Unfinished business, that’s the feeling that hung over Victory Stadium and in the locker room following the season ending 31-28 loss to Locust Grove in the first round of the playoffs.
In spite of seven uncharacteristic turnovers, it seemed like the Conquerors were going to pull out a miracle win, right up to the moment that the horn sounded and the ball eluded Corey Stewart’s lunging grab, landing harmlessly at the feet of two Pirate defenders.
What happened? On the heels of a 7-game winning streak, including a 34-0 thrashing of district rival Seminole, a number three rating in the state, and a Tulsa World prediction of winning the state title, one and done was not the expected end.
Not for the group of 18 seniors who have helped Victory become one of the perennial powers in Class 3A. Since their sophomore year, the Conquerors are 28-7, including two district titles and a trip to the state championship game. In that stretch, they only lost one district game.
This group includes All-district center Josh Cherry, who played in 47 games in a Conqueror uniform, more than anyone else in school history.
There is career passing leader Jacob Lewandowski, who amassed 4,393 yards in total offense (596 rushing, 3,797 passing), and accounted for 52 touchdowns (12 rushing, 40 passing)).
His senior performance earned him Co-Offensive MVP honors in the district, as well as honorable mention honors for both the All-Metro and All-State teams.
There is All-Metro first team, All-State second team, and District wide receiver of the year Corey Stewart, who racked up 995 yards receiving (14 TD’s) and 294 yards in kickoff returns (2 TD’s) on the year. That gives him 2,238 yards in total offense and 21 touchdowns for his career.
There are also Co-Defensive End of the year Josh Hilberling, Co-Defensive lineman of the year Jacob Morrow, Co-Cornerback of the year Brett Smith, Co-Safety of the year Booker Beacham, as well as All-District selections Mark Gonzales, Adam Hyman, Hunter Houston and Julian Peters.
And while we bid this outstanding group good-bye, we have to remember that alone, they would not have accomplished what they did this season. As Coach Cherry says all the time, “This is a team game. You can’t win by yourself, it takes everyone doing their part.”
Before we close the book on the season, lets look aback and see how we got to that Locust Grove game and an opportunity to finish “what we started.”
There was great anticipation as to what the team could accomplish, coming off the disappointment of the ’05 season, and those got even higher after traveling to Shiloh Christian in the last scrimmage of the fall and leaving with a narrow 28-24 defeat.
It was then that everyone was reminded that football isn’t the most important thing in life, as we said good-by to Mr. Stepan. His passion for Christ and love for each of us will never be forgotten. And in spite of his business on earth seemingly being unfinished, there was the sense that we were left to finish it.
The emotional roller coaster of that week was followed by the season opener at Metro Christian. Always a heated struggle, whatever the sport, this was no different.
Trailing 12-7 at halftime, the Conquerors came out in the second half and took the momentum back right away, when Smith stepped in front of a Patriot pass and then sprinted 50 yard to the end zone.
Victory extended the lead when Lewandowski hit Stewart on a 63-yard strike on the next possession and sophomore Jeremiah Ablohr sacked the Metro quarterback, recovered the subsequent fumble and then raced 30 yards into the end zone. The 23 point explosion left it a 30-12 game at the end of the quarter.
Stewart’s 47-yard touchdown made it a 36-12 final. Unfortunately, the Conquerors couldn’t have the same “magic” in week two.
That saw Victory lose another heartbreaker to Holland Hall 21-20. After spotting the Dutch a 14-0 lead, Lewandowksi led the Conquerors back with touchdowns to Stewart and Hans Duininck, leaving the score tied 14-14 at half.
But with an offense plagued by fumbles, missed blocks and penalties, Victory was unable to move the ball until the final possession when junior Jonathan Barber dove over the left side from 4 yards out. The sideline and crowd anticipated an overtime thriller, but when the middle of the Holland Hall line broke through and knocked senior Michael Hitsman’s kick down, we were left with another Dutch defeat.
Week three’s match up with Cascia Hall seemed to hold hope of a turn around, as Victory went in with a two-game winning streak over the Commandos. But when the Conquerors’ punt snap sailed out of the end zone on the first possession, it was evidence of what was about to happen.
Cascia would rack up 334 rushing on 57 carries, including three touchdowns by Danny Clement on route to a 34-13 smashing of the Conquerors. Victory could only manage 202 yards of offense, with only 89 coming through the air as Lewandowski was harassed and punished by the Commando defense all night long.
Week four meant the beginning of district play, and Muldrow coming to Victory Stadium. It was also time to answer a question, what was the real Conqueror team? The answer came on the first play of the game, when Duininck took the opening kickoff back 90 yards for a touchdown and the 45-14 rout was on.
Five different Conquerors scored, including sophomore Cameron Cichon’s 90 yard kickoff return and Duininck’s 36-yard pass from Lewandowski to finish off the scoring. That gave the senior quarterback 191 yards and four touchdowns on the night. Barber paced the running attack with 115 yards and one score.
Led by Morrow and Ablorh, the defense racked up 11 tackles for loss, while picking off four Muldrow passes.
Week five meant a trip to Roland, and the game that Coach Cherry credits as the key to the district title.
“We were 2-2 and Roland was supposed to be pretty good. We had to find out whether we could beat a good team or not.”
And after giving up 75 yards and a touchdown on three carries by District running back of the year Ben Fowlkes, the real Victory team showed up. The defense held Roland to just 27 yards offense the rest of the half, while the Conquerors ran up 281 yards in offense while scoring 28 unanswered points.
Lewandowski led the way with 11-16 passing for 161 yards and two scoring passes to Stewart and one to Duininck. The senior quarterback also added a 1-yard score of his own.
In the second half, Duininck hauled in another Lewandowski pass on a 31-yard play and the starting defense held the Rangers to just 55 yards offense until the final drive of the game.
That meant that 3-2 Victory entered week six’s game with Kellyville with some momentum and the Ponies proved unable to stop the Conqueror juggernaut as they ended the night with a 44-0 win.
Supported by a defense that recorded 15 tackles for loss, forced 4 turnovers, and limited Kellyville to 83 yards of total offense, the offense bashed the Ponies for 329 yards of offense.
Lewandowski added two rushing and two passing touchdowns to his season totals, while junior linebacker Will Birney punctuated the win with a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
The win meant that Victory had a three-game winning streak and a date with all-world running back Derrick Locke and the Hugo Buffaloes in week seven.
“He’s a special back,” former defensive coordinator Rick Rogers said during the week. And it was apparent early on in the game, that like the rest of the state, the Conquerors would have a bit of a challenge corralling the all-state running back.
Locke was so special early on that he racked up 89 yards rushing, including a 58-yard scoring run. And then late in the second quarter, Locke added an 88-yard kickoff return, which made everyone else believe, but also nervous as a 23-yard interception by Cichon and a 36-yard strike to Stewart left Victory with just a 14-13 lead at the intermission.
But as great an athlete as Locke is, scoring 51 touchdowns on the season, defensive coordinator Zac Kemp was convinced that his guys could shut him down. And the second half performance by his defense proved him correct.
Led by Beacham and Hilberling, the Conquerors turned in as good a defensive performance as Cherry had had in five seasons. Locke managed only 27 yards rushing and Hugo as a team had only 18 yards in total offense.
Meanwhile, the Victory offense was eating up over 16 minutes on the clock while adding to the lead with a 4-yard run by Barber and a 13-yard Lewandowski strike to Hilberling, making it a 27-13 final.
Week eight meant a trip to Checotah, and the result was a 42-10 thrashing of the Wildcats. It was also another display of Lewandowski’s arm and Stewart’s speed and play-making ability.
The senior quarterback finished 15-20 for 244 yards and three scores. Two of them going to Stewart, on plays of 22 and 24 yards. The senior wide receiver also added a 90-yard kickoff return beginning the second half, making his total offense total of 210 yards.
That brought the 6-2 Conquerors to the most anticipated game of the year, a home date with Seminole. Two years ago, in the state semi-finals, Victory shutout the perennial power 24-0. This year, round two resulted in a 34-0 Conqueror win.
Dominant, there’s no other word. Peters (10 tackles) and Hyman (11 tackles, 4 for loss), stuffed Stilwell and the rest of the Seminole offense, holding them to 77 total yards, and only 13 in the second half.
Meanwhile, Lewandowski was having his finest night as a Conqueror. Three touchdown passes, 326 yards on 16-26 passing and a rushing touchdown for good measure. It was the perfect night. What would he and the Conquerors do for an encore?
Take care of Bristow 34-6 as Stewart added another 90 yard kickoff return and a 73-yard pass from Lewandowski to his highlight reel. Celebrating senior night with a convincing victory, all looked a go for another championship run.
That’s what made the 31-28 loss to Locust Grove so shocking. How could it be over? Lewandowski threw for 298 yards and four scores. Stewart racked up 136 yards on 8 receptions and 2 touchdowns, while being almost uncoverable.
But when freshman Beau Marsaln found Jake Collins in the right corner of the east end zone, with just fifty-nine seconds clicks on the clock, the story book seemed to have an unhappy ever after ending.
That’s where Lewandowski moved the Conquerors from their 20-yardline to the Pirate 30, with time for one more play. Where else could it go? To the same guy he’d been throwing passes to since sixth grade. How could it not work?
And as both sidelines held their collective breath and watched the 79th and final pass of the night float through the late fall darkness, there seemed to be hope. Surely the senior standout could make one more unbelievable catch.
That’s when the fairytale ended and everyone walked off into the night of what if’s. The problem with football, like real life, is that there aren’t any do-overs. There’s one shot and then you move on.
Where does the Conqueror program go from here? We bid a tearful good-bye to our seniors and we look ahead to what a fine group of returning juniors and sophomores will accomplish next year.
In one sense, every year leaves us with unfinished business, because a program is not made in a year.
It’s a living, breathing thing that changes and grows every year. Conqueror football is a tradition.
A tradition of working hard, living right and giving God all the glory for our talents and our successes. What does the future hold for Victory football, if God be for us, who can be against us?
GO BIG BLUE!!