JENKS — Bixby’s Carson Kirby entered this season as one of the area’s top quarterbacks while his Jenks counterpart, Landon Kizzar, entered as an unknown because he had never started previously.
On Friday night, they combined for 10 touchdown passes and put on quite a show in a Class 6AI heavyweight matchup at Allan Trimble Stadium. Kizzar was the star early, but Kirby and the top-ranked Spartans eventually won the battle.
Kirby completed 19-of-24 passes for 268 yards and six touchdowns, including a pair each to Cetcher DeHart and Emory Snyder, to help lead Bixby past No. 2 Jenks 66-35 in 6AI-1 district opener.
Jayson Moll also scored two TDs, both on the ground, for Bixby (4-0), which has won five in a row in its series with Jenks (3-1) for the first time since 1955-59.
Bixby dominated the second half to break the game open, but the first half was electrifying as the teams traded TD punches.
Kizzar fired for 316 yards in the first half as Bixby led only 38-35 going into intermission. Bixby, however, wore down the Trojans with two long drives capped by Kirby TD passes in the third quarter as the Spartans took command.
Both quarterbacks came out firing as there were 38 points in the first quarter.
After the teams traded 44-yard touchdowns to open the game, Jenks took a 14-8 lead on Kailib Dillard’s 82-yard TD catch.
Jenks increased its lead to 21-8 on Kizzar’s 53-yard TD pass to Braxton Daniel. But Bixby immediately responded with Braeden Presley’s 80-yard TD catch and then recorded a safety as Kizzar fell on a mishandled snap in his end zone.
Kizzar’s fourth TD pass was a 26-yarder to Dillard for a 28-17 lead, but Bixby dominated the rest of the game.
Kirby fired a 21-yard TD pass to DeHart and Moll followed with a 70-yard TD run as Bixby took a 31-28 lead with 5:13 left in the first half. Snyder caught a 15-yard TD pass, but KD Jones scored on a 5-yard run with 14 seconds left before halftime.
Here are three takeaways from Friday.
1. Moll has breakout game
Moll has more than 2,000 career rushing yards and 35 touchdowns. However, in a sense, Friday night was Moll’s breakout game. Moll, the featured back for the first time in his career after spending the past two seasons at Owasso, racked up a career-high 231 yards on 23 carries.
2. Bixby uses old trick
Bixby didn’t punt in the game, but it lined up to once. On fourth-and-6 out of punt formation, Nathan Gonzalez passed 30 yards to Cord Nolan, setting up a touchdown. In the 2022 state final, Nolan caught a TD pass from Cooper Parker on a fake punt.
That wasn’t Bixby only trick. Gonzalez, a receiver, passed 40 yards to Presley at the end of the third quarter. Earlier, Presley took a long lateral 31 yards on a kickoff in the second quarter.
3. Spartans contain KD Jones
It’s virtually impossible to totally stop Jenks’ KD Jones, the state’s best running back. But Bixby did a good job containing him. Jones scored the game’s first TD on a 44-yard catch and had an early 20-yard run. But he was held to 56 yards on 20 carries.
BIXBY 66, JENKS 35
Bixby;17;21;14;14;— 66
Jenks;21;14;0;0;—;35
JEN: Jones 44 pass from Kizzar (Mahan kick)
BIX: Moll 44 run (Gill run)
JEN: K. Dillard 82 pass from Kizzar (Mahan kick)
JEN: Daniel 53 pass from Kizzar (Mahan kick)
BIX: Presley 80 pass from Kirby (Thao kick)
BIX: Safety, Kizzar recovered fumble in end zone
JEN: K. Dillard 26 pass from Kizzar (Mahan kick)
BIX: DeHart 21 pass from Kirby (Thao kick)
BIX: Moll 70 run (Thao kick)
BIX: Snyder 15 pass from Kirby (Thao kick)
JEN: Jones 5 run (Mahan kick)
BIX: DeHart 10 pass from Kirby (Thao kick)
BIX: Arant 11 pass from Kirby (Thao kick)
BIX: Snyder 20 pass from Kirby (Thao kick)
BIX: Blankenship 4 run (Thao kick)
barry.lewis@tulsaworld.com
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Barry Lewis
Tulsa World Sports Editor
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