okmulgee 38-327

Passing: 9-22-3 109; Okmulgee 2-6-2 10

Total Offense: Wewoka 48-344; Okmulgee 44-337

Fumbles: Wewoka 3-1; Okmulgee 1-0

Penalties: Wewoka 11-77; Okmulgee 14-87

Okmulgee Individual Stats

Rushing: Joseph Robertson 14-121, 2 TDs; Ronan Martin 15-82, 2 TDs; DeWayne Parks 5-62, 2 TDs; Kelton Patterson 1-48; Gavin McCurdy 3-14.

Passing: Joseph Robertson 2-6-2 10.

Receiving: D’Mari Harp 1-7; Gavin McCurdy 1-3.