COFFEYVILLE — Staying on the inside lane of the SEK League title race, the Labette County Grizzlies shut out the Coffeyville Golden Tornado, 51-0, on Friday night in Week 6 action.
“We executed really well, especially early,” Labette County head coach Bradley Argabright said. “We always want to be ready to play when 7 p.m. comes around. We accomplished that and we got some JV kids in for some varsity reps. Everybody executed well and I’m proud of our kids for finishing the whole game.”
Labette County amassed 378 yards of total offense despite running just 30 plays.
Deontae Fields racked up 143 yards on 10 carries for the Grizzlies, including three touchdowns.
“He had a really good game — he went 65 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the game,” Argabright said. “He’s hitting the holes really hard. If he gets a little bit of a room, he’s really scary.”
Kegan Bates racked up four total touchdowns, including a pick-six, while hauling in two catches for 76 yards.
“It was a complete game for him. He’s a gamechanger and it was great to see him have a good game,” Argabright said.
Tayton Claibourn tallied a team-high 14 tackles for the Grizzlies.
“He’s having a really good year this year playing both sides of the ball,” Argabright said. “He had 14 tackles this game and 13 last week. He’s a leader on the defense. He’s taken a huge leap this year.”
Coffeyville fell to 0-6 with the loss while Labette County improved to 5-1 — Coffeyville hasn’t scored a point this year.
“We focused on having a shutout,” Argabright said. “We also wanted to come out of the gates ready to play. We had zero turnovers and I was proud of that. Our penalties were low. In games like that, you don’t want to regress in those areas.”
Up next
Labette County returns to Montgomery County in Week 7 with a tilt against the Independence Bulldogs.
If the Grizzlies win that matchup — they’ll be favored — they’ll face Chanute in Week 8 for a shot at the outright SEK League title.
“For us, it’s another game in the SEK League and our goal is to win a title,” Argabright said. “We want to be focused on that goal. Independence has some good playmakers. They got up 7-0 on Eudora. They’re a good, quality team and we have to be ready to play.”
