Recalling glory days

Time can be a disconnect.

People can drift.

Memories can fade. One generation might not be fully aware of the ones before it.

A connection was made Wednesday evening inside and out of the Donovan Boutwell Center on the Kingfisher High School campus.

And, for some, the memories came rushing back as well.

A handful of players from the KHS state championship football teams of 2003 and 2013 gathered for a photo session with the seniors of the 2023 season that kicked off Friday night.

Those from the 2003 title team were Kody Miller, Marcos Ortega, Steven Wilson, Robby Pool and Tanner Richards.

From the 2013 squad were Dylan Blundell, Trey Yeoman, Landon Nault, Trey Buckner and Garrett Sewell.

( Ed. note: Both the 2003 and 2013 teams will be honored during this year’s homecoming game when KHS hosts Mount St. Mary on Sept. 29. All players, coaches, managers and trainers are invited to take part.)

They took small group photos and joined the KHS seniors that included Damien Haynes, Tanner Parker, Dallen Barton, Diego Muñoz, Hunter Delozier, Ethan Karcher, Jake Reagan and Ayden Varnell for more photos.

When Kingfisher’s current group of tailbacks and fullbacks were introduced to those who did the same some 10 and 20 years ago, they didn’t know who stood before them.

It was Miller, after all, who scored the go-ahead touchdown on the cold night in 2003 as the Yellowjackets defeated Sulphur for their first state championship.

Yeoman was among those who did a lot of the “yeoman’s work,” paving the way for Nault to become the school’s all-time leader in rushing yards, touchdowns, games played….and the list goes on.

Although their pictures hang on the wall of the team’s weight room, those responsible for Kingfisher’s heroics two decades ago weren’t even a memory for the current team.

Still, the younger guys raised an eyebrow when they heard of their accomplishments.

They listened as Miller prompted them to “no matter what, never give up.”

And as they walked off the newly-turfed field, their posing for pictures done, the younger Jackets waved to their predecessors.

“Thank you guys for coming,” Delozier said as he drifted toward the north end zone.

•••

Most of the elder statesmen had not yet seen the inside of the DBC with its stellar weight room, big locker room, cozy film room and ample training room.

It’s a far cry from what any of them experienced as players in Yellowjacket uniforms.

Many of them remembered playing at the old football field, the space that sits between the Kingfisher Upper Elementary and Heritage Elementary buildings.

There, they dressed in what is now indoor batting cages for softball and baseball players.

Even when the move to the new field was made, prior to the now-old fieldhouse being completed, the players dressed at the old locker room and bussed to the field.

Millertookpicturesofthe fine furnishings throughout the DBC and told stories of a rat that took up residence in the old fieldhouse, comparing its size to Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

“This is not even close,” Miller said, comparing the locker rooms of his past. “This is better than a lot of colleges have.”

Pool, whose son Taegan is a freshman on this year’s team and wears the same #77 as his father, gazed around the locker room.

“You know what I tell my son about this place?” he asked the group.

“You’re welcome. That’s what I tell him.”

It was those groups that paved the way as KHS rose from respectable to dangerous to champions to a powerhouse.

The 2003 group were a part of a KHS team that lost in the first round as freshmen, then pulled off a first-round shocker at Pauls Valley as sophomores in 2001.

Then in 2002, the Jackets reached the semifinals for just the second time in history and nearly stunned heavily-favored Sulphur.

“The year we did lose, that game was the decider,” Richards recalled. “Whoever won that game was going to win state that year. We couldn’t pull it out.”

The Jackets had a variety of setbacks in that game, but came back the next year ranked No. 1 all season.

They met up with Berryhill in the semifinals at Wantland Stadium in Edmond.

The Jackets dominated early and took care of business to punch their first ticket to a title game.

Along the way, Ortega booted a career-best 54-yard field goal.

His journey from newcomer in the eighth grade to varsity starter was prodded by Doug Jech.

“He got me in the eighth grade about trying it at recess one day,” Ortega said.

He was hooked. While the extent of the memories of that championship game in early December 2003 may vary, there was one constant.

It was cold. “I just remember going in at halftime,” Miller said. “Our hair was frozen.”

The Jackets were down 11 at the break, Sulphur had all the momentum and appeared ripe for a repeat.

“After the pep talk we had with the coaches, we knew we had to step it up and come back and win the game for the fans, the school and the players who were there,” Ortega said.

Unfortunately, Richards, the starting center, had to watch from the sideline with crutches holding him up.

An ankle injury that bothered him most of the year finally told him it was enough.

“I played hurt a large portion of the season,” Richards said. “I remember when my ankle just gave out, Curtis (Lofton) picked me up.”

Lofton tried to encourage Richards to get ready for the next snap, but the senior knew his time was done.

But the Jackets weren’t done and with 6:59 left in the game and trailing 1813, they started a 65-yard game-winning drive.

Brock VanCleave took care of most of those yards, including a nearly-miraculous completion to Kurt Thomas on a fourth-down play that kept the drive alive.

The drive culminated when Miller found the end zone from a yard out with about three minutes to play.

The defense took care of the rest.

“It’s gone by really quick,” Miller said. “I had to be reminded the other day that it’s been 20 years.”

Richards admits that as the years have passed, so has his reminiscing of that game.

Still, the memory is strong.

“The feeling of winning was awesome to where you just want to cry you’re so happy,” he said.

“Honestly there’s no feeling like that.”

Jeff Myers arrived prior to the next season, taking over for Rick VanCleave, who decided to go out on top.

Myers grabbed those reins and the program continued its upward trend.

The Jackets made it back to the semifinals in 2004 and then again in 2006, then were state runners-up to Clinton in 2007.

It was back to the semifinals again in 2008 and the title game in 2009.

Nault suited up for the Jackets to begin his freshman season in 2010.

What he thought was going to be a year of soaking it all in turned into him being the featured back in Game 1 thanks to injuries.

“That first play I got the ball was probably the fastest I’ve run in my entire career,” he said.

And what a career it was. The Jackets played for the state title that year and then lost to eventual champ Anadarko in the second round during his sophomore season.

KHS made it back to the championship game in 2012 and was upset by Blanchard.

That was twice for Nault and four times for Myers to reach the title game only to fall short.

Nault knew he didn’t want his career to end without a gold ball.

“Being here with some of those 2003 guys tonight… when we grew up, those were our idols,” he said. “Seeing them get it done, our senior group said from an early age that was something we were going to make sure we did…come out here and make sure we got another state championship.”

The Jackets got that chance and on the other side of Boone Pickens Stadium was the exact team that upset the Jackets the year before.

“We went into that game knowing there was going to be no question about what side we finished on,” Nault said. “We’d been there too many times and been on the wrong end of it.”

The thing was, if Kingfisher was going to win, Blanchard was going to make sure Nault wasn’t the reason.

He entered that night with more than 2,200 rushing yards and 45 touchdowns on the season.

But Blanchard wasn’t letting him breathe and ultimately limited him to 33 yards on 13 carries.

A young man that most outside of Kingfisher weren’t aware of was a supremely talented sophomore named Nick Smith.

Offensive coordinator Micah Nall knew what he had at his disposal and made the decision to use Nault as a decoy and to unleash Smith on the Lions.

The Jackets saw a 16-9 halftime deficit quickly disappear. Smith had TD runs of 75, 36, 83 and 25 yards on the night.

He also kicked a field goal and the extra points.

Smith scored every single point while rushing for 231 yards as the Jackets got that elusive second gold ball, 30-23.

“I get asked still to this day about being the guy that was kind of the leader, especially on the offensive side of the ball, going into that game and not having a whole lot of success,” Nault said. “(About) being a little bit more of a decoy and allowing Nick to do what Nick does best. People still to this day ask me what that was like.

“Well, I get to say that I’m part of the state championship and have the best record in school history and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

That was a decade ago. “It doesn’t seem like it was 10 years ago, but I think if you asked my knees, and ankles and elbows, they’d probably tell a different story,” said Nault, who went on to play at Emporia State University and is now a physician assistant.

Nault knows his career - one that included being a national finalist for the High School Heisman Award was one that most can only dream of.

“I’d like to think I was a good player, but I also played with a lot of very, very talented teammates, especially on the offensive line, who made it easy for me and made it a lot of fun,” he said.

And it ended in storybook fashion.

“For that to be the last game of my career and ending it as a state champion on that field with that group of guys and those coaches, finishing undefeated and the best record in school history is something that stays with you forever,” he said.

Now that he’s had two full decades to look back on his own playing days, Richards said his advice to current players is to appreciate what they have, and that includes each other.

“No matter how corny it might sound, teamwork makes the dream work,” he said. “That’s the best thing you can do: Stay close to each other, take moments and enjoy it. Look out on the field. Look at the crowd. Just enjoy it and have fun.”

Nault echoed much the same.

“Soak up every minute of it and not just the enjoyment of being able to play, in my opinion, the greatest game ever, but soak up the time with your teammates and with your coaches,” he said.

There was more. “Compete every single day,” he said, before noting that both the 2003 and 2013 teams were facing halftime deficits in their championship game.

“Never give up…take in what the coaches are telling you and put that into play.”

Nault wasn’t just talking about a sport.

“That will translate into life even after football,” he said.

“I can certainly say for myself that it has and I think that all started with the groundwork that was set in this locker room.”