Zebras survive to play another round

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Rex Trent figured his team was probably finished. <br><br>As Shawnee's football team drove down the field in the final minute with the score tied 7-7, Trent resigned himself to

Wednesday, November 20th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Rex Trent figured his team was probably finished.

As Shawnee's football team drove down the field in the final minute with the score tied 7-7, Trent resigned himself to the fact the Wolves would likely kick a field goal to beat his Claremore team in the first round of the playoffs.

With a break, he figured, Shawnee might miss the field goal and his team would still have a chance in overtime.

Trent got more than he could have imagined.

With time running out, Shawnee threw a pass into the flat. Claremore linebacker Gregg Childers broke on the ball, intercepted it and took it all the way back, 85 yards, for a touchdown.

He crossed the goal line with 6 seconds remaining. Claremore won 14-7.

``The playoffs create some crazy deals, and that was just one of them,'' Trent said.

Trent is in his third year at Claremore and his 21st as a football coach. He had never seen anything like what happened Friday night in Shawnee.

``They got the ball and drove it down the field, which they're very capable of doing,'' he said. ``They're a throwing football team and they're very good at it. They've got an excellent quarterback and a bunch of good receivers.

``The ball was thrown on the money. If the kid catches it, he's going to turn down the boundary and probably score a touchdown.''

But Childers got there first.

``His anticipation or whatever took over,'' Trent said. ``He took the pass and still had to go 85 yards to score. He made a tremendous cut at midfield. It looked like a guy was about to push him out of bounds but he cut back.

``It was just unbelievable for the Zebras.''

And crushing for Shawnee, which was ranked No. 4 in Class 5A and was playing at home.

``I really did hurt for their kids, I promise you that,'' Trent said. ``We're not sitting here gloating about anything.''

As a reward for pulling off the upset, Claremore (7-4) travels to Oklahoma City this week to play third-ranked Douglass. The Trojans are 9-1 after winning their first-round game 31-25 over Altus.

Claremore will be the underdog once again, but welcomes the opportunity.

``Anything can happen in the playoffs,'' said Trent, who now knows that as well as anyone.

___

There were several outstanding performances last week:

_ Adrian Bradley had 26 tackles and Michael Tate had 20 as Tulsa Washington beat Bishop Kelley 35-7.

_ Glenpool's Courtney Tennial had a school-record 379 yards on 30 carries and scored six times in a 48-41 victory over Star Spencer.

_ Grant Jones of Pawnee carried 22 times for 365 yards and five touchdowns, and scored once on a pass play, as the Black Bears beat Verdigris 51-7.

_ Tulsa Union's Spencer McIllwain ran for 239 yards and three TDS in a 54-27 victory over Bartlesville.

_ Oologah's Ryder Hill ran for 246 yards and three TDs, threw a touchdown pass and had an interception in a 45-26 victory over Okmulgee.

_ Adam Murphy had seven catches for 117 yards as Grove upset Broken Bow 20-17.

_ Blake Byford of Edmond North was 16-of-38 for 284 yards and a TD in a 31-26 loss to Broken Arrow.