High school football: Deer Creek gets big win over Carl Albert

“When you see it come to fruition, that's what kind of validates all of the work you've been putting in,” Gower said. “Our young men believed that and made the next step tonight. I'm so proud of them.”

Deer Creek entered district play the last two years believing it could hang with the top teams in its district — Carl Albert and Guthrie. But those hopes were quickly dashed, losing by 24 or more points in each of those four games.

Friday, though, No. 4 Deer Creek kept its name in the discussion of the top teams in the class by dominating defensively, especially in the second half, and doing enough offensively to hold off the Titans and improve to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in District 5A-1.

“We knew we could do it all along but we had to prove it,” quarterback Joel Blumenthal said. “Respect is earned, not given, and we had to go out and earn it.”

After eighth-ranked Carl Albert (1-3) struck early to take the lead, Deer Creek's defense clamped down and virtually shut down the Titans' offense.

“They were phenomenal,” Deer Creek receiver Jared Rayburn said. “Everybody had to do our jobs to be able to pull this one off.”

The Antlers took the lead in the third quarter on Rayburn's 34-yard touchdown reception from Blumenthal, who checked into the play after reading the Titans' coverage.