Tigers devoured

STROUD — Chandler proved that it has the speed and power in its running game as many high school football prognisticators expected as it overpowered Stroud 40-6 in the Lincoln County Rivalry on Route 66 Thursday night at Jack Poskey Stadium.
The Lions were also dominant up front with the size it had on both sides of the ball, with offensive linemen opening up holes and shutting down Stroud’s skill players on defense.
Chandler (1-0) rolled up 499 yards of offense, 400 on the ground, while limiting the Tigers (0-1) to 124 total yards in the season opener for both teams.
Stroud began the game determined and opened with the initial 6-0 lead. The Tigers forced the Lions to go 3-and-out, forcing them to punt.
The Tigers blocked the punt and set themselves up with their first possession at the Chandler 19-yard line.
On fourth down, quarterback Beau Hubbard found Richard Miller for a 20-yard touchdown. The extra point failed and it was 6-0.
It was all Chandler from that point on.
The Lions began to wear down their foe, breaking long runs from running backs Johnny Morton and Austin Major.
Morton scored on a 68-yard gallop that put Chandler up 7-6 with 6:42 left in the first period.
With 9:54 to go in the half, the Lions scored in one play on a 24-yard run from Major. Major scored again from 45 yards out to make it 19-6 with 5:44 remaining in the half. The point-after attempts after their last two scores came up short.
That’s where the score stood at the break.
Stroud continued to its effort to keep the game close when it drove to the Chandler 48 on the first drive of the second half, but the Tigers turned the ball over on downs.
Chandler got a 40-yard TD reception from Jack Gray to A. J, Woodall, launching the rout. Gray would connect with Andrew Schumacher for the 2-point conversion.
Morton would add another score on an 80-yard scamper, then backup signal caller Brandon Cummings hit Joseph Hernandez for the last TD with 10:20 left in the game.
In last year’s matchup, Chandler led just 7-6 at the half but broke away for a 35-6 victory.
Both squads will continue non-district action next Thursday night. Chandler will travel to Bristow while Stroud will hit the road for Stratford.
Note: See the Stroud-Chandler statistics in Saturday’s scoreboard section.