Prior to Friday night's State 6A-II Championship game in Yukon, the players of the Lawton Wolverines were cheered as they left Lawton. They were escorted by L-P-D down Fort Sill Boulevard, and cheered by students at Whittier Elementary School. For the second time in three years, the Wolverines were once again facing the Bixby Spartans in the championship game. It had been nearly 30 years since the Wolverines brought home a state title, and Friday night they were hoping to break that streak.

It was a cold and rainy night in Yukon on Friday, but in the end, it was the Bixby who rained on the Wolverines parade for the third season in a row, outscoring Lawton 22-0 in the third quarter and then holding on for a hard fought 39-31 victory and the state 6A-II Championship game.

MacArthur Highlanders vs Lawton High Wolverines
Photo by: Eric Sharum
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Lawton came out of the gate on fire, taking a 13-0 1st quarter lead on a pair of touchdowns from Jayquan Lincoln, scoring once on offense and once on defense. The teams traded scores in the second quarter, and at the half, with the Wolverines getting scores from Dominick Neal and Tre Curry, and Lawton went to the locker room with a 25-14 lead.

But in the third quarter, the Spartans took command. Led by running back Tucker Pawley, who totaled 241 and 4 touchdowns on the night, Bixby closed to within three points, 25-22, on Pawleys third touchdown of the night, early in the third quarter. It was like deja-vu all over again for Lawton, who were run over by Bixby's big back Nic Roller in 2014. Bixby responded quickly by pooch kicking the ensuing kick-off, and were in business again when David Brylewski recovered the kick at the Lawton 45-yard line. The Spartans would then take their first lead of the night when Tanner Griffin hit Nick Swanson with a 34-yeard touchdown pass, and Bixby led 29-25.

MacArthur Highlanders vs Lawton High Wolverines
Photo by: Kim Kunze
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Bixby would add a another score from Pawley late in the third quarter, and held a 36-25 lead to start the quarter, but the Wolverines were not about to roll over and die. Early in the fourth, wide receiver Dominick Neal hauled in a Zac Hannah pass and outran the Spartan defense for a 75-yard score, pulling the Wolverines to within a score at 36-31. Neal finished the night with 150 yards receiving and scored twice. Bixby added a field goal and then held on as Hannah led the Wolverines on one final drive, but the Spartan defense came up big and held on for a 39-31 win, their second State Title win over Lawton in the last three years.

Lawton had no further to look than to its own special teams in the loss, with the Wolverines missing an extra point on its opening score, then failing on three two-point conversion tries through out the game.

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