Alva Goldbugs fall to Perry 46-14

The Alva Goldbugs went into Thursday night's fall break football game with high hopes of improving their district record, but it was not to be. The Goldbugs fell to the Perry Maroons 46-14.

It seemed like each time Alva gained some momentum, a turnover turned the tide. Perry scored first following an Alva fumble with quarterback Brody Harbour rushing the final yard. Alva progressed from their 37 to the Perry 30 in nine plays but missed completing a first down by inches. Perry scored on the next possession with Harbour again rushing for a five yard TD. Jude Koehn kicked the extra points both times, and Perry led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Alva started the second period with possession of the football. Quarterback Kaden Slater had to fall on a high snap, and the Goldbug drive stalled. Perry's possession ended when Gavin Perez recovered a fumble for Alva. On the third play, Caden Hall picked off an Alva pass. The two teams traded possession a couple of times. Then Perry's Dylan Hight picked off another pass. The Maroons were at the Alva 20 and needed only two plays to score on Harbour's pass to Hight. The extra point failed, and Perry led 20-0. With less than a minute left in the half, Wharton took Perry's kickoff around the 30 and ran all the way to the goal for a Goldbug touchdown. The extra point kick failed. The half ended with Perry leading 20-6.

Alva momentum was high going into the second half, but a fumble retrieving the kickoff gave Perry back the ball. Their drive from Alva's 30 yard line stalled out at the 14. Koehn kicked a 31 yard field goal to extend the Maroon's lead to 23-6. Alva went nowhere on their possession. Perry took over and scored again but failed on the point after. The score was now 29-6 in Perry's favor. Again Perry picked off an Alva pass. The Maroons added another field goal, this one from 36 yards out, by Koehn to lead 32-6. Freshman Daylon Malone came in to quarterback for Alva. A delay of game call on the first play was unrecoverable, and Alva had to punt. Perry started on the Alva 45. Harbour gave the ball to Hall who found wide open spaces and ran for the goal. The kick was good, and Perry led 39-6 to end the third quarter.

Alva had possession to start the final period. Two plays took the Goldbugs to midfield. After a handoff to Drake Wharton to gain four yards, Malone threw a long pass on the run to Perez who made a great catch and ran to within ten yards of the goal. After gaining one yard on a keeper, Malone threw to Perez in the end zone for the touchdown. The Goldbugs went for two with Wharton making the score. Perry now led 39-14. Despite the lopsided score, Perry continued with their starters, scoring once more on a pass from Harbour to Carson Rames. The kick was good, and the score stood at 46-14. Alva made little progress on their possession, and Perry made a couple of final plays with a sophomore quarterback to close the game.

Wrap-Up

As the stats show, the Alva offense spent little time on the field. Perry had 321 total yards compared to 162 for Alva. Perry made 11 of 17 pass attempts for 162 yards. Alva completed 8 of 20 passes for 92 yards. The five Alva turnovers, three interceptions and two fumbles, played a big role in the outcome.

Alva moves to 2-5 overall with a 1-3 district record. Perry is now 4-2 overall with 3-0 in district.

Next week, the Alva Goldbugs will be at home hosting Hennessey at 7 p.m. Friday.

Two other Class 2A-1 District games were played Thursday night. Blackwell beat Newkirk 37-19, and Hennessey narrowly defeated Chisholm 15-14.

Also in the area, Cherokee blanked Okeene 48-0, and Waynoka shutout Geary 45-0.