FOOTBALL REPORT: CANEY VALLEY KS., COPAN, NOWATA, OKLAHOMA UNION, PAWHUSKA
Nowata High School’s quarterback Adrian O’Dell (6) runs the ball against Chelsea last Friday. The Ironmen fell 28-16 at home.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Oklahoma Union’s Joseph Lindner (4) stretches for some extra yards last Friday at home. The Cougars fell to Commerce 30-12.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
Sept. 15, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Following is a roundup of area prep football action from last weekend.
Following are the scores:
PAWHUSKA 44, Hominy 27
CANEY VALLEY (Kan.) 52, Erie (Kan.) 6
Depew 34, COPAN 14
Checotah 14, DEWEY 6
Chelsea 28, NOWATA 16
Commerce 30, OKLAHOMA UNION 12
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The only notable surprise in Week 2 was Depew’s win against Copan. Dewey put itself in a position to win, but some struggles in the red zone told most of the story.
Pawhuska and Hominy staged a knockdown, drag-out scrap. Pawhuska squeezed out a nine-point lead early in the second half and used that as a wedge to keep Hominy in the hole the rest of the way.
Area teams that had last Friday off due to byes included Bartlesville, Barnsdall and Caney Valley. Wesleyan Christian School canceled its season due to an insufficient number of players.
BARTLESVILLE: The Bruins went into the bye with an 0-2 record, following a couple of topsy-turvy battles against Newcastle and Claremore. Victory was within reach in both contests, but offensive turnovers, special teams woes, some defensive miscues and injuries each exacted a heavy toll. Through the two games, sophomore quarterback Michael Kent has completed 50-of-78 passes for 559 yards and five touchdowns. The Bruins have been intercepted four times. Kent also leads the team in rushing (38-182). Boden Roberts has caught 13 passes for 185 yards and Daeton Stevens is averaging 19 yards per catch (5-95). NEXT UP: Bartlesville hits the road next Friday for Collinsville in the final non-district game.
BARNSDALL: The Panthers pounced out to a 2-0 record while outscoring opponents, 90-26. First-year full-time starting quarterback Lincoln Gott is completing 60 percent of his passes (12-of-20) for 228 yards and five touchdowns. Gott also leads the team in rushing (22-for-328) followed by Gavin Wood (17-for-106). Tripp Barbee has hauled in six receptions for 131 yards and three touchdowns. Hayden Collins has racked up 23 tackles, followed by Talen Bond with 14 and Jacob Clark with 13. Collins also has racked up four sacks. NEXT UP: Barnsdall travels Friday to Nowata (0-3) in its final non-district game.
CANEY VALLEY: The Trojans (0-1) are off to a rocky start. After losing in the opener to Barnsdall, Caney Valley forfeited its second game, due to a shortage of personnel. The Trojans went into last week’s bye hoping to heal up enough players to be back at playing strength. NEXT UP: Caney Valley is scheduled to travel Thursday to take on the Cleveland junior varsity.
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LAST WEEKEND’S ROUNDUP
PAWHUSKA
Pawhuska head coach: Matt Hennesy
Small wonder Hennesy used a fight analogy to characterize this glorified alley fight.
Pawhuska threw a few more heavy body blows in the second half to limp away with the 44-27 triumph.
“We knew it would be a 12-round fight and would come down to the end,” said Hennesy. “Luckily, we kept swinging and made the plays we needed to in the fourth quarter.”
Pawhuska improved to 3-0 with its third-straight double-digit margin victory. Next up, the Huskies face another likely big test next Friday in the Homecoming battle against Woodland, another Osage County rival.
Pawhuska no doubt gave Woodland plenty to think about.
First-year starting Huskie quarterback Kane Foreman delivered perhaps his finest effort of the season — 21-of-27, 304 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 51 yards and two more scores.
But the No. 1 catalyst designation belonged to Vann Wildcat. He accounted for 174 yards of total offense (18-89 rushing, 4-85 receiving) and made nine tackles on defense.
“We gave him the game ball at the end of the game,” said Hennesy. “When you get into a tough game or a tough spot, you don’t search for the right play but you go to the right players.”
Another productive warrior for Pawhuska was Corlin Cass, who registered more than 100 yards receiving, including a touchdown.
But Hominy is not in the Class A-I state championship conversation for light reasons.
With Pawhuska clinging to a 14-13 lead late in the second quarter, Cass scored from four yards out on a right sweep to stretch the margin to seven points, 20-13. Wildcat followed with the two-point conversion.
Hominy answered on its next possession as Malachi Harris caught a 10-yard touchdown pass on a slant. Harris also caught the two-point conversion to pull Hominy back within a point, 22-21, going into halftime.
Pawhuska opened up the second half with a scoring drive, capped by a pass from Foreman to Jarek Edwards. Logan Cass received the direct snap on the two-point try and weaved into the end zone to widen the gap back to nine, 30-21.
Hominy mounted a comeback with a touchdown — but missed on the conversion and trailed, 30-27.
Then it was Pawhuska’s turn for a flurry of offense. The key play on the march was a pass reception and run by Wildcat, who was harder to bring down than a teflon tornado.
That set up Foreman’s scoring toss to Tripp Walker. The two-pointer failed and Pawhuska led, 36-27.
With a few minutes left, Hominy tried to go for it on 4th-and-16 and turned it over on its 41 yard line. Pawhuska cashed in with a grind-it-out drive that ended with Foreman diving over the end zone. Corlin Cass’ two-point run settled the final score at 44-27.
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CANEY VALLEY (Kan.)
Caney Valley head coach: Criss Davis
An old Depression-era song asked, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”
All that the Caney Valley (Kan.) High School football team needed Friday was a quarter.
And it was certainly a depressing turn of events for the Erie (Kan.) High School Red Devils.
The Caney Valley Bullpups (2-0) romped to four touchdowns in the first quarter and went on to win, 52-6, at Erie.
Other than a big play given up by his defense — on an 81-yard touchdown pass — Davis had plenty about which to smile.
To wit:
— For the second week in a row Pups’ quarterback Layne Denny threw for more than 100 yards (3-7-1-103) and at least one score.
— The Pups scored in all three phases — a 60-yard pick-six by Austin Freisberg, a 60-yard punt return by Conner Paulie and five offensive touchdowns.
— Traxcyn Garton ran for two scores and Drake Roberds caught a touchdown for the second-straight game.
— The defense held Erie to zero rushing yards and 86 total yards. Take away the 81-yard touchdown play and Erie had just five total yards.
— Jayden Buckley produced an all-around stinging impact — five tackles, three rushes for 67 yards and a touchdown, and a two-point conversion.
Davis hopes his team has generated a gust of momentum as it faces two back-to-back tests to finish out September against Neodesha (Kan.) High School and Christ (Kan.) Prep Academy.
Momentum was the operative word in Friday’s fray at Erie.
Caney Valley scored just 52 seconds into the game on Garton’s nine-yard scoring run, followed by Brody Martin’s two-point plunge. Caney Valley would go 5-of-6 on two-pointers for the evening.
Rounding out Caney Valley’s first quarter touchdowns, Poling returned a punt to the house and Garton dived in from two yards out.
By halftime, Caney Valley had built a 40-6 lead. Garrett Eytcheson wrapped up the Pups’ scoring with a 27-yard bolt to the end zone in the final three minutes.
Following are more details:
Caney Valley: 24-16-6-6—52
Erie: 6-0-0-0—6
Scoring
First quarter
CV — Traxcyn Garton 9 run (Brentley Martin run), 11:08.
CV — Conner Paulie 60 punt return (Layne Denny run), 8:47.
Erie — Quincy Brown 81 pass from Parker Hughes (pass fail), 2:21.
CV — Garton 2 run (Jayden Buckley run), 1:01.
Second quarter
CV — Buckley 29 run (Drake Roberds pass from Denny), 9:53.
CV — Austin Freisberg 60 interception return (Jarrett Hodges run), 7:22.
Third quarter
CV — Roberds 35 pass from Denny (run fail).
Fourth quarter
CV — Garrett Eytcheson 27 run (kick fail).
First downs: CV 9, Erie 3; Rushing yards: CV 26-231; Erie 24-0; Passing: CV 4-6-1-115; Erie 2-5-2-86; Punts: CV 0-0; Erie 7-226 (32.3); Fumbles: CV 0-0; Erie 0-0; Penalties: CV 3-35; Erie 6-45.
CV rushing — Buckley 3-67, Garton 5-62, Eytcheson 4-36; Kenny Romiti 3-18.
CV passing — Denny 3-7-1-103; Bradley Vargas 1-1-0-12.
CV receiving — Roberds 2-45, Hunter Polly 1-45.
CV tackles — Samuel Denton 7.5, Jayden Buckley 5, Jace Wren 5, Luke Wade 4-5, Freisberg 4.5.
CV interceptions: Jake McVey, Freisberg.
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Dewey High School’s Marshall McDaniel (14) reacts during an earlier season game. The Bulldoggers fell to Checotah 14-6 on the road last Friday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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DEWEY
Dewey head coach: Scott Sapulpa
Had the Dewey Bulldoggers displayed this kind of fight in some games the past few years they would no doubt have piled up more wins.
But their valiant scrappiness was not enough to overcome four turnovers — at least two in the red zone — and a plague of holding penalties.
Even so, Checotah had to dig deep in its well of resourcefulness to beat Dewey, 14-6, at Checotah.
Both defenses played at times like swirling forces of nature. Dewey’s ‘D’ displayed gritty resilience to bend but not break on a high percentage of Checotah’s possessions.]
“We just turned the ball over too many times and we had too many holding penalties,” said Sapulpa, who saw Dewey end the non-district phase of its schedule at 1-2. “The boys played hard on defense. We’ve got about three guys making mistakes. … We’re getting there. We’re getting close.”
Dewey enjoys a welcome one-week break with a ‘bye’ next Friday, coming at an opportune time to let a few key Doggers heal up.
Dewey’s offense racked up 243 total yards against Checotah.
But there’s no doubt the most exciting 61 of those yards happened on Dewey’s final offensive play of the game.
Trailing 14-0 and possessing the ball on their own 36-yard line, Dewey called a play out of the spread designed to get receivers open in space.
Dewey quarterback Braxton Brayden — who seemed to grow up a lot in this game as a mature passer — spotted the speedy Marshall McDaniel alone in a huge seam on the right side of the field. He delivered the ‘skin to McDaniel, who gathered it in and took off toward the right corner, outrunning the pursuit to the end zone. The PAT was blocked.
Dewey attempted an onside kick but Checotah recovered it and then ran out the clock.
For a good chunk of the start of the contest this was a scoreless thriller.
Utilizing ballcarriers Eddie Rice and Easton Davis as a one-two punch — mostly Rice — Dewe powered the ball effectively between the goal lines.
On their first possession, the Doggers started out from their 20-yard line and methodically marched down to the Checotah 13-yard line. But two holding penalties on back-to-back plays, and a false start call, moved the ball back to the 39-yard line and Dewey had to punt.
A key play on the drive saw Rice on a burst up the middle and quick cut to the right to gain several yards, augmented by a Checotah penalty. Jayden Vallen also took the ball down to the 13-yard line on a six-yard carry off a toss left.
Late in the first half, Dewey squandered a nice drive — highlighted by a 12-yard completion from Brayden to Cadyn Artherton — by throwing an interception.
Checotah led at the break, 7-0.
Dewey continued to move the ball well in the third quarter, but didn’t find paydirt. The Doggers got down to the 12-yard line but threw an incomplete pass on 4th-and-4.
Checotah scored early in the fourth quarter to go ahead, 14-0.
Dewey finally got on the board but just ran out of time.
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Nowata High School’s defense surrounds a Chelsea player during their 28-16 loss at home last Friday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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NOWATA
Nowata head coach: Chance Juby
The margin between defeat and victory is often decided by a small number of mis-steps.
With just a couple of tweaks of fortune, the Nowata Ironmen might have well tamed the Green Dragons of Chelsea.
But Chelsea (1-2) cashed in on some of its opportunities to win, 28-16, to earn its first season win.
“We shot ourselves in the foot too many times … especially in the first half,” said Juby.
Among Nowata’s costly miscues were ill-timed penalties, two turnovers and giving up two costly big plays on defense.
“They just made more plays than we did,” Juby summarized.
Nowata also had to battle through a blinding storm of 17 fluttering penalty flags.
Other than Chelsea’s two biggest plays — converting a 4th-and-8 situation into a touchdown and scoring on 3rd-and-16 — Nowata’s defense did its job.
“We had them held,” Judy said. “Our defense played great. … Our front seven played lights out.”
Brett Malone, Asiah Saxton and Malachi Walker set the tone for the defense.
“(Chelsea) had no success running the ball, other than one big play,” Juby said. “But they just kept beating us through the air.”
On the offensive ledger, Adrian O’Dell ran in a touchdown and Saxton caught a scoring strike from O’Dell.
Juby also recognized the contribution of Caleb Woolman.
“We had a lot of positives come out of this game,” Juby said. “We just keep beating ourselves. … It just seemed like everybody was making mistakes at different times.”
When the squad cuts down on its self-inflicted foo-pahs the Ironmen will start experiencing more success, Juby added.
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Copan High School’s Chris Read (66) gets ready to block during an earlier season game. The Hornets fell to Depew 34-14 on the road last Friday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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COPAN
Copan head coach: Trenton Kallenberger
This one was a surprise. After outscoring their first two opponents, 100-0, the Copan Hornets (2-1) suffered a 34-14 loss at Depew in eight-man football action.
Weston O’Rourke tallied both of Copan’s touchdowns — one on a long run from on the first offensive play and the other on a punt return.
Teegan Caron rang up the two-point conversion after the first score.
But Copan went to battle with less than a full roster, including a couple of starters out due to illness, Kallenberger said.
“We played hard,” he summarized. “I really thought the difference in the game was three busted coverages.”
Other than that, the teams traded scores.
“We never could get going offensively,” Kallenberger added.
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OKLAHOMA UNION
Oklahoma Union head coach: Bruce Munden
The Cougars’ grueling non-district schedule ended with a 30-12 loss to visiting Commerce.
Oklahoma Union finished 0-3 in the first three weeks while taking on two bigger opponents (Colcord and Commerce) and a very strong Class A power in Barnsdall.
Among the positives, Oklahoma Union scored at least two touchdowns in each game.
Next up, the Cougars get this next Friday off but then will face one of the elite Class A congregations in the state in Pawhuska (3-0) on September 26, at Oklahoma Union.