COLCORD, Okla. -- Big plays were the theme of the night for the Colcord (Okla.) Hornets in their Delaware County rivalry game against Kansas.
The Hornets had three long touchdown runs to burst out to an early 19-0 lead. After Kansas cut the deficit to 19-12 at halftime, Colcord responded with three more big plays and 20 unanswered points to defeat the Comets 39-12 at Hornet Stadium.
"(Kansas) kind of got the momentum for a second, but we bounced back," said Colcord coach Austin Martin. "I was proud of how we finished."
It was Colcord's eighth straight win in the series dating back to 2013. The two teams did not play last season's game because of covid-19 protocols.
"We like a good competitive battle," Martin said. "We've been real fortunate we've won eight straight. Now the last 15 years we're 13-2 against them, so we want to keep that going and keep that mindset. We want to be tough and be ready for this game and amp it up, and our boys responded real well."
After a stop on defense, Colcord had a 39-yard touchdown run from Trey Duncan on its first possession to go up 6-0.
Following another defensive stop, the Hornets went up 13-0 when Stormy Odle ran around the left side for a 69-yard touchdown.
Kansas responded with a drive deep into Colcord territory before stalling at the 16 and turning the ball over on downs. Two plays later, Jessie Martinez ran for a 83-yard touchdown with 11:30 left in the second quarter to put the Hornets up 19-0.
Kansas begun to settle in as quarterback Ty Lewis led the Comets on a scoring drive to get within 19-6.
Lewis had a 20-yard run on the play and completed a 19-yard pass to offensive lineman Sylvester Slamons after it hit off a Comets wide receiver's hands.
Three plays later, Lewis ran in from one yard out to make it 19-6.
Kansas forced a Colcord punt and got the ball back. The Comets scored again just before halftime. Lewis found Steven Horn for a 14-yard pass, and Lewis ran in from three yards out as Colcord sliced the lead down to 19-12 at halftime.
Kansas came out in the second half and stuffed Colcord on three straight short yardage situations to get a turnover on downs.
The Comets then drove into Colcord territory but were forced to punt near midfield.
The Hornets capitalized as Odle went 74 yards on a quarterback keeper to put Colcord up 25-12.
The Hornets squandered a couple of scoring chances with a lost fumble and interception in the red zone. However Colcord did score twice more to put the game away. Gabe Winfield returned a punt near midfield down to the 2-yard line, and Duncan ran in for a two-yard score to make it 33-12.
Winfield also caught a 70-yard pass from Odle to set the final score at 39-12.
Colcord finished with 460 yards of offense, with nearly 400 yards coming on the ground. Odle rushed 12 times for 177 yards, while Martinez had 89 yards and Duncan 75 yards.
Kansas finished with 216 yards of offense, including 124 rushing yards on 29 carries from Lewis.
First-year Kansas coach Warren Kirk said the Comets had their chances.
"Couldn't get that big play to tie it up there," Kirk said. "To start the game (we had) busted assignments, dig ourselves a big hole, and they're a good football team. You can't do that. I was proud of the kids, late in the first half, battling back, making it a one possession game there. I thought we should have come in at halftime up seven. We left some touchdowns out there in the first half. We came out, the start of the third and couldn't get anything going. We give them another big play. The conditioning, we got tired, things like that. Like I said, they're a good football team. We're not far behind. We're going to keep getting better and better."
