Published: October 31, 2009 12:21 am      

Wolves end Norman North's playoff dreams with road win

NORMAN — Edmond Santa Fe held off a late charge from Norman North Friday night.

The Wolves capitalized on North mistakes and picked up their first district win of the season 24-7 over the T-Wolves at Harve Collins Field. While 2-8 Santa Fe knew its season would be over after Week 10, the loss just made things official for the T-Wolves.

“They’re good,” North coach Lance Manning said of the Wolves. “A coach I talked to said they were really good, they’d just been snakebit. They showed that tonight. Everybody knew this could happen if we didn’t play well.”

North’s defense, which started the season as one of the best in Class 6A, has struggled in its four straight losses. Friday was no different.

Santa Fe (2-7, 1-5 District 6A-1) took its first possession down to the North 20 yard line before a fumbled snap gave it over to the T-Wolves (4-4, 2-4).

But North couldn’t manage anything, and after getting the ball at their own 43, the Wolves marched down the field for their first score.

Busted coverage left Patrick Hinton wide open in the end zone, where Will Long found him for an easy six, and Santa Fe took a 7-0 lead into halftime.

It was a defensive battle, both teams combining for just over 200 yards of offense in the first half.

North couldn’t get anything going against the Santa Fe defense, even when given opportunities. North’s John Manley blocked a punt that set the T-Wolves up at the Santa Fe 32, but quarterback Brad Valentino was sacked for the third time on third-and-eight, ending the drive.

A few plays later, Long found Matt Leavell downfield for what looked to be a 15-yard gain on third-and-10. Leavell broke a tackle, though, and ran down the sideline for a 70-yard score, putting Santa Fe up 14-0.

The T-Wolves finally found some life near the end of the third quarter. A couple of big defensive plays and another fumbled snap by the Wolves set North up at the Santa Fe 14.

Just 49 seconds into the final quarter, Nick Canavan scored North’s only touchdown on a 2-yard run.

North got the ball back deep in its own territory with momentum on its side, and Canavan busted a couple of tackles on third down for a nice 14-yard reception. But Canavan fumbled it at the North 16, and Santa Fe’s Tevin Doss ran it in a couple plays later from 10 yards out to seal the game.

Dillon Hammond added a 39-yard field goal to round out the scoring.

“We were pretty evenly matched,” Manning said. “Big mistakes, especially down the stretch there, allowed them to put some more points on the board. It was already a defensive struggle before that. That just kind of made the difference.”

The Senior Night loss stings for the T-Wolves, who had back to back 9-3 seasons and end a string of three straight playoff appearances.

But there’s still one more game to play. North finishes the season next week at Lawton, while Santa Fe finishes up at home against Moore.