Kingston basketball teams hoop it up in tournament

After a one-year hiatus, the Kingston Redskins returned to the playoffs on Veterans Day this past Friday where they met an old foe, the Lindsay Leopards. Fall had suddenly transitioned to winter, as the temperatures dropped to freezing and a light snowfall greeted the Redskins as they traveled to western Oklahoma. Unfortunately for Kingston, they had a long drive home after a 48-27 loss ended the Redskins’ season.

Lindsay elected to receive the opening kickoff, and freshman Dutton Taylor got the game off to an inauspicious start for the Leopards, as he initially mishandled the kick and was tackled at the Lindsay 14. From there, however, the Leopards went to work, as junior quarterback Broty Ramming led the Lindsay offense on an 11-play drive that gained 74 of its 86 yards on the ground, and finished the drive off himself with a seven-yard quarterback keeper for the game’s first touchdown. With the extra point, Lindsay led halfway through the first quarter seven to nothing.

Kingston’s offense took a little longer to warm up. Kingston’s first drive was backed up by a second-down holding call, and Kingston wounduppuntingaftergoing three-and-out.

Fortunately for the Redskins, their defense had finally warmed up. Kingston forced Lindsay to a threeand-out of its own, as junior Delton O’Steen, back from injury, sacked Ramming for a fourteen-yard loss on third down to end the drive. This would force Lindsay’s only punt of the night.

With a chance to tie, Kingston’s offense initially had some success, picking up a first down as the first quarter ended. However, the first play of the second quarter was the last thing the Redskins needed, as senior Devin Tipton lost the football after a two-yard run andLindsayrecoveredforthe game’s first turnover at the Kingston 33.

The Leopards wasted little time cashing in on the Kingston mistake. On the third play of the ensuing drive, Ramming kept the ball and ran left around the end for a 23-yard score, giving Lindsay a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Kingston’s offense continued to sputter. The Redskins were unable to pick up a first down on their next drive and puntedaftergoingthree-andout again. Lindsay senior Andon Register had a great return on the punt to the Kingston31,butanunsportsmanlike conduct flag on LindsaybackedtheLeopards up to the Kingston 46.

With that great field position, the Leopards wasted no time in adding to their lead. On the third play of his next drive, Ramming found junior Price Stubblefield deep down the middle for a spectacular 37-yardtouchdownreception off a ball tipped by Kingston senior Klete Finley who was in coverage. With that score, Lindsay led 21-0 midway through the second quarter.

Down three scores, Kingston’s offense finally showed signs of life. Kingston marched 54 yards on 14 plays, driving to the Lindsay 6. There, however, on fourthand-two with 37 seconds left in the half, Kingston’s coaching staff pulled out a trick play. While Finley walked back and forth across the line as though he were calling an audible, the center snapped the ball directly to Tipton lined up in the backfield, who started to run left and then pitched the ball to junior Sammy McNiel, who had lined up in the right slot, for a reverse. However, the pitch was behind McNiel, who couldn’t corral the football, andKingstonwoundupturning the ball over on downs. Lindsay downed the ball on their next play, and Kingston trailed 21-0 at the half.

The Redskins emerged late from the locker room for the second half, but their second half offense fared no better initially than it had in the first half. Kingston took the opening kick and promptly went three-andout, with Lindsay junior Shane Jones sacking Finley on third down to kill the drive and force a punt.

Lindsay’s response took a big step towards putting the game out of reach. Lindsay took over at its own 2 and spent over six minutes and 15 plays to travel 76 yards to the end zone. Senior running back Ty Ferguson cut left on a run up the middle and covered the final 18 yards to the end zone to put Lindsay up 28-0 late in the third quarter.

Down four scores, desperate to keep their season alive, the Redskins’ offense finally broke the shutout. Taking over at his own 45, on the first play of the drive Finley found a streaking sophomore Cash Walker down the left sideline, and Walker scored a 55-yard touchdown to cut the Lindsay lead to 28-7.

Needing a stop to give the Redskins a chance to climb back into the game, Kingston’s defense was unable to hold. While the Leopards started off backed up on their own 18, junior running back Caycen Work flipped the field with a 69-yard run to the Kingston13.Fourplayslater, Ramming finished off the drive from two yards out on a quarterback keeper to put the lead back up to 35-7 near the end of the third quarter.

With time and hope running out, the Redskins were not quitting. Kingston’s offense responded with another scoring drive, moving smartly down the field until Finley found Walker again for another touchdown pass, this time for seven yards. Lindsay blocked the extra point, and Kingston now trailed 35-13 early in the fourth quarter.

While the offense was fighting back, the Kingston defensejustcouldnotstopthe Leopards’ attack. The first play of the next drive, Dutton Taylor flipped the field with a 51-yard run to the Kingston 23. The next play, Taylor took it the rest of the way, scoring on a 23-yard run to make the lead 42-13 Lindsay.

Kingston’s offense continued to strike back. Starting at their own 40, the Redskins needed only a minute to march down the field, and FinleyfoundCashWalkerfor his third touchdown reception of the night, this time from 26 yards out, cutting the lead back to 42-20, with 8:29 left in the game.

Lindsay’s offense came back out, led by reserves now,andtheRedskinsfinally seemed to have come up with a stop, as Lindsay lined up to punt at the Kingston 40, with starting quarterback Ramming back in to punt. However, the Leopards were running a fake, and Ramming pitched a shovel pass to Stubblefield, who scored from 40 yards out. After a missed extra point, Lindsay ledagainbyfourtouchdowns, 48-20, with just under 5 minutes left.

Kingston’s offense came out firing again, for what would be the Redskins’ final drive of the season. Finley capped off a 54-yard drive with a one-yard run to score the game’s final points, trimming the lead to 48-20 with 33 seconds left. That would be the final score, as Lindsay simply kneeled the ball one more time to run out the clock and end the Redskins’ season with a 48-20 loss.

Finley led all passers, completing 12 of his 20 attempts for 180 yards and 3 touchdowns, all to Cash Walker, who had 103 yards on his five receptions to lead all receivers. Lindsay’s Ramming led all rushers, with 100 yards on his 16 attempts and three scores. Finley led the Redskins in rushing, gaining 59 yards on 19 carries and one score. Defensively, the Redskins struggled, with the Leopards scoring on all but one of their real drives (excluding the one-play drives at the end of each half), and most of their yardage coming on the ground.

Kingston ends the season with a 5-6 record overall, although the Redskins went 5-2 in district play. Meanwhile, Lindsay improves to 8-3 overall, and moves on to face Millwood (7-0, 10-1) in Millwood next Friday night for the second round of the playoffs.

E X T R A P O INT S This game makes it clear that even with Kingston’s vast improvement over the course of this season, the Redskins still have a lot of work to do. In many ways, Lindsay looked a great deal like Kingston, except much better. The Leopards’ leading rusher was their quarterback, who ran out of a spread formation, and only passedwhenhehadto.That’s plainly Kingston’s blueprint under the current coaching staff, and the Redskins got a good look at what a successful version of their offense looked like.

Defensively, the Redskins were clearly challenged by teams with a good running quarterback. Going forward, this young team must find answers when faced with a quarterback who poses a threat with his legs as well as his arm. Kingston’s inability to stop Lindsay’s offense is what cost the Redskins any chanceatstayinginthegame in the first half.

Around the district, it was a rough night for District 2A4. District champ Davis ended its season with a 12-6 loss to visiting Frederick. Second place Holdenville was blown out at home 49-14 by Community Christian. Fourth place Atoka was drilled 54-7 by undefeated Washington. Overall, not a great showing for the district in the first round of the playoffs.