Playoffs: No. 1 Heritage Hall Ends Spiro's Season

OKLAHOMA CITY - Spiro fell behind for the second straight week before slowly chipping away at its deficit.However, Heritage Hall's Sterling Shepard made sure the Bulldogs didn't rally for another win in the 3A playoffs.Shepard scored the Chargers' first four touchdowns, including a 61-yard run after the Bulldogs got to 21-14, and finished with five total TDs. His touchdown run started a spurt of three TDs in a span of more than four minutes as Heritage Hall pulled away from Spiro and ended the Bulldogs' season in the 3A quarterfinals with a 49-30 win."(Shepard) killed us in the first half and in the first quarter, and then we didn't do a good job of blocking (Charger defensive linemen Quintaz Struble and Markus Wakefield)," Spiro coach Chris Bunch said.Heritage Hall (13-0), the No. 1-ranked team in 3A, advances to next week's semifinals. Spiro, which was seeking its first trip to the semifinals since 2006, ends the season at 11-2.Shepard, a junior wide receiver, caught touchdown passes on each of Heritage Hall's opening two possessions. In addition, Shepard caught another TD pass early in the second quarter, which gave the Chargers a 21-6 lead.The Bulldogs - who trailed Nowata 20-0 in last week's second-round game - answered with a quick three-play drive, which ended when senior quarterback Clayton Mitchem found a wide-open Ty Hawkins in the end zone from 18 yards out. Then Mitchem hit Elijah Lee for two more points, which cut Heritage Hall's lead to 21-14 with less than 10 minutes left in the first half.But on the next play, Shepard took a pitch to the right side. After being initially corralled in the backfield, he spun loose and found running room along the left side. He eventually scored from 61 yards for his fourth TD, which increased Heritage Hall's lead to 28-14."Sterling had a great night," Heritage Hall coach Andy Bogert said.^?Oh, my gosh.' I think he ran out of gas when he finally got into the end zone, but he was impressive. People will say you can just put it up there and he'll go get it, but that's basically what he's been doing; he's just an impressive kid."Two plays later, the Chargers forced a fumble. Heritage Hall defensive back Shaun Tkach scooped up the loose ball and went in untouched from 27 yards for the Chargers' second TD in 27 seconds.After forcing Spiro to punt on the next series, the Chargers made it 42-14 on a four-play drive, which ended with a 2-yard TD run by running back Brent Gaddis with more than five minutes left before halftime."We gave them another easy touchdown there on the fumble," Bunch said.Mitchem, playing his final game for the Bulldogs, passed for three touchdowns. His final TD came with more than three minutes left in the game, when he found K.J. Booze from 4 yards on a fourth-and-goal. Mitchem then hit tight end Tyler Didway for the 2-point conversion, capping a drive that lasted 15 plays and covered 70 yards.Spiro's final TD came with less than a minute to play following a high snap on a Charger punt attempt. The Bulldogs took over at the Heritage Hall 2, where senior tailback Elliott Hawkins scored on the next play. Hawkins then caught a 2-point pass from Mitchem to complete the scoring.On the game's first offensive play, Charger senior quarterback Cooper Cloud fired a 63-yard touchdown pass to Shepard, as Heritage Hall got on the scoreboard in only 18 seconds. The Chargers' defense then forced Spiro to punt, and Shepard got another score, this time from 39 yards out ,as Heritage Hall upped its lead to 14-0 four minutes into the game.Spiro broke through on the scoreboard on its next drive, which covered 74 yards over 14 plays. On a fourth-and-goal from the Charger 7, Mitchem broke free from a sack before finding Didway in the back of the end zone. The PAT was missed, keeping the score 14-6 in favor of the Chargers with 2:01 left in the opening quarter.The Chargers were without tailback Barry Sanders, the namesake son of the Pro Football Hall of Famer, who was out with an injury.

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