It was an emotional start for the Class 3A No. 8 ranked Checotah Wildcats (1-1) as they celebrated Homecoming prior to kick-off. Homecoming King Elijah Thomas crowned Hailey Prince as Homecoming Queen. The ending didn’t go as planned for the Wildcats as Seminole used a second half rally to defeat the Wildcats 60-49.

It was an exciting game right from the start as Jayden Ellen of the Wild- cats out ran the Seminole defenders to tie the game 6-6. The Wildcat defense swarmed to the football and made great plays early in the contest.

Freshman quarterback Cole Rolland was spot on as he finished going 17 of 23 for 214 yards and three touchdowns. Rolland used his rushing attack and short passes to drive down field in a methodical manner. The drive was capped off by OU commitment Elijah Thomas, who scored from short yardage to give the Wildcats a 13-6 lead.

Both teams traded score for score and at the halftime break Seminole would lead 38-29.

The running game of Checotah was great as they received fantastic blocking from their offensive line. Ellen showed moments of greatness with his speed and power and ability to dodge would-be tackles. Ellen finished the game with 161 yards on 12 carries for three touchdowns.

Checotah gave Seminole everything in their arsenal and trailed 4643 with 3:29 remaining in the third quarter.

The Wildcats were plagued with turnovers. The Wildcats had three fumble losses and the Chieftains scored points on every one of them. Thomas had another solid game as he finished with 155 allpurpose yards and three touchdowns.