SAND SPRINGS — The last time Sand Springs hoisted the Golden Football, Lyndon B. Johnson was in the White House, gas 32 cents a gallon, and The Sound of Music was collecting Oscars, Mike Tyson was a couple months old, the Baltimore Orioles had swept the Dodgers 4-0 in the World Series, and Sand Springs was a Class 2A school.
That was 1966 — a different world, a different Oklahoma, and a different brand of Sandite football. Now, nearly six decades later, the boys in black and gold are two wins away from pulling its second golden football from the jaws of history, daring the city to believe that a story once written in the past may be ready to repeat itself.
Two wins.
That’s all that separates Sand Springs from bringing home a Golden Football. It used to be three, but last week, under a cold angry sky that felt tailor-made for playoff football, the Sandites punched their way into the Class 6A-II semifinals with a commanding 35–13 win over the Piedmont Wildcats.
And make no mistake — this wasn’t luck, a fluke, or a surviveand- advance kind of night.
This was a statement.
Webb’s steady hand sets the tone Senior quarterback Easton Webb played like a man refusing to let his final season end with anything but a W. Webb completed an eye-popping 18-of-23 passes for 317 yards, dissecting Piedmont’s secondary with calm precision. Every time the Sandites needed an answer, he delivered one.
Webb’s early strike — an arcing nuke to Dominic Forbes that flipped the field and set up the first score — was the spark that lit the fuse. Forbes was Webb’s go-to downfield option, finishing with 107 yards on seven catches, repeatedly out running and out juking the Wildcats’ coverage.
Another Webb highlight? A latefi rst-quarter dart to Alex Dudley, who hauled in 105 receiving yards of his own — including a breakaway grab that brought the Sandite sidelines and stands to life. Dudley left his fingerprints all over the night: receiving, tackling, returning, just name it.
Brock O’Dell takes over the ground game If Webb was the surgeon, Brock O’Dell was the bull in a China shop. The senior tailback powered his way to four touchdowns, bulldozing through Wildcat defenders like someone who’d spent the offseason in the weight room — and, well. He had. His 47-yard breakaway score in the third quarter wasn’t just another touchdown — it was the dagger.
O’Dell finished with 85 yards rushing, but his impact went far beyond the stat column. When the Sandites needed a closer, he delivered.
Junior Tristian Birmingham produced the opening touchdown of the night — a tough 4-yard plunge that gave the Sandites a lead they never gave back.
Defense plays its most disciplined game of the year Piedmont’s offense came in with a reputation for grinding drives, and the Wildcats made Sand Springs earn every stop. But again and again, the Sandites slammed the gate.
Senior Brock O’Dell didn’t just star on offense — he piled up 16 tackles, including a tackle for loss that snuffed out a first-quarter possession.
Emory Smittick was a machine inside, tallying 13 total stops, while Alex Dudley added 11 tackles of his own.
Junior Gage Gunn came up huge with key tackles for loss, and freshman Aiden Rhine announced his arrival with a sack that brought the home crowd to its feet.
The play that sealed any doubt?
Senior Junior Ballard’s fourthquarter interception, cutting off a Wildcat drive and setting up O’Dell’s final touchdown.
Special teams do their job Senior kicker Tanner Copeland went a perfect 5-for-5 on PATs, cleanly converting every Sandite touchdown.
Return men Dudley, Tre Pope, and Gevauri Hill added steady yards that helped the Sandites win the field-position battle all night long.
Next up: Putnam City West Sand Springs (now one win from the state title game) will square off against 9-2 Putnam City West, a fast, athletic team that thrives on chaos and big-play defense. The Patriots won’t be intimidated — but neither will the Sandites.
Charles Page is a team that has grown tougher each week, matured in the fire, and leaned on its seniors in every defining moment. Players like Webb, O’Dell, Dudley, Forbes, Hill, Ballard, O’Dell, Copeland — and the entire defensive front — have built something real.
Two wins from the golden ball.
Two wins from history.
Two wins from making the whole town buzz the way it did more than half a century ago.
Kickoff will be at 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 28, at Edmond North High School.