A season to remember: Tragedy inspired 2009 Bartlesville High School football team

Note: As we approach another high school football season, the E-E is looking back at one of the best years in Bartlesville High School's proud tradition. This is Part 2 of a feature.

Emerging from a successful outing in 2008 -- the program's first non-losing season since 2003 -- the Bartlesville High School Bruin football players and coaches burrowed with confidence into the offseason rigors.

But, less than a month after the final game of 2008, tragedy hammered the football program with the deaths of two starters that would have juniors, Scott Mauldin and Eric Dean.

Less than six months later, another classmate, Tyler Teague, passed away.

The memory of these three friends remained on the minds of the Bruin football squad as it headed into the 2009 tests. The players wore custom black armbands inscribed with the initials of their three missing teammates, that year's starting quarterback Kirby Schoenthaler recalled.

"A lot of us had grown up playing together," Schoenthaler said. "We had built relationships and we were friends at school. It was definitely a hard situation … that brought us together."

A season to remember, Part 1: Bartlesville High School football team made shining mark in 2009

Bolstered by the momentum from the 2008 season, a tribute to their friends beyond the veil and overflowing talent, the Bruins ripped open the curtain on the 2009 campaign.

They started out by stomping Stillwater, 31-14, and pounding Ponca City, 42-6.

Striding into the Stillwater opener, "We knew we were going to be good," Tate said. "That win set the mood and the 'mo' for the rest of the season. … Mike Thompson made an outstanding punt return for a touchdown. I was so excited I was a yard out on the field."

Another coach had to pull Tate back or the referee would have run into him and likely led to a penalty, Tate added.

In Week 3, Enid gave the Bruins their first scare; Bartlesville won, 21-17. Then, the Week 4 gut-check win against Muskogee, 35-30, might have been the Bruins' first signature win.

"We made some plays when it counted," Schoenthaler said. "We were able to capture some momentum."

A Week 5 payoff rout of Sand Springs, 45-14, and a shutout of Claremore, 28-0, upped Bartlesville's mark to 6-0.

The Bruins next took care of business against Sapulpa, 42-23, to remain perfect.

Then came their showdown against Jenks, which had won nine Class 6A state championships the previous 13 seasons; the Trojans also had dashed to a 7-0 start.

For the first time since 2002, Bartlesville felt it had a good shot at knocking off Jenks. The Bruin fans sensed it too. They packed Custer Stadium for the Week 8 showdown.

"I remember getting to the stadium that day at 4:30 p.m. and people 5 p.m and people were already crowded around the ticket office," recalled Craig Tate. "The line stretched down the sidewalk. They were sold out. The players and the coaches couldn't believe all the people and the media coverage (including a helicopter)."

Jenks out-offensed the Bruins, 63-40 -- but the 40 points would be the most Jenks gave up to any opponents.

"They (Jenks) had five Division I offensive linemen, Tate recalled.

"Garrett Powell had more than 200 yards receiving against Jenks," Schoenthaler recalled. "We ran a 10-yard out route close to the sidelines which we thought would be a first down, and he (Powell) eluded a couple of defenders, got loose and pulled a couple of them while going to the end zone. … We have a couple of TV news stations covering the game."

Having seen their bid for a perfect season -- and district title -- ruined, the Bruins finished up the season by mulching Tulsa Memorial, 54-21, and fell to Broken Arrow, 45-28 to wrap up the regular season at 8-2.

Next up, the Bruins bumped up against a vastly-favored Owasso Rams team to open the playoffs; Bruin head coach Smith had coached several years at Owasso prior to taking the Bartlesville job.

Defense ruled that night, the crushing hit on the quarterback, who was trying to scramble for yards and was headed downhill when he collided with a bolt of lightning, alias Mike Thompson.

"Defense helped carry us to that win," Schoenthaler said.

But, Bartlesville's string of success in 2009 ran out the next week at Southmoore, in a 49-28 quarterfinal loss.

"It was 50 degrees and drizzling, it was just miserable," recalled Tate. "Southmoore was a great team. They had three guys that went to Oklahoma."

The 9-3 record registered by the 2009 squad would be the best season winning percentage (.750) up to then -- and remains No. 2 to the 2015 crew (10-2).

Schoenthaler also would be instrumental in leading Bartlesville to a 7-4 record in 2010 -- one of only two starting quarterbacks in Bruin history to participate in the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

"We had our ups and downs, but at the end of the day it was positive memories," said Schoenthaler, who is married and now lives in Norfolk, Va.

Thompson passed away in March 2016.

Smith left Bartlesville after the 2010 season and coached as an assistant and later as a successful head coach at Victory Christian. His five-season tenure (2006-10) with the Bruins remains the third-longest in Bartlesville football head coaching history. His 26 career wins at Bartlesville rank him only behind Mickey Ripley (59, 1982-93) and John McKee (31, 2011-16-plus).

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Part 2: 2009 Bartlesville football season was inspired by tragedy