The 2024 high school football season started off well for the Gore Pirates as they picked up a 20-8 road victory over the host Wilburton Diggers on Aug. 30, but they stumbled in their home opener as they fell 27-22 to the visiting Keys Cougars last Friday night at K.G. Horn Stadium.
In the win over Wilburton, quarterback Tate Brooksher threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Devon Mannon as well as scoring on a 15yard run. Brooksher also scored on a two-point conversion run after his TD pass to Mannon.
Gore’s first score was a 55-yard punt return by Cole Brooksher in the middle of the third quarter.
“That kind of sparked things off for us,” Gore coach Brandon Ellis said about the punt return for the first score. “It was good (to start 1-0).”
Unfortunately, in the home opener, it sure looked like the Gore Pirates might have pulled one out of the fire.
After the Pirates took a 22-21 lead with 2:24 left in regulation, the Cougars needed just 42 seconds to score to snatch away a victory from the jaws of defeat.
After the Pirates (1-1) trailed most of the game, they finally took the lead in the final three minutes of regulation.
After both teams exchanged defensive stands in which each team stopped their opponent on fourth-down attempts, Gore took over after stopping Keys on downs at the Gore 28 with 7:16 left to play in the game.
Aided by a pass interference penalty on Keys, the Pirates moved 72 yards and cashed in the takeaway on a 2-yard touchdown run by Mannon. The Pirates tried for two points, but quarterback Tate Brooksher’s pass was picked off at the goal line, keeping Gore ahead 22-21 with 2:24 remaining to play.
On the squib kick, the ball went out of bounds at the Gore 48.
Two plays later, the Cougars (1-0) regained the lead for good on a 40-yard TD pass just 42 seconds after Gore took its first lead of the contest. The Cougars went for two points, but misconnected on the pass. Keys had a 27-22 lead with 1:42 left to play.
Unfortunately, on the Pirates second play on the ensuing possession, Brooksher threw an interception to seal the deal for the Cougars.
The Cougars led 14-0 lead after a period.
“We got to start fast,” Ellis said. “We have to find a way to start fast. I preached it all week. We had a good week of practice, but Keys came ready to play.”
A 4-yard TD run by Tate Brooksher got the Pirates on the board. Brooksher connected with Keeton Rowe on the two-point conversion to cut the Gore deficit to 14-8 at halftime.
Just as in the first half, the Cougars scored first in the second half on a 4-yard TD run. The PAT upped Keys’ advantage to 21-8 with 7:12 left in the third quarter.
The Pirates took the ensuing kickoff and went down the field, and cashed in the possession with a 14-yard touchdown run by McCartney with 5:38 remaining in the period. Once again, Brooksher and Rowe hooked up on the twopoint conversion, cutting Gore’s deficit to 21-16 at the end of three quarters. The big play of the drive was a 46-yard pass play featuring the Brooksher brothers as Tate hit Cole on a 46-yard pass play to get the ball down to the Keys 21.
After each team stopped the other on fourth down, the Pirates got the ball at their own 28 with 7:16 left in the game. Thanks to a pass interference penalty on Keys, the Pirates moved 72 yards and capped the drive with a 2-yard TD run by Mannon. Gore tried to go for two points on the conversion, but a Keys player picked off Brooksher’s pass at the Keys 44 with 1:23 remaining in the game. The Cougars ran out the clock from there.
“Again, we shot ourselves in the foot,” Ellis said. “That’s two weeks in a row, so we need to clean stuff up. We’ll go to work tomorrow (Saturday), and we’ll fix stuff. It’s that simple.”
Now, the Pirates will look to bounce back next Friday night when they travel to meet the Chouteau-Mazie Wildcats.
“That’s what I told the guys,” Ellis said. “It (Friday night’s loss to Keys) is going to either make us or break us. From what I gathered on that last (postgame) huddle, everybody’s ready to buy in. We’ll go to work Monday, and get things fixed.”
