Santa Fe claws past North to open season

In front of a capacity crowd of almost 10,000 Edmond football fans, Edmond Santa Fe’s football team won their fourth consecutive Edlam match against Edmond North 31-7 on Friday night. It was both Santa Fe’s first game of the year, and North’s first ever contest in their newly built Huskies Stadium. “Overall, I thought our kids played hard, with an enthusiasm and passion and they made good effort,” Head Coach Kyle White said after the game, “It’s always good to start the season 1-0.” Though it was North with the new stadium hubbub, it was Edmond Santa Fe’s Tyler Travis who recorded the first ever 6A touchdown at the venue, when he rambled into the northern end zone on a six-yard sweep. The touchdown was set up by a 39-yard catch and run from the Fe’s Nieko Nieves, and after the extra point try turned into a converted two-point make, the Wolves had first blood at 8-nil. Just like the start, Friday’s edition of Edlam followed a green theme, with the Wolves rushing out to a 31-point lead. That happened mostly through the running game, with Santa Fe’s Ethan Hyche scoring twice from one and then 18 yards out. Travis evened his TD competition against his friend, teammate and fellow running back when he scored his second touchdown late in the fourth quarter, scampering in from 30-yards out, once again finding North’s north end zone. Santa Fe also scored on a safety when a snap was sent over Edmond North quarterback Colby Entwistle’s head and, with the line of scrimmage within North’s 10, the ball rolled out the back of the end zone. The game christened North’s Huskies Stadium to Edlam and 6A competition simultaneously, with an estimated 10,000 fans in attendance. Though it was technically a home game for Edmond North, the fans seemed split evenly in attendance with Santa Fe having less than two miles of travel for their first away Edlam game in recent memory. Coach Kyle White said that it definitely felt like they were in a different stadium, but that his fans were just as loud as they are down the road. “It was an away game. We’re at their school and we’re on their campus,” White said. “This was an away game but our fans did a great job. The band did well, the students did well. We definitely felt supported and from the fan stand point I wouldn’t say it was an away game.” The story of the night for Edmond North was Russell Dilks. Dilks twice grabbed Santa Fe turnovers with the Wolves marching into the red zone, with one interception in the first quarter and a fumble recovery in his own end zone in the second. Dilks even added another near-35 yards on a kick return in the fourth quarter. With Dilks trying, North did get some fanfare when they scored their first touchdown of the season and stadium. Entwistle hit receiver Cole Karbs on a bubble screen, and Karbs hammered in six for the Huskies late in the fourth quarter. Travis finished with a game-high 195 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns, and Hyche grabbed another two touchdowns and 96 yards on 14 carries. Quarterback Kan Hansen was 13-for-29 with 151 passing yards, his favorite target being Braden Reichert, who had 64 yards on six catches. Santa Fe’s defense was just as dominant as their offense on Friday, too. Led by newly-Cowboy-committed Trace Ford, the Wolves held North to just 53 rushing yards, and the starting greens forced North’s junior quarterback into a 7-for-22 night and just 46 yards — good for only 99 yards of total offense. Overall, Entwistle finished 11-for-26, with 91 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The Huskies were led in rushing by Dilks, too, who had 28 yards on nine carries.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Edmond North High School Athletics

SANTA FE CLAWS PAST NORTH TO OPEN SEASON

AARON ALBERTSON

Edmond Sun | 9/1/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Drew Harmon