Beggs mourns loss of player as the game goes on

Tulsa World

BEGGS — Five minutes and 13 seconds into Friday night’s game, Sperry missed a field goal attempt and the Golden Demons took over on their own 20-yard line.

The Beggs quarterback, however, just stood there behind the line of scrimmage with his hands on hips, watching the play clock tick down.

Ordinarily, No. 27 Kayson Toliver would have been lined up in the backfield. But his spot was empty. Beggs had only 10 players on the field.

The stands fell silent. No clapping. No cow bells. No fight songs. Just hundreds of people waiting for a play not to happen.

The referee threw a flag. The Sperry coach, as planned well in advance, declined the penalty. And Beggs sent a backup running back onto the field.

The game went on without No. 27. But not without his absence being deeply felt on both sides of the stadium.

The 18-year-old running back died Tuesday morning. His 39-year-old mother, Amy Leann Hall, is accused of shooting her son and sits in jail. Her two teenage daughters also suffered injuries at their Nuyaka home in eastern Okmulgee County.

Toliver was supposed be playing in the final regular season game of his senior year, capping off a standout year when he had already racked up 580 yards and five touchdowns.

Instead, Beggs turned the pregame into a sort of memorial for him, with the coin toss held at the 27-yard line instead of at midfield, flowers decorating the spot.

Sperry fans, forsaking their Pirates gear, wore white T-shirts emblazoned with golden No. 27s. And instead of booing as the Golden Demons took the field, Sperry fans gave a standing ovation.

The crowd filled both the home-side bleachers and the visitors section, spilling onto the grassy slope surrounding the western end zone.

“We are deeply moved by the Sperry community,” said Beggs Athletic Director Justin Been, “and what they’re doing for us.”

The crowd stayed quiet and somber for the pregame prayer, national anthem and coin toss. And fans seemed subdued even after kickoff, going completely silent again as the Beggs offense took the field for the first time and deliberately left Toliver’s spot empty.

But after the “missing man” play, as Beggs lined up for real, somebody in the Sperry crowd yelled “get ’em.” And the stands erupted into usual cheering, stomping and screaming.

The game went on. Beggs won, 35-21, to capture the district title.