The Gore Pirates got a much needed District AII-3 victory as they scored with 33 seconds left to play to get a 46-39 home district win over the Tulsa Regent Prep Rams on Friday night at K.G. Horn Stadium.
With the game tied at 39-all, Tate Brooksher’s 4-yard touchdown run and Nick Eklund’s extra point with 33 seconds left broke a 39-all tie to lead the Pirates (3-3 overall, 2-1 in district play) to the comeback victory.
“It was a big one,” Gore coach Brandon Ellis said. “The kids played good.”
It was a strong fourth quarter that propelled the Pirates past the Rams (3-3, 1-2) as Gore outscored Regent Prep 18-6 in the fourth quarter after trailing 33-28 after three quarters.
“It was good,” Ellis said about his team’s fourth-quarter performance. “They defense made some big-time stops. We blocked one of their PATs and a punt.”
Brooksher rushed for 183 yards and scored three touchdowns on runs of 9, 4 and 4 yards while throwing a 12yard halfback TD pass to James Brasuell for his fourth TD he accounted for on the night, while quarterback Zach Comer had 192 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns on runs of 6 and 53 yards. Comer also hit Brooksher on a twopoint conversion in the fourth quarter.
Gore’s other points came on Eklund’s 35yard field goal. He hit five extra points.
The Pirates will return to action at 7 p.m. Thursday with a district road game against the Wewoka Tigers (42, 2-1), which saw its three-game winning streak snapped Friday night at Allen in a 21-16 district loss.
“They’re athletic,” Ellis said about the Tigers. “All the way across the board, they are athletic. They can break it at any time (for big-play scores). They’re shifty.”
Because of the Tigers’ speed, the Pirates will have to be very sound in all facets.
“We’ve got to be really disciplined on what we do (on defense),” said Ellis, whose team will be healthy entering this week’s road game at Wewoka. “We have to control the clock. We will have to play to the best of our abilities. Sometimes we get in our own way, and we don’t need to do that. We need to stay calm and controlled, and stick to the game plan. We have to work together as a team. When that happens, good things will happen.”
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To Get There — Take Oklahoma State Highway 100 south to Interstate 40. Take I-40 west to Oklahoma State Highway 56. Take Highway 56 south to Wewoka.