Brown-to-Saxon.
That was Shawnee’s unstoppable combination Friday night as the Wolves devoured Altus, 43-13, in a Class 5A opening-round playoff game at Jim Thorpe Stadium.
Quarterback Brayle Brown found wide receiver Saulyer Saxon on seven passes for 180 yards to propel the Wolves into a second-round test against Bixby next Friday night at Jim Thorpe Stadium. Bixby knocked out Tulsa Central, 17-13, in another opening-round test.
Brown and Saxon didn’t play for most of the fourth quarter.
Shawnee, 11-0, ravaged the Bulldogs for 509 yards — 251 on the ground and 258 through the air.
Brown completed 16 of 21 passes, including three touchdowns. He also ran for one TD while accumulating 78 yards on 10 carries.
Jordan Acock, who missed last week’s regular-season finale with an injury, led the Wolves on the ground with 143 yards on 19 attempts.
Shawnee led 43-7 before the visitors scored their second touchdown in the final quarter against Wolfpack reserves.
The SHS downside was five turnovers, all fumbles.
“Outside of the turnovers, I thought we played well,” SHS head coach Billy Brown said. “We can’t turn the ball over five times against Bixby and win the game.
“It’s just carelessness, not protecting the ball. We will focus on that this week and fix it. We just can’t do that against Bixby because they play great defense.”
Shawnee rolled up 334 yards of offense in the first half — 175 on the ground and 159 via the pass — but led just 24-7 at the break, thanks to four lost fumbles. Three of the miscues came in the red zone.
The Wolves led 9-0 afer one quarter on a safety and a 1-yard Brown run that capped a six-play, 49-yard drive. The safety, which launched the game’s scoring, occurred when the Altus punter touched his knee to the ground on a low snap.
A fourth-down run from punt formation backfired on Shawnee and Altus took advantage on a 41-yard scoring reception by Bob Laub for a 9-7 count.
Shawnee responded with two Brown scoring passes in the second quarter — 38 yards to Saxon and 16 to Nick Berry, the latter with just :57 left in the half.
Saxon had four receptions for 135 yards by halftime.
After failing to score on its first two possessions of the second half, Shawnee went 43 yards in five plays, capped by a 17-yard touchdown reception by Beau Davis.
On its next possession, Shawnee needed just three plays to move 47 yards with Acock coverering the final 32.
On the ensuing kickoff, Leif Lena recovered a fumble and four plays later, Jeremy Barrientos scored from 15 yards out to cap Shawnee’s scoring.
Lena and Tanner Heatley had two fumble recoveries apiece while Tyler McCoy and Isaiah Mitchell posted an interception apiece for the victors.
Altus, which finished the season at 4-7, committed seven turnovers — five fumbles and the two interceptions.
Tyler Monroe and Keldin Choat posted seven unofficial tackles apiece with Monroe getting a sack.
Barrientos had three quarterback sacks while Cooper Ansell recorded one.
Altus finished with just 60 yards rushing on 31 attempts. The Bulldogs managed 159 yards through the air but 50 of those came on their TD drive against Shawnee’s second teamers.
Berry had three receptions for 28 yards.
SHAWNEE, Okla. —
