This weekend, the Redskins went back on the road, visiting the district doormat, the Little Axe Indians. Kingston looked to improve to 2-1 in the district with a win over the hapless Indians, and sure enough, blew out Little Axe for a 52-6 victory on a warm October evening.
Kingston received the opening kick and took over at its own 35. The Redskins needed only one play for pay dirt, as junior quarterback Klete Finley swung a pass out to senior Braden Matchen in the left flat, and Matchen ran right through the Little Axe defenders for a 65-yard touchdown. A missed extra point left Kingston up 6-0 less than a minute into the game.
Having started off poorly, the Indians only went downhill from there. On the kickoff, the Indians inexplicably failed to field the ball at all, and Kingston sophomore Delton O’Steen recovered the ball for Kingston at the Little Axe 26. Finley then threw a pass to the right flat, and senior Cole Morgan carried the ball 21 yards to the Little Axe 5. From there, senior Brandon Watson took it in, and after three offensive plays, Kingston led 12-0, less than 90 seconds into the contest.
Little Axe successfully fielded the ensuing kickoff, and its offense even picked up a couple of first downs, with the Indians driving to the Redskins’ 30. There, Little Axe faced fourth-and-three, and tried to convert with junior quarterback Michael Carter on a quarterback keeper. However, Kingston senior Brycen Ellisor was unblocked on the play, and tackled Carter for a two-yard loss, forcing a turnover on downs.
Taking over on their own 32, the Redskins finally had to put together a real drive. Kingston only needed six plays to cover the 68 yards to the end zone, as Finley finished the drive off with a ten-yard pass to freshman receiver Eli Oliger for the Redskins’ third score of the game, and the Redskins led 18-0 late in the first quarter.
Kingston wasn’t done for the quarter, however. Junior Damon Rowe’s kickoff was initially mishandled by Little Axe sophomore Jasmine Byrum, who then started a return, but Rowe finished the play off by stripping the ball away, and Kingston took over on the Little Axe 26. Finley took a quarterback keeper to the Little Axe 5, and Watson finished off the drive by scoring his second rushing touchdown. Kingston finally scored an extra point and led 25-0.
Little Axe wasn’t done botching up kick returns. On the ensuing kick, Indians senior Lakota Kirkpatrick-Reynolds fielded the kick and returned it to the Little Axe 37, but promptly coughed up the ball. O’Steen recovered the fumble for Kingston, and the Redskins were back in business again. Kingston only needed five plays to score this time, as Finley threaded the needle to senior receiver Hayden McKinney for a seven-yard score for the first play of the second quarter. Another missed extra point had Kingston up 31-0 early in the second period. Down five scores, Little
Down five scores, Little Axe managed to show signs of life. Starting at their own 26, the Indians picked up their first third-down conversion of the game on a pass interference penalty and advanced the ball to the Little Axe 47. However, three errant passes from Carter turned the ball over on downs there, as Little Axe was unable to convert again.
Taking over at the Indians’ 47, Watson covered half the ground to the end zone on the first play with a rush to the Little Axe 24. Two plays later, and after a Kingston false start, McKinney outfought Little Axe sophomore Maddox Woods for a 29-yard touchdown reception. Kingston led 38-0 with nearly seven minutes left in the first half.
The Indians once again were unable to move the ball well, going three-andout and punting for the first time all night. That punt was returned for a touchdown by McKinney, but his score was called back on a holding penalty, starting the Redskins at their own 30. Five running plays - four of them by Watson - aided by a late hit penalty were enough to cover the 70 yards, and Watson completed the drive with his third touchdown of the night on a ten-yard run, and Kingston led 45-0.
Little Axe came out and tried again, but the Indians simply couldn’t get out of their own way. After he picked up a first down with his legs, Carter threw a desperate pass over the middle as he scrambled but was picked off by sophomore Rhett Coble with just under two minutes left in the half.
Up seven scores, Kingston sent in their backups on offense, and this led to the sole highlights of the game for Little Axe. After he mishandled the first snap of the drive but recovered the ball, freshman backup quarterback Brayden Ellisor pitched on second down to senior running back Aiden Norwood, but the pitch bounced off Norwood’s hands, and Little Axe recovered the fumble at Kingston’s 46. With senior Kody Dellinger replacing Carter as the Indians’ quarterback after Carter was injured on the drive, Little Axe quickly marched downfield against Kingston’s backups, and Dellinger found sophomore Kyler Reese in the end zone on the last play of the half to end the shutout. After a failed two-point conversion, Kingston led 45-6 at half.
The second half featured Kingston’s backups, who cleaned things up considerably after the misfires of the end of the first half. Ellisor led his group to a score on their first drive of the third quarter, with Norwood aton-ing for his mishandled pitch with a 15-yard touchdown run to put Kingston up 52-6. A running clock shortened the second half, and that turned out to be the final margin, and Kingston celebrated another district win.
Finley had a perfect passing day, completing all five of his attempts for 132 yards and 4 touchdowns. Watson led all rushers with 132 yards on his 13 carries, and 3 scores on the ground. Matchen led all receivers in yardage with his 65-yard touchdown catch, while McKinney’s two touchdown grabs led Kingston’s receivers in catches. Overall, Kingston’s offense scored a touchdown on all seven of the Redskins’ first seven drives.
Defensively, Coble had six tackles along with his interception, joining sophomore Rafe Patterson for the team lead in tackles. Junior Josh Ellis had two sacks, with freshman Glenn Shires recording another. O’Steen recovered two fumbles, while Rowe recovered the other. Kingston’s defense held the Indians to just 101 net yards rushing and passing for the game.
Kingston Head Coach Tommy Bare appreciated what he called Aa solid road district victory.” Commenting that his team is “continuing to improve in all areas,” he looked forward to a “short week to host a very solid Sulphur team.”
With Fall Break this week, Kingston (2-1 district, 4-2 overall) will be hosting the Sulphur Bulldogs (3-0, 4-2) Thursday night. Sulphur comes into the game undefeated in district play, after a 28-9 victory over Pauls Valley (1-2, 2-4). Kickoff is scheduled at Harold “Bulldog” Henry Field for 7:00 p.m.
EXTRA POINTS
It’s tough to draw broad conclusions from a game like this one. Little Axe is fielding one of the worst football teams this reporter has ever seen. It seems likely that Kingston’s junior varsity could have handled the Indians well. It’s hard to watch such a poor team - much of which is exerting substandard effort - out on the field, and everyone was thankful that the clock ran the entire second half. Little Axe hasn’t won a district game since 2019, when they were playing 2A ball, and it doesn’t seem likely they’ll win one this year.
Around the district, Plainview (3-0, 4-2) stayed undefeated with a 42-7 win over Madill (1-2, 4-2). Meanwhile, Lone Grove (2-1, 4-2) handled winless Dickson (0- 3, 0-6) 51-6. Three weeks in, Plainview and Sulphur are tied for the district lead, with the Redskins in third place (down one game to Sulphur and 1 2 games to Plainview) and Lone Grove just behind Kingston in fourth place. If the playoffs started today, fifth-place Pauls Valley and sixth-place Madill would miss the playoffs, as would seventh-place Dickson and hapless Little Axe bringing up the rear.