Going into their game Friday night with the Chickasha Chicks, the Altus High Bulldogs were hoping to build momentum for the playoffs.

Instead they were treated to a nightmare that saw them lose to the Chicks 13-10 in the final district and regular season game.

The game redefined ugly. It was marred by penalties, turnovers and mental errors.

But despite a 4-6 season record and a 3-4 mark in district the Bulldogs still made the playoffs. Deer Creek lost to Lawton MacArthur 38-20. That created a three way tie between Altus, Deer Creek and Chickasha for fourth place in the district and the final spot in the playoffs.

Altus advanced because it had the most points in the tie breaker system. The Bulldogs will go on the road on Friday night to play second ranked and unbeaten Shawnee.

Friday night’s game was marred by 25 penaltiesand five turnovers by both clubs.. Altus had 11 penalties for 120 yards and seven of those penalties led to Chickasha first downs. “We just gave them first downs,” Hepner said. “Roughing the passer, spearing, so many mistakes.”

But the Chicks didn’t play a lot better committing 14 penalties for 103 yards.

It was the same old story of the Bulldogs. Once again they did not take advantage of the opportunities they had. They had scoring chances on their first two possessions but had to settle for three points.

On the first drive after recovering an attempted onside kick by Chickasha to the open the game, Altus drove to the Chickasha 23 where they faced a fourth and one-half yard. A bobbled snap ended that opportunity.

“How many times have we had a short yardage situation and we fumble,” Hepner said. “What’s it got to take mentally to do it the right way instead of the wrong way.”

On its next possession Chickasha failed on a fake punt and that gave Altus its second opportunity on the Chicks 25 yard line.

But the Bulldogs had zero yardage on three plays and Altus had to settle for a field goal attempt. Freshman Michael Perez made the 42-yard field goal with room to spare and Altus led 3-0 with 5:47 remaining in the first period but it could have been more.

On the next series junior fullback Tyler George broke one tackle at the line of scrimmage into the Chickasha secondary. It appeared he would score but a Chick defender reached from behind to knock the ball loose on the two yard line and Chickasha’s Levi Wood recovered in the end zone.

Chickasha got the lead on a 30 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Çhase Rodgers to Chance Thomas with 3:13 left in the second period.

The Chicks other score came on a 47 yard aerial from Rodgers to Jaree Blakes, a play in which the Bulldogs tackled poorly.

It was 13-3 when the Bulldogs mounted a comeback with an 82 yard drive for a touchdown. It was sparked by senior fullback Ryan Feller who had three nice runs of five 11 and 10 yards. He also had an 11 yard reception and all four of those plays gave Altus a first down. . There was also a 26 yard pass play Austin Beisel to Bob Laub.

Trevor Sterling scored from three yards out and Perez added the conversion. Altus trailed 13-10 with 4:38 left in the game.

Chickasha drove for two first downs and then faced third down an 11 at the Altus 40. Once again Feller came up with a big play from his linebacker position when he intercepted pass and brought back to the Bulldogs 42.

A five yard pass play from Beisel to Lane Billarrial and a 12 yard strike to Brandon Ybarra gave Altus a first down at the Chickasha 41. Beisel then scrambled for 16 yards to the 25. Three plays later it was third and six. After getting some pressure, Beisel rolled to the left. He tried to make a big play and threw back to the center of the field. However Chickasha’s Rakee Stevenson intercepted at the two. The Chicks ran out the clock the victory went to Chickasha

“You can’t fault the guy (Austin). He was trying to make a play,” Hepner said.

But the still the performance was a disappointing.

“I said at half , I’m embarrassed,” Hepner said. “That’s the worst football game I’ve ever been associated with. We wanted to have momentum going into the playoffs. “There were so many mental mistakes and penalties and we still had a chance to win it at the end. We so much didn’t do what can do and what we’re capable of. It’s a hard thing to figure out. We’re going to have to buckle down.”

How They Scored

Altus – Michael Perez 42 yard field goal, 5:47, 1st qtr., Altus 3-0

Chickasha – Chance Thomas 30 pass from Chase Rodgers (Landon Thomas kick) 3:13, 2nd qtr., Chickasha 7-3

Chickasha – Jaree Blakes 47 pass from Rodgers (kick failed( 10:27, 4th qtr., Chickasha 13-3.

Altus – Trevor Sterling 3 run, (Michael Perez kick), 4;38, 4th qtr., Chickasha 13-10

Individual Statistics

Altus

Rushing

Beisel 8-40; Sterling 5-19 1TD; Woodhouse 5-16; Feller 5-33, George 3-53; Nortonen 3-15

Passing

Beisel 9-20-83 1INT

Receiving

Nortonen 3-25; Laub 3-30; Feller 1-11; Billarrrial 1-5; Ybarra 1-12

Kicking

Perez 1-1 PAT; 1-1 FG 42 yards

Punting

Perez 4-23

Interceptions – Laub 2, Feller

Chickasha

Rushing

Rodgers 17 (-17);Skinner 9-10; Euwins 1 (-6), C. Thomas 4-9

Passing

Rodgers 21-33-271 2TDs 3 Int

Receiving

Blakes 2-51 1TD; Wilson 5-54; Stevenson 4-39; C. Thomas 4-84; Euwins 1-3; Skinner 4-27; Hale 1-21;

Kicking

L. Thomas 1-1 PAT

Punting

C. Thomas 2-42.5

Fumble recoveries

Wood 2

Interceptions – Stevenson