Guthrie High’s football team picked up an opening- round playoff victory over Lawton MacArthur on Friday night, winning 43-21 at home after a big night on the ground.
The Bluejays racked up 317 yards rushing with most of that coming from quarterback Kolten Carlock and running back Elijah Smith, who ran all over the MacArthur defense to advance Guthrie (8-3) to the Class 5A state quarterfinals for the third straight season.
It was also was win No. 100 for Coach Kelly Beeby, who is now 100-39 since taking the lead role with the Bluejays in 2014.
Guthrie will travel to Booker T. Washington (10-2), which defeated Collinsville 25-20. The Bluejays will be looking to advance to their first semifinal game since 2013 on Friday night in Tulsa.
Against MacArthur, Carlock got Guthrie on the board first after taking a quarterback keeper 50 yards for a touchdown with 3:16 to go in the opening quarter. It was the first of two scores for the do-it-all athlete.
MacArthur didn’t take long to respond with a quarterback score of its own as Aivan Locklin took it in from the 2 right before the end of the first quarter. The Highlanders moved the ball with ease throughout the first half, but costly penalties kept them from putting more points on the board.
Smith took a handoff up the middle on the ensuing possession and busted loose for a 31-yard touchdown to make it 14-7, Bluejays. Again, MacArthur responded quickly with a long pass to star wideout Josh Rushing that set up Locklin for another 2-yard touchdown.
A 44-yard run by Smith on the following drive got the Bluejays down to the 8-yard line, where Amare Watson took a jet sweep in for the score for a 2114 lead with 5:09 to go in the half.
The Bluejays were on a roll offensively as they scored their fourth touchdown in as many possessions after forcing MacArthur to turn it over on downs. Eli Plagg forced a Locklin fumble on fourth down that was recovered by the Highlanders but gave Guthrie the ball in great field position. Plagg would be the recipient of a 12-yard touchdown pass five plays later from backup quarterback Daelon Rice.
Blake Doles then took a direct snap in the wildcat formation and took it in for the two-point conversion, giving Guthrie a 29-14 lead right before the halftime break.
Guthrie came out of the half and forced a MacArthur punt, which led to a 30-yard touchdown scamper by Carlock that saw him break through the middle and outrun the entire Highlanders defense to make it 36-14.
MacArthur rebounded with a 3-yard touchdown by Marquise Harris but couldn’t recover the onside kick trailing by 15. Guthrie scored again in the fourth quarter after Doles punched in another short run, and the Bluejays defense came together for one more stop, forcing another turnover on downs.
Smith recorded 143 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, while Carlock ended with 141 rushing yards and two scores. Carlock also had one passing touchdown to Plagg. Kade Barton led the way for Guthrie on defense with 7.5 tackles and a sack. Kellen Hirzel had seven tackles and an assisted sack.