On Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010, the undefeated Aggies of Texas A&M squared off with the unbeaten Oklahoma State Cowboys at T. Boone Pickens Stadium, in Stillwater.
Texas A&M quarterback Jerrod Johnson threw for a school record 409 yards, five touchdowns, and made play after play to keep the Aggies in contention.
Synchronously, however, the Big 12 Pre-Season Player of the Year committed five turnovers, including four interceptions, and made play after play to keep Oklahoma State in the game.
Two touchdown passes in the final 6 minutes put A&M in a position to escape with the victory, but the comeback was derailed by Johnson’s fifth – and most critical – turnover of the game.
The last second interception provided a microcosmic ending to a bizarre individual performance. Worse, it sparked the meteoric decline of a once promising football career.
Johnson completed only 15 of 40 attempts versus Arkansas the following week. Three weeks later, he was replaced by backup Ryan Tannehill. He never saw another meaningful snap.
Almost exactly one year later, the undefeated Sequoyah Indians hosted the unbeaten Verdigris Cardinals at Thompson Field, in Tahlequah.
Sequoyah quarterback Brayden Scott churned out 215 total yards, two touchdowns, and made play after play to keep the Indians in contention.
Simultaneously, however, the state’s top signal caller committed six turnovers, including five interceptions, and made play after play to keep Verdigris in the driver’s seat.
A 4-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Helsley, with 6:40 remaining, put Sequoyah in a position to escape with the victory, but the comeback was stunted by Scott’s fourth and fifth interceptions of the game.
Moments later, the Indians botched the center-to-quarterback exchange on their first play of overtime, providing an equally microcosmic ending to an equally bizarre individual performance.
“It was a nightmare,” said Scott. “That was probably the worst game I’ve ever played.”
The parallel ends there, however.
Instead of regressing, Scott and his teammates used the game as an opportunity to for increased focus and solidarity.
“I’m glad it happened,” said Scott. “I’m not glad that we lost, but I’m glad that it pointed us in the direction that it did.”
“That was the turning point of the season for me and for our team,” he said. “The guys rallied around me. I worked harder in meeting rooms and practice. I’m more determined, after that game, than I’ve ever been before.”
Sequoyah head coach Brent Scott agrees.
“I think, as the years go on, he’ll look at it as a pivotal game,” said Sequoyah coach Brent Scott. “It’s not always going to be easy. You have to overcome adversity at some point.”
After Johnson’s “Jekyll and Hyde” performance, he folded. He followed eight interceptions over a two-game span with back-to-back calculated, vanilla performances. So apparently overcome with a fear of error that his confidence was shattered and his ability to make plays crippled.
Such was not the case with the player known affectionately to his teammates as “Cub.”
“I don’t think his confidence was ever shaken,” said Coach Scott. “You throw five picks, and I think you’re beyond a confidence issue. The question is, ‘how are you going to respond?’”
Scott responded by completing 21 of 28 passes, ripping off 300 total yards, and scoring three touchdowns, in a 27-10 victory over Claremore-Sequoyah the following week.
“I had a lot of pressure on me going into the Claremore-Sequoyah game. I had something to prove,” said Scott. “I wanted to prove to the team, and to the rest of the state, that I am not a five-interception quarterback. I’m a D-1 quarterback.”
In the process of doing so, Sequoyah’s stand-out signal caller has buttoned up his efficiency as a passer, while blossoming as an effective and timely runner. Transforming, seemingly over night, into the most efficient prep quarterback in the state, while maintaining his status as the most dangerous.
Over his last five contests, Scott is averaging 284 total yards and nearly four touchdowns per game, while completing passes at a 74 percent clip – good for a passer rating of 150.8.
“He’s played extremely well,” said Coach Scott. “And he hasn’t turned the ball over. As he goes, so have we. He has all of the intangibles to be great.”
Now, courtesy of a favorable bracket seeding, Scott and his teammates find themselves in prime position to challenge for a spot in the Class 3A State Championship.
Heritage Hall, Cascia Hall, Metro Christian, Anadarko and Kingfisher are all absent from the Indians’ quarter of the bracket.
As a result, Sequoyah’s first round tilt with Berryhill could prove to be the most prevalent resistance to a potential semi-final match up with Anadarko or Metro Christian.
“I respect their defense, I respect their coaching staff and their team,” said Scott. “They’re big and strong. They’re the type of team that won’t quit. Our game plan is to never stop either. We’re just going to put the pedal down and keep it there.”
With one of the hottest players in the state running the show, applying the figurative pedal to the floor board seems likely to result in a deep November run. Scott, however, refuses to entertain such forward thinking.
“Our coaches have done a real good job of pointing out that we are where we want to be in the bracket,” he said. “We know what’s at stake, but we’re focused on Berryhill. We’re taking this one game at a time.”
Despite his junior status, Scott should prove to be supremely decisive in shaping one half of the 3A playoff picture.
Sequoyah’s post-season shortcomings are well known, but with a talented senior class and a quarterback making his third playoff appearance, the Indians appear primed to flip the playoff picture on its ear.
“This team has grown up,” said Scott. “This year is different.”
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