BETHANY—Any great debater would have a good case to tout Tipton’s Prince Dweh as the best eight-man player in Oklahoma but beyond the amazing senior there are plenty of other talented players wearing the black and gold and in the second half those other players made some big plays of their own to lead the Tigers to a 62-36 victory over Waynoka in the Class C championship game.
A large crowd gathered at the Southern Nazarene football field Friday to watch the battle of unbeatens but it became obvious in the first half that the Tigers were going to be tough to beat.
In the first half Dweh was simply amazing, carrying the ball eight times for 230 yards and four touchdowns as the Railroaders were not able to stop him even when getting a hand on the powerful back.
The powerful 230-pound speedster broke tackles time after time and when he got a step on defenders he just left them in his wake. His first-half rushing touchdowns came on runs of 68, 52, 66, and 62.
The big senior didn’t just run the football. He was in on numerous tackles, he boomed some good punts and at times it seemed like he was going to help the Tigers end this one via the mercy rule.
However, the Railroaders made just enough plays to make it interesting, scoring twice in the first half to arrange the 26-14 halftime score.
Tipton Head Coach Travis White was concerned that the big runs were going to drain the tank of the big back and his long runs and a few defensive adjustments by the Railroaders made things interesting for a time in the second half.
“He was drained there at the end,” White said of his talented back. “Those long runs and playing both sides of the ball are going to wear anyone down. Prince is in great shape but when you run for that many long gainers, it’s going to take something out of you.
“But we have other guys who know how to get the job done. Dakota (Sheffield) didn’t have a good first half and was a little frustrated but we kept telling him that his big plays would come if he just kept working hard. That’s what makes this bunch special; we have a bunch of good athletes.”
Sheffield, who had just 12 yards in the first half on eight carries, got the ball on an outside zone play, found a nice seam, cut back and raced 67 yards to score with 11:42 left in the third quarter. Sheffield also tacked on the PAT run and before fans got back from the concession stand the Tipton lead was 34-14.
At that point Waynoka was fighting to stay in the game but it was unable to convert a 4th-and-10 play and the Tigers took over just 41 yards from paydirt. By this time in the game the wind had switched to the north and that opened the door for a change in tactics.
On first down Tipton quarterback Dallas Chandler dropped back and found Brayden Fancher wide open down the right sideline. Chandler dropped the ball into his tight end’s hands in stride and the junior raced to the end zone to push the score to 40-14.
The Railroaders were able to counter in a hurry on a nicely-executed screen pass to Landon Seiger that covered the 67 yards in an instant.
And by then Waynoka was gambling at every chance, trying an onside kick that Tipton easily recovered.
This was another Sheffield drive as he covered the final 29 yards to paydirt on three running plays, the touchdown coming from two yards out.
Then Sheffield got to put the final points on the board, getting a perfect bounce on a Waynoka fumble and taking it 43 yards to paydirt with 3:58 remaining to start the celebration in the stands by the large crowd of Southwest Oklahoma fans.
“I was really frustrated in the first half and the coaches kept telling me to just keep running hard and something would bust,:” Sheffield said. “The scoop-and-score was fun and when I got that one into the end zone we could feel it at that point.”
Sheffield and the other Tigers were so busy celebrating with family and fans that they forgot to give Coach White the old “GatorAde bath” but they scrambled to grab the water jugs just in time to make the celebration complete.
“This never gets old,” assistant Coach Robert Babcock said. “I’ve been in these championship games and it’s always a great feeling. These kids worked their tails off to get here; they weren’t afraid to work hard and this is their reward.”
