Wilburton suffers first blanking of the season

By TOBY CAWYER

Special to the News-Capital

The struggles still remain for the Wilburton Diggers football program. The Diggers have yet to win a game this 2009 football season, but they always found a way to get on the scoreboard. That trend ended Friday night when they lost to Spiro 34-0.

Wilburton (0-7) was coming off a disappointing 26-13 loss to Antlers last week when the Bulldogs came to town. Spiro (2-5) had two consecutive losses, including last week’s shutout loss to Stigler 25-0. It was either team’s game to win through a scoreless first quarter.

The Bulldogs got their first score with the help of the Digger offense. With 10:21 left in the second quarter Wilburton was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone, spotting Spiro 2 points on the safety. On the ensuing free kick the Bulldogs struck again. Spiro's junior running back, Elliot Hawkins, fielded the kick at the Bulldogs 30-yard line and never looked back. The 70-yard touchdown return gave Spiro the 9-0 lead with just over ten minutes left until half time.

The Digger offense could not get on track all night long. After going three and out, the Bulldogs took over again. Spiro put together a 12-play drive that ended with 6 more points for the Bulldogs. On fourth and goal from the 20-yard line, junior quarterback Clayton Mitchem found junior wide receiver Michael White just across the goal line for another Bulldog score. The touchdown reception gave Spiro the 15-0 lead as both teams hit the locker room for half time.

The second half was no better for Wilburton. The defense of the Bulldogs kept the Digger offense in check and off of the scoreboard in the 3rd and 4th quarters. The Spiro offense kept on rolling. The Bulldogs got into the end zone three more times in the second half to give Spiro the convincing 34-0 victory.

The Diggers (0-8) hope to get their first win of the season next week when they travel to Panama (3-5). The last time that Wilburton celebrated a victory was last season when they defeated the Razorbacks 38-8.

In other area football action the Quinton Savages win streak was ended after losing to Central Sallisaw 42-20 Friday night.

The Savages (4-4) had previously won three straight, including back-to-back shutout victories over Keota and Warner. During the three game run, Quinton outscored their opponents 114-8.

Quinton also tries to get back on the winning track next Friday when they travel to Savanna to take on the 6-2 Bulldogs.

Also, Haileyville has won three of their last four with their conquering of Warner Friday night, 42-0. The Warriors face the Gore Pirates on Oct. 30.

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