FOOTBALL: Chickasha battles against Weatherford
Sep. 25—WEATHERFORD — The Fightin' Chicks kept fighting.
District play has arrived, and the Chickasha football team traveled to Weatherford on Friday for a District 4A-1 opener. Chickasha continued to fight and won the second half, but a ranked Weatherford team had too big of a lead and walked away with a 35-15 victory over the Fightin' Chicks.
Dependable receiver
Chickasha senior Kyler Venable has become a dependable target for senior quarterback Cade Rayburn. When Rayburn has looked his way, Venable has come through most of the time.
Friday was no different.
Rayburn looked Venable's way several times against Weatherford, and Venable stepped up by grabbing six catches for more than 70 yards in the game.
One of Venable's catches helped set Chickasha up near the end zone on the team's first touchdown drive. Another one of his catches was a tough one-handed grab.
Kawaykla leads scoring drive
Jason Kawaykla had the opportunity to come in at quarterback for Chickasha, and the team's second scoring drive came with him in at quarterback.
Kawaykla had an important completion to Aiden Hamil on the drive, and he used his feet to make plays. He recorded a rushing touchdown on the drive.
Kawaykla also had an interception on defense.
The game
The two defenses ruled the game early on. The first three series of the game resulted in no points before Weatherford struck first.
Chickasha's defense even stood strong after Weatherford's first touchdown.
A turnover set Weatherford up in Chickasha territory, but the defense stepped up and forced an attempt at a field goal. That attempt was no good.
It was not until later in the first half that Weatherford extended its lead, scoring on back-to-back drives to take a 21-0 lead. That was the score at halftime.
Kawaykla's interception came near the end of the half.
Down 28-0 in the third quarter, Chickasha responded to a Weatherford touchdown by scoring its first touchdown. A big completion from Rayburn to Blake Dominguez gave the drive some momentum.
A big run from James Harrell and a completion from Rayburn to Venable propelled the drive as well, and Rayburn ended the drive with a short touchdown run.
Chickasha ended the game with eight unanswered points after Weatherford went up 35-7.
Before the drive that Kawaykla scored on, Chickasha's defense came up with a safety. Jonavin Mullins made his way to the backfield and came up with a stop in the end zone for the Fightin' Chicks.
Next up
Now 1-3 on the season and 0-1 in district play, a Thursday road game against John Marshall is next for Chickasha.
