That means whenever their is a chance to grab hold of the sacred ingredient, teams will do whatever it takes to jump on momentum's back. The fourth quarter of Altus' first round 5A district playoff game with Shawnee on Friday was a prime example. The momentum shifts that took place had the players, coaches and fans on an emotional roller coaster at Highertower Memorial Stadium. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they came up on the short end of the ridein a 24-20 defeat.
"I tell you what, it was huge," said coach Jim Holloway. "Every ballgame is going to have peaks and valleys. We preach that all the time. And we didn't take care of the ball as good as what we had been doing for most of the year. When you lay it on that ground that many times, you give a good offensive team one more chance and they took advantage of it."
In the final period, Altus fumbled twice and was called for pass interference on second down and 20. All three plays turned the tide of the game toward Shawnee. In the end they were too much for the Bulldogs to overcome.
"They make the calls out there and you have to live by them," Holloway said of the penalty flag. "We just take care of the ball better and not make as many mistakes. the scoreboard may read a little bit different."
"It's pretty tough," said Bulldog senior James Holt. "Shawnee is the defending state champs. And they were playing like they were state champs. We made more mistakes than they did. So they came away on top. We were fumbling. I fumbled one on the sideline. It hurt pretty bad."
CHANGE OF PLAN
The Wolves' game plan in the first half resembled an NFL all-star game more than a high school contest.
Shawnee was tossing the ball around the field on nearly every play. Quarterback Tucker Brown ended the half with stats that look like a complete game for most teams. The sophomore had 194 yards on 13-of-25 passing.
It looked like a guaranteed lock he would have more than 300 by the end of the game. However, the Shawnee coaches made a complete 180 degree turn.
"The coaches upstairs just saw big gaps up front," Brown said. "And just started hitting them."
Brown was only 1-for-2 in the second half. But they were both huge pass plays. One set up the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, while other brought on the defensive pass interference.
The fact Brown only attempted two passes was fine with the Bulldogs coaching staff. After a slow start, the Altus defense got on track and began to hold the Shawnee offense down.
Yet, it seemed whenever a big play was needed to be made, the Wolves found a way to make them.
"The way that guy threw it and ran it, I didn't want it to be a track meet," Holloway said of Brown. "I wanted our defense to settle in. We started playing a lot better defensively. But when they had to have a play they gashed us and they made the first down. When we had to have it late, we didn't do it."
SCARY MOMENT
Late in the fourth quarter during Shawnee's last touchdown run, the Bulldogs received a scare. Linebacker Michael Hayes had attempted to stop the Wolves' Broderick Davis from scoring on his 5-yard touchdown plunge. But Hayes took the brunt of the collision.
Hayes had to be carted off the field into an ambulance after laying on the ground for 15 minutes.
While he was able to talk and had movement, Hayes was still taken to the hospital for observation.
"He got released last night," Holloway said. "They ran several tests. He just had a concussion. Appears to be doing fine. He will have a little headache but he is home resting."
END OF THE ROAD
Midway through the regular season, Altus looked to be heading nowhere. It had changed its offense to the wishbone and didn't seem to be going in any particular direction.
"After we left Duncan, we weren't a very good football team," said Holloway. "We weren't coached very well. We didn't play very well. We just weren't very good. I have never challenged a group of players like I challenged this one. And boy did they respond."
Somewhere along the way the squad started to click offensively and defensively. They won their two biggest games of the season against Chickasha and Ardmore and earned a spot in the playoffs, despite losing one of their best players in De'Arteuy Jones.
The path the Bulldogs traveled was a long and hard. But it was one the entire team will remember.
"Those last four regular season game, I thought our team played with great desire," Holloway said. "I am very, very proud of them. I am proud to be their coach."
Holt echoes his coaches' sentiments.
"Just standing out there at the end of the game, you finally realize that these are your brothers," Holt said. "You have been playing with them for three years some of them. Some of them for six years. Just kind of hard to realize that it is all over. Three years go by so fast."
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