The Stillwater Pioneers were finally able to walk away from their brand new stadium with a big smile Friday night, thanks to a stellar performance from sophomore quarterback Jerame Littell.
Littell, playing only three quarters, threw for 354 yards and six touchdowns to lead the Pioneers to a 54-26 win over rival Ponca City for homecoming Friday in Stillwater.
The victory was the first in four tries in the new Pioneer Stadium. The win was also the first in district play for the Pioneers, now 2-4 overall, 1-2 district.
ź??The kids worked really hard; itź??s a rivalry game and weź??re just happy that the kids showed up to play some good football for us,ź?ť Stillwater coach Rusty Atkins said. ź??Itź??s a good feeling to finally get a win here. A lot of kids grew up once again on the field for us tonight.ź?ť
Littell, who nursed a sore hip most of the third quarter after taking a hard hit on a throw, was on target all night, completing passes to six different receivers. The 354 yards is short of his career high of 388, set in a home loss Sept. 11 to Sand Springs. The six touchdown are a career best.
ź??This is the (home) game weź??ve been looking for all season and finally got it tonight,ź?ť Littell said. ź??We were excited to play like this tonight.ź?ť
Both teams put on an offensive show in the first quarter, combining for 33 points and just over 300 yards of total offense.
Littell was on target in the first quarter, completing 10 of 15 passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns. The first two scores went to Trevor Davenport on throws of 10 and 15 yards. Just before the end of the first quarter Littell and Jesse Vester connected for a 65-yard touchdown throw and catch, giving SHS the lead for good at 20-13.
David Pierson scored on a 1-yard run to start the second quarter and Littellź??s 19-yard touchdown pass to Corey Hassel with 1:07 to play in the half gave SHS a 34-19 halftime lead.
Littell finished the half completing 14 of 22 passes for 259 yards and four scores.
The sophomore quarterback went right back to work in the third quarter. He found senior tight end Anthony Sparks twice for touchdowns on catches of 15 and 10 yards to put the game away.
Sparks tied for the team high with six receptions and his 105 receiving yards led the Pioneers.
ź??We had a pretty good look on film against them, we just felt really good about what we could do passing in this game,ź?ť Sparks said. ź??All the receivers felt good, Jerame felt good; we were ready.ź?ť
Shelby Bradley also had six receptions for 71 yards while Hassel caught five balls for 80 yards and the 19-yard touchdown. Vester caught just one pass, the 65-yarder for a score.
Menter led the Pioneers on the ground with 106 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown.
Ponca City quarterback Brent Wilson tried to keep up with Littell, completing 19 of 34 passes for 284 yards. Stillwater finished the game with 525 yards of total offense, compared to 308 for Ponca City.
The numbers were great Friday night, but the win was even better.
ź??Thatź??s the greatest thing right now for these kids and the school system is to get that win on the home field and kind of christen the thing and move forward,ź?ť Atkins said. ź??Now weź??ve got to finish out strong the remainder of the season.ź?ť