The Muldrow Bulldogs let a third-quarter lead slip away as they fell 23-14 to the Idabel Warriors in a District 3A-3 game Friday night at Marty Rogers Field.
The ’Dogs (4-2 overall, 1-2 in district play) took a 7-0 lead on De-Shawn Willson’s 35-yard interception return and Wyatt Prewett’s extra point with 2:15 left before halftime.
However, the Warriors (2-3, 2-1) got a 37-yard field goal with two seconds remaining before halftime to cut Muldrow’s advantage to 7-3 at the half.
After the Warriors took a 10-7 lead with 8:56 left in the third quarter, the Bulldogs regained the lead on Teaguen Collins’ 66–yard touchdown pass to Kade Scott. Prewett’s PAT put Muldrow back ahead 14-10 with 8:44 remaining in the period.
However, the Warriors got two TDs, one with 4:11 left in the third quarter and the other with 1:42 remaining in the fourth quarter to earn the come-frombehind district victory.
“I hate it for the kids,” Muldrow coach Logan Coatney said. “They had a great week of practice. We had some things go our way at times. We went into the locker room at halftime and felt we played a really good first half. We had some things not go our way (in the second half). We never found footing offensively where we needed it to be, and that came down to being the difference in the ball game. We just didn’t go out and execute the way we needed to win ball games.”
The ’Dogs will now travel to meet the twotime Class 3A defending state champion Lincoln Christian Bulldogs (6-0, 3-0), who ran their winning streak to 34 games with last week’s 63-0 rout of Locust Grove last Friday night, for a 7 p.m. Thursday district contest at Dennis Byrd Stadium in Tulsa.
“They’re averaging 60-some points a game and only giving up seven points a game,” Coatney said. It speaks to their level of execution and how good they are. I feel like we present them with some issues, but they present us with some issues. I feel like we have a team that can compete with anyone on our schedule.
We have to find a way to execute a little bit faster. Once we figure that out, I think we can play with anybody.”
Coatney believes his Bulldogs will need to get into playoff-type mode from here on.
“I think it’s a must win every week,” he said. “It’s been our mentality through the first half of the season, but we’ve fallen short a couple of times. It’s no different for us this week.”
••• To Get There — Take Interstate 40 west to the Muskogee Turnpike. Take the Muskogee Turnpike west to the Creek Turnpike. Take the Creek Turnpike east to I-44/U.S. 412. Take I-44/U.S. 412 west to I-244. Take I-244/U.S. 412 west to North 129th East Avenue. Take North 129th East Avenue north to Lincoln Christian School.
