Published: September 25, 2008 11:54 pm      

Antlers run past NW Classen

OKLAHOMA CITY — Opposing defenses usually have one primary objective. Stop Dax Dilbeck. While senior quarterback managed to get his on Thursday night, it was Colten Sander, who gave Northwest Classen fits.

The sophomore tailback ran for 231 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead the Antlers to a 46-27 win over the Knights Thursday night at Taft Stadium.

“We worked well as a team and finally executed like we needed to do, and I think they just keyed on Dax (Dilbeck) a lot and that opened things up for us,” Sander said. “This was my first breakout game, it’s a pretty awesome feeling.”

Sander made the Knights pay with a number of big plays. He scored on runs of 60 and 66 yards, as well as a three-yard run that put the Antlers on top early in the first quarter. The sophomore nearly had a fourth score, when he broke a 29-yard run late in the third quarter, but fumbled on the two-yard line. Luckily for the Antlers, Adam Byrd was there to recover in the end zone.

“He is just beginning to understand where the creases are, where everything hits, he’s really just a special player,” Deer Creek head coach Grant Gower said.

While the Knights had to go away from their script, Gower admitted his night did not go quite as planned either.

“Coming into it we game-planned a lot of things to go at them with, and that was what was there tonight,” Gower said. “We weren’t planning on that being the staple of the offense, but it evolved and it just came about that way. And I’m smart enough to know that horse was running, so I’m going to ride it.”

Sander’s three first half touchdowns put the Antlers up 18-6 midway through the second quarter. Then Dilbeck took over, leading the Antlers on a pair of trips to the end zone before the break.

Dilbeck punched one in from eight-yards out with 2:10 left in the second. He then engineered another scoring drive, hitting Zach Trujillo on a 23-yard scoring strike in the left corner of the end zone, giving Deer Creek a 32-6 cushion at the break.

The Antlers extended the lead in the second half with a one-yard run by Connor Patterson and the fumble recovery by Byrd, making it a 46-13 game.

B.J. Holloway guided Northwest Classen to a pair of late scores, when he connected with James Billbury on a three-yard score, and a 23-yard strike to Adrian Brown with 1:37 left.

Holloway finished the night 11-of-16 for 227 yards and three touchdowns. Dilbeck hit 7-of-11 attempts for 78 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 40 yards and a score.

Northwest Classen running back Jimmy Olsen gave the Antlers trouble early in the game, breaking an 80-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. But senior was forced out of the game with an injury at the end of the first half.

Deer Creek will be back at home next week when they take on Western Heights for homecoming.