It was a remarkable night at Bob Givens Sports Complex last Friday night as the Ryan Cowboys rolled to an 84-38 victory over District B-4 foe Empire.
Scoring 84 points in a game is quite a feat, but it is incredible when you discover Ryan scored all 84 points in the final three quarters of play.
The Cowboys will try to maintain the momentum gained with the victory over the Bulldogs when they make the short drive up Highway 81 to battle Waurika tomorrow night (Friday). Kickoff at Cy Sloan Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m.
Both Waurika and Ryan enter the contest with a 1-0 mark in district play. Waurika is 5-0 overall, while Ryan is 4-2.
Last Friday’s first quarter was defined by two long drives by both Empire and Ryan that resulted in no scoring.
Ryan drove to the Empire 15 after getting an interception by Kalen Weldon on the first series of the game, but turned the ball over on downs.
Empire took over and took 16 plays to go from the Empire 19 to the Ryan 19, but on the next two plays the Ryan defense came up big and handed the Bulldogs losses of nine and two yards to turn the ball back to the Cowboys on downs late in the first quarter.
This gave the Cowboys their worst field position of the night at the Ryan 30, but the Cowboys methodically took the ball and drove the 70 yards for a score. Skylar Parkhill ran the final nine yards for the score and Dallas Fristoe ran for the two points to give Ryan an 8-0 lead with 7:50 to play in the second quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff the Cowboys perfectly executed a pooch kick and Weldon pounced on the ball before Empire could field it to put the Cowboys back in business.
The Cowboys took quick advantage of the Bulldog miscue and drove 38 yards in just three plays. Parkhill rushed for all 38 yards – the final carry covering five yards for the score. Parkhill ran for the two points and quickly Ryan was up, 16-0, with 7:06 left in the half.
Empire took possession at its own 48 yard line after an onside kick attempt and this time the Bulldogs answered with a scoring drive of 52 yards on eight plays. Peyton Booth ran the final 20 yards for the score and quarterback Mitchell Monteith ran for the two-point conversion to cut the Ryan lead in half at 16-8 with 4:46 left to play.
Possibly the play of the game for the Cowboys came on the ensuing kickoff when Travis Fristoe took the ball in the middle of the field at the Ryan 35 and maneuvered his way through a wall of tacklers and finally cut out to the left side for a clear path to the end zone. Parkhill ran for the two points and Ryan had a 24-8 lead with 4:40 left in the half.
The Bulldogs had an answer, however, as Empire took possession at its own 41-yard line following another short kickoff. Two straight running plays produced first downs and then Monteith found Mcray Weber wide open for a 37-yard touchdown pass. The run failed, but the Ryan lead was cut to 24-14 with 3:36 left in the half.
The Cowboys were not through scoring, however – not by a long shot as it turned out.
Ryan took the ball at the Empire 46 after another onside kickoff attempt and promptly drove 46 yards on seven plays for a touchdown. Grayson Tomberlin ran up the middle from the one-yard line for the score and then passed to Weldon for the two points to give Ryan a 32-14 advantage with just 16 seconds before the break.
As the third quarter got under way it looked like Ryan would take command as they drove 47 yards in four plays for a score. Parkhill got his third rushing touchdown of the night as he scampered 16 yards for the score. Parkhill ran for the two-point conversion and Ryan held a 40-14 lead with 10:33 left in the third quarter.
Empire, however, answered with a seven-play, 53-yard drive with much of the work being done by Booth. He got the score on a three-yard run and Booth also ran for the two points to cut the Ryan lead to 40-22 with 8:10 left in the third quarter.
The two squads then exchanged fumbles. Weldon raced to recover the snap over the quarterback’s head and this gave Ryan another short field at the Empire 33 yard line.
On the first play, Parkhill raced 33 yards for the score and then Tomberlin found Fristoe on a two-point pass completion to put Ryan in front, 48-22, with 7:37 left in the third quarter.
Once again Empire proved its ability to score as they took the ensuing kickoff from the Empire 33 to the Ryan 41 in four plays. On third-and-six, Monteith found Lucas Contreras on a 41-yard touchdown pass and Daniel Alvarez caught a two-point conversion pass from Montheith to narrow the gap to 48-30 with 5:56 left to play.
That would be as close as the Bulldogs would get the rest of the night.
On Ryan’s next drive facing fourth and six at its own 49-yard line, the Cowboys pulled off a fake punt by snapping the ball to Parkhill and he broke loose for a 51-yard touchdown run. Fristoe ran for the two points and with 3:48 left in the third quarter, the Cowboys held a 56-30 advantage.
The Cowboys really put any hopes of an Empire rally to rest on the Bulldogs’ next drive.
Fristoe picked off an errant Bulldog pass in the middle of the field and quickly broke into open field on the left side and went 60 yards for a touchdown. The run failed, but now Ryan led, 62-30, with 2:32 left to play in the third quarter.
The Cowboys finally another stop on Empire’s next drive and took the ball over on downs at the Ryan 39.
In three plays, the Cowboys were on the scoreboard again. Justin Williams took a short pass from Tomberlin and took off on a 66-yard touchdown pass with 11:53 left in the game. Weldon caught a two-point conversion from Tomberlin to give Ryan a 70-30 lead.
Empire did not quit and on the ensuing drive traveled 62 yards on just two plays. Alvarez was on the receiving end of a 33-yard pass by Monteith for the score. Brandon Mendenall caught a conversion pass from Monteith and with 11:41 left to play, Ryan was in front, 70-38.
After holding the Bulldogs on the next drive, the Cowboys took over on downs at the Empire 25.
It took only two plays with Parkhill carrying the ball to the 10 on first down and then scoring on the next play. Tomberlin ran for the two-point conversion and the Cowboys were comfortably in front, 78-38, with 10:07 left in the game.
Empire put together the longest drive of the night moving from its own seven yard line to the Ryan 10 in 12 plays and helped along by a 15-yard penalty on the Cowboys.
On second down and goal from the 10, Monteith did not see Parkhill and the Cowboy senior picked the ball off at the one and went from the left side to the middle of the field and finally down the right sideline making a nifty move on the last Bulldog defender to prevent the score and danced into the end zone for a 99-yard touchdown return.
That put the Cowboys in front, 84-38, and with 4:48 left in the game the contest ended on the mercy rule.
Parkhill had a career night with 238 yards rushing and six rushing touchdowns. He also recorded nine tackles and had the game-ending interception.
Weldon had a good night on defense with five tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception. Walter Snider, Fristoe and Tomberlin led the Cowboys in tackles with 13 stops each.
COWBOY CORRAL: Ryan now leads the series with Empire, 4-1, but this was the first meeting of eight-man teams….The 84 points scored is the third most in school history behind 97 scored against Devol in 1924 and 92 points scored against Comanche in 1922…The 84 points is the most ever scored by Ryan on the field where the Cowboys currently play breaking the previous high of 80 scored against Pernell in 1985….Parkhill’s interception return is now the longest in school history and broke the record of 94 yards set just last year by Dawson Tomberlin against Bray-Doyle….Because both teams used the onside or short kickoff most of the game much of the contest was played near midfield…Empire’s worst starting field position was its own seven-yard line, but only three drives out of 13 possessions started inside the Bulldog 30-yard line….Ryan had 10 possessions in the game and only three of those started inside the Ryan 40….Parkhill’s 238 yards rushing is the career high for the Cowboy senior and ranks as the 22nd best rushing total in school history….The six rushing touchdowns scored by Parkhill is the second most in school history behind the nine rushing touchdowns by Grant Carter in a 2015 game against Cement….Parkhill scored 48 total points in the contest and that is the second most in school history moving ahead of Nelson Turnbow’s 42 points scored in a 1940 game against Noble, but behind Carter’s total of 54 scored against Cement….Counting return yards and receiving yards, Parkhill finished the game with 351 all-purpose yards….The combined number of points scored – 122 – is the second most in school history behind the 138 points scoring in a 78-60 loss at Grandfield in 1997….The 84 points scored in this game is the fourth most in any game in Oklahoma this season behind Graham-Dustin’s 94 points in Zero Week and Tyrone’s 86 in Week 3 and Destiny Christian’s 86 points in Week 5.
Ryan Game in Figures
EHS RHS
First Downs 23 18
Yards Rushing 39-166 42-335
Yards Passing 259 75
Passes 16-35 3-6
Passes Int. By 0 3
Fumbles, Lost 1-1 1-1
Punts 0-0 1-50
Penalties 3-40 7-60
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Empire 0 14 16 8–38
Ryan 0 32 30 22–84
SECOND QUARTER
RYAN – Skylar Parkhill 9 run (Travis Fristoe run), 7:50
RYAN – Parkhill 5 run (Parkhill run), 7:06
EMPIRE – Peyton Booth 20 run (Mitchell Monteith run), 4:46
RYAN – Fristoe 65 kickoff return (Parkhill run), 4:40
EMPIRE – Mcray Weber 37 pass from Monteith (run failed), 3:36
RYAN – Grayson Tomberlin 1 run (Kalen Weldon pass from Tomberlin), :16.4
THIRD QUARTER
RYAN – Parkhill 16 run (Parkhill run), 10:33
EMPIRE – Booth 3 run (Booth run), 8:10
RYAN – Parkhill 33 run (Fristoe pass from Tomberlin), 7:37
EMPIRE – Lucas Contreras 41 pass from Monteith (Daniel Alvarez pass from Monteith), 5:56
RYAN – Parkhill 51 run (Fristoe run), 3:48
RYAN – Fristoe 60 interception return (run failed), 2:32
FOURTH QUARTER
RYAN – Justin Williams 66 pass from Tomberlin (Weldon pass from Tomberlin), 11:53
EMPIRE – Alvarez 33 pass from Onteith (Brandon Mendenall pass from Monteith), 11:41
RYAN – Parkhill 10 run (Tomberlin run), 10:07
RYAN – Parkhill 99 interception return, (no try), 4:48
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Empire: Rushing – Booth 17-89, Jackson Carrio 15-80, Monteith 6-13, Team 1- -16; Passing – Monteith 16-34-259-3; Contreras 0-1-0-0; Receiving – Alvarez 6-103, Mccray Weber 6-65, Contreras 3-77, Booth 1-14.
Ryan: Rushing – Parkhill 21-238, Tomberlin 13-106, Travis Fristoe 8-19; Passing – Tomberlin 3-6-79-0; Receiving – Williams 1-66; Parkhill 1-11, Fristoe 1- -2; Tackles – Walter Snider 13, Fristoe 13, Tomberlin 13, Pacen Wiest 12, Parkhill 9, Williams 8, Andrew Villerreal 7, Gunner Phillips 6, Weldon 5, Trey Bryant 4, Sam Brown 2, Raesh Casebolt 1.
