Vian football coach Gary Willis said his team could not commit turnovers if the Wolverines were going to have the best chance of bringing home a gold football and a state championship for the first time in 53 years. Unfortunately, his fears came to fruition.

The Wolverines committed four turnovers, three of which were turned into touchdowns by Davis as the Wolves denied the Wolverines a perfect season and that all-elusive gold ball with a 28-18 win in the Class 2A, Division II state title game Saturday afternoon at the University of Central Oklahoma’s Chad Richison Stadium.

The Wolverines end the season at 13-1.

With the game tied at 7-all at halftime, the Wolves (10-4), who ended the season by beating two unbeaten teams at the time with a semifinal win over undefeated Stroud prior to beating undefeated Vian, attempted an onside kick, but it was Vian’s Tristan Wiley who made the recovery at the Vian 44yard line with 11:58 left in the third quarter.

The Wolverines marched as deep as about the Davis 15-yard line, but as Vian wildcat quarterback Masyn Wright was looking for somewhere to run, Davis defender Jaxon Wright literally stripped Wright of the ball at the Davis 20 and rambled 39 yards to the Vian 41 with 9:56 remaining in the period.

Five plays and 41 yards later, the Wolves took the lead for good on a 3-yard touchdown run by quarterback Dax Owens. However, Vian’s Cash Collins blocked Davis place-kicker Levi Pullen’s extra point, keeping Davis ahead 13-7 with 7:28 remaining in the quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Vian’s Draighton Fletcher tried to catch the pop-up kick, but fumbled the ball. Davis special teams player Brendyn Pierce made the recovery at the Vian 28-yard line.

Thanks to converting a fourth down at the Vian three-yard line, the Wolves went 28 yards in eight plays as Brenden Rawls leaped into the end zone for a 1-yard TD plunge. The Wolves went for two points, and got them, as Owens hit Dalton Hefley on the two-point conversion pass to up the Davis advantage to 21-7 with 3:46 left in the period.

On the Vian ensuing possession, the Wolverines got as deep as the Davis 11, but had to settle for a 39-yard field goal by Mikayah Mendoza to cut the Vian deficit to 21-10 with 1:03 left in the quarter.

Perhaps the play of the game came on the ensuing kickoff as Owens rambled 89 yards to paydirt with 50 seconds remaining in the period. Pullen’s extra point increased the Davis lead to 28-10 after three quarters.

On the ensuing Vian drive, the Wolverines drove into the Davis red zone, only to have their fourth turnover stop the drive as quarterback Cash Trammel’s pass was picked off by Davis free safety Trey Melton at the Davis 8-yard line with 11:12 left to play in the game.

The final score of the 2024 season for Vian came on Wright’s second TD of the game, a 2-yard run with 3:27 remaining in the game. He also scored the twopoint conversion to cut the Vian deficit to 28-18.

The Wolverines tried an onside kick, but Davis special teams player Maverick Alexander made the recovery, and the Wolves ran out the clock.

“Hats off to Davis,” Willis said. “We turned the ball over too much.”

The Wolverines had the first good crack of breaking the scoreless tie. The Wolves got the opening kickoff but did nothing with the possession. The Davis punter shanked the punt, giving the Wolverines the ball at the Davis 31-yard line.

Facing fourth down, the Wolverines went for it, but Trammel’s pass led Jacob Brannick too far to the near sideline as when Brannick caught the ball he was out of bounds. Thus, the Wolverines were stopped on fourth down with the Wolves taking over at their own 25-yard line with 7:52 left in the first quarter.

Again, the Davis offense was stopped on a three-and-out, and the Wolverines took over possession at their own 42-yard line with 5:53 remaining in the period.

On the very next play, Wright went straight up the middle virtually untouched for a 58-yard touchdown run with 5:43 remaining in the quarter. Mendoza’s extra point put Vian ahead 7-0 after one quarter.

The Wolves finally solved the Vian defense in the second period. The Wolves drove as deep as the Vian 43-yard line but were stopped on fourth down as the tandem of Wiley and Collins brought down the Davis ball carrier for a 2-yard loss. Vian took over possession at its own 45-yard line with 3:19 left before halftime.

However, it was the Davis defense that rose to the occasion. On the second play of the ensuing Vian drive, Wright fumbled the ball with the Wolves making the recovery at midfield with 2:30 remaining in the first half.

Eight plays and 50 yards later, the Wolves hit the end zone as Dakota Carter caught a 6-yard TD pass from Owens with 14 seconds remaining before halftime. Pullen hit the PAT to knot the game at 7-all at halftime.

The drive was aided by a personal foul penalty and an offside penalty on the Wolverines.

Willis was still proud of the season his team had this fall.

“These guys did a great job,” he said. “We were blessed all year by God and stayed healthy. We were very thankful. The guys came up short in this one. We told these guys we love football. We live and die by it. (Losing) hurts, but football doesn’t define who we are. The sun will come up in the morning, and we’ll go back to work.”