Edmond Santa Fe pulls away to beat Westmoore
MOORE — When Edmond Santa Fe receiver Trace Ford scored on a 22-yard pass from Kanan Hansen early in the second quarter, nothing at that time seemed out of the ordinary.
An otherwise ugly first half in the red zone made that simple scoring play look outlandish.
Edmond Santa Fe finally began converting its red zone chances in the second half, and its balanced offense took control with at 24-6 victory at Westmoore on Thursday.
Both teams were excellent in reaching the red zone, but they were ultimately horrific converting the chances into points. Santa Fe reached the red zone on all eight of its possessions, but it scored on only one of its first five (fumble, two turnover on downs, and a blocked field goal).
Westmoore wasn’t any better and had two redzone interceptions (the first ending the first half) that sealed the game. Before the interceptions, its opening drive ended in a turnover on downs followed by a missed 33-yard field goal.
“Our defense has played their tails off all year, and they are physical and fast,” Santa Fe coach Kyle White said. “Offensively we should have had a lot more points, but Westmoore can play defense well, too. Moving forward we have to capitalize on that.”
Santa Fe’s offense started to sustain its drives during the second half, which ultimately took a toll on the Westmoore defense. Junior running back Tyler Travis rushed 37 times for 143 yards.
Kanan Hansen, who was knocked out of the previous week’s game at Broken Arrow, returned strong at quarterback Thursday. Hansen was 12 of 17 with 178 yards and three touchdowns, and he also rushed for a 22-yard score in the third quarter.
“What a tough kid, so tough,” White said. “He’s a competitor, a baller and is one of our leaders. Hard-nosed kid, and I could not be more proud of him for the grit and determination he showed for this football team.”
On paper, both teams moved the ball well in the first half with equal distribution — Santa Fe with 93 yards rushing to 94 yards passing, and Westmoore with 83 yards rushing to 78 yards passing.
Alas, both teams combined for a 13 penalties for 107 yards and two ejections. Westmoore had penalties in its first two drives that took it out of field goal range, and Santa Fe had an unnecessary block in the back penalty at the goal line that negated a touchdown. The Santa Fe drive subsequently ended with Westmoore’s Tre’Von Pierre blocking a 24-yard field goal.
Westmoore’s final first half drive summed up the undisciplined play that plagued both sides in the first half. An apparent three-and-out was nullified when Edmond Santa Fe roughed the punter on fourth down. With the Westmoore punter injured from the previous penalty, Westmoore faked a punt with its backup on the next fourth down and then ran into the red zone on the subsequent play, only to be pushed back out of field goal range with two penalties.
However, Westmoore was back inside the Santa Fe eight-yard line after a third-down targeting penalty on a screen pass (plus a reactionary fight that saw the two ejections). But quarterback Dayton Wolfe threw an interception on the next play, ending the half and the home side’s best scoring chance.