The quarterfinal loss suffered by the Waurika Eagles certainly was hard to take, but it should not take away from one of the best football seasons in school history.
Waurika finished the season with an 11-1 record and that mark ties for the fifth most wins in a season for the Eagles.
The Eagles were ranked ninth in the final Class B poll by The Daily Oklahoman. The last time a Waurika team finished ranked in the top 10 was in 1997 when the Eagles were ranked seventh in the final rankings.
The 11 victories were the most since Waurika put together 12 wins in the 1988 season.
Waurika was undefeated in the regular season and that has happened only five other times in the 99-year history of the sport at Waurika.
Photo by Adam Brinson
Not even the state title team in 1951 finished the regular season with an unblemished record.
Two of the unbeaten seasons came in 1928 and 1933, which were before the playoff system began in Oklahoma. The records for those two years feature some tie scores in the results.
The 1928 team finished 7-0-5 and in 1933 the Eagles were 8-0-2.
The 2018 squad claimed the second district title since beginning eight-man play.
The season-ending loss in the quarterfinals marked the first quarterfinal playoff appearance by a Waurika team since the 1996 squad defeating Ringling, 14-6, before falling in the semifinal round.
In Waurika’s 11 wins they have played beyond halftime only three times. Waurika was involved in a total of 10 games that did not go the full four quarters.
The Eagles outscored opponents by an average of 49.3 to 13.3. Waurika scored an incredible 498 points in the first half against their opponents while surrendering only 146 – and 52 of those points came in the loss to Davenport.
Opponents only scored 14 points in the second half against the Eagles, but that is mainly due to most games ending at halftime because of the 45-point mercy rule.
Certainly, the 2018 squad coached by first-year mentor Joe Allen accomplished a great deal. But, there were also some outstanding individual performances during the season.
Turner Mora was outstanding directing the Eagle offense from the quarterback slot. The talented junior signal-caller finished with 24 rushing touchdowns, two kickoff returns for scores and 18 two-point conversion runs for a total of 192 points during the season. He also threw 12 touchdown passes during the season.
Colton Bryant, a senior running back for the Eagles was the second leading scorer on the team. He rushed for 15 touchdowns and had three touchdown receptions. He also returned three interceptions for scores and had 20 two-point conversions.
The longest run from scrimmage for a score during the season came in the Eagles’ critical win at Wilson. Zachary Brown raced 80 yards for a score to top the list of long-distance touchdown runs.
Bryant and Mora also had long scoring runs. Bryant had a 78-yard run against Grandfield, while Mora scored from 71 yards out against Bray-Doyle.
The longest scoring pass play came against Central High when Mora connected with Hunter Wesberry from 44 yards out.
The Eagles had only two kickoff returns all season and Mora had both of those. A 75-yard return against Carnegie was the longest of the season.
Bryant’s 50-yard interception return against Ryan was the longest of three interceptions returned for a touchdown and Bryant had all three of them.
Waurika returned five opponents’ fumbles for scores. Edwin Garcia’s 55-yard scoop-and-score against Caddo was the longest return of the year.
The Eagles will try to build on the success of the 2018 campaign next season and will have seven returning starters to help provide some stability for the 2019 squad, which will likely be tabbed to repeat as district champions.
