MISTAKES HAUNT TIGERS IN FIRST LOSS

Tahlequah couldn't overcome numerous penalities on both sides of the ball and stumbled for the first time this season on Friday in its District 5A-4 opener to Skiatook, 38-21, at Doc Wadley Stadium. "We were sloppy, and it was self-imposed penalties," said Tahlequah head coach Brad Gilbert, whose team had 10 penalties for 85 yards. "It's one of those deals where we've got to do a better job of controlling our emotions and doing things the right way. You have to give credit to Skiatook. They're a good football team. You give a good football team that many opportunities, that's what is going to happen, and they're going to win football games." "We're going to learn from this, grow from it and become better. We'll continue to work better," Gilbert added. The No. 7 Tigers knew they would have their hands full with Bulldog running back T.K. Wilkerson, and it proved true. The Univerity of Tulsa verbal commit carried 28 times for 144 yards and had a pair of first-half touchdowns as Skiatook took a commanding 28-7 lead into haltime. Skiatook scored 21 unanswered points in the second quarter after Tahlequah tied the score at 7-7 on a two-yard TD run by senior quarterback Cayden Aldridge with 9:22 left in the first half. Wilkerson had the final two touchdowns of the half on runs of 11 yards and one yard to put the Bulldogs up by 21 points. Skiatook's other two scores in the first half came on touchdown passes from Cody Evans to wide receiver Jayden Gardner. The duo connected from 25 yards out at the 1:13 mark of the first quarter, and later hooked up on an 18-yard TD with 7:55 left in the second. Evans went on to complete eight of his nine pass attempts for 162 yards, and Garner finished with five catches for 104 yards. The Tigers, which slip to 3-1 overall, got a big lift in the opening minute of the third quarter when Braxton Stopp intercepted an Evans pass. The THS offense responded with a scoring drive, capped by Adridge's second rushing TD from one yard out. "It shows you the fight," Gilbert said of his team coming out of the lockerroom. "Braxton gets the big interception and then we go right down and score. It shows you the character of our kids. They're going to fight no matter the situation." Aldridge, who led Tahlequah with 101 rushing yards, later added a 37-yard scoring run for the Tigers' final points. Skiatook (3-1) got its final points with 9:04 remaining in the game on an three-yard touchdown run from Evans. Tiger sophomore running back Dae Dae Leathers added 49 yards on 10 carries. Aldridge completed 9 of 16 passes for 70 yards and threw one interception. Evans followed Wilkerson with 91 rushing yards. "We just didn't do enough offensively, and that's my fault," Gilbert said. "I kind of got away from what we wanted to do and that was to run right at them in the first half. We thought we could throw some stuff to the perimeter and pick up some yards, and we were able to do that a little bit. But we lost a little bit of our identity, and that's my fault. Our defense was out there way too much and we just can't have that happen."

MISTAKES HAUNT TIGERS IN FIRST LOSS

Photo Credit: Byron Beers

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