HENRYETTA - The Henryetta Golden Knight varsity football team opened district play last Thursday against the Okemah Panthers.

The District 2A-3 opener with Okemah took place at historic Cameron Field in Henryetta.

The Knights fell behind 14-0 early in the second quarter, but a late touchdown by Henryetta in the frame cut the deficit in half, 14-7, going into halftime.

The Henryetta squad were unable to get any closer in the final two quarters, as Okemah outscored the host Knights 30-8 to drop the district opener by a 44-15 margin.

The Knights will continue their journey through district play this Friday with a home battle against the Prague Red Devils.

Kickoff for Friday's district meeting with Prague is set for 7 p.m. at historic Cameron Field in Henryetta.

In last Thursday's district opener against Okemah, the visitors opened the scoring at the 9:58 mark of the opening quarter on a 38-yard TD run by C.J. Harjo. Corey Ramsey bounced into the end zone on the conversion attempt to give Okemah the early 8-0 advantage. Okemah made it a 14-0 contest with 1:21 left in the first half on a 51-yard run by Ramsey. The run attempt on the conversion try was unsuccessful to keep the Panthers' 14-point advantage.

With time winding down in the second quarter, the Knights took some momentum into the halftime break on a 13-yard TD pass from Jakob White to Austen Macaluso with two seconds left in the frame.

Tyler Wilson split the uprights with the PAT kick to send the teams to the intermission with Henryetta trailing by seven, 14-7.

The third quarter saw the visitors tally two scores to increase their lead to 30-7.

The first Okemah touchdown in the third quarter came at the 5:13 mark on a 9-yard pass from Harjo to Kaiden Bear. Landon Dennis crossed the goal line on the conversion attempt for a 22-7 margin.

The other score for the visitors in the frame came with 1:37 remaining on a 1-yard plunge by Harjo.

Harjo also raced into the end zone on the conversion attempt to make it a 30-7 contest. With 10:59 left in regulation, the Panthers extended their lead to 36-7 on a 17-yard TD pass from Harjo to Wacey Williams.

Forty-two seconds later, the Knights cut the deficit to 36-15 with a 2-yard run by Austen Macaluso and successful conversion pass from White to Aiden Macaluso. A 7-yard TD run by Harjo, followed by a successful conversion run by Dennis, with 9:34 left in the fourth quarter put the finishing touches on the 44-15 outcome.

Offensively, the Knights finished with 296 yards of total offense on 54 plays. The Henryetta squad rushed for 135 yards on 27 carries and were 10 of 27 passing for 161 yards. ---Okemah 44, Henryetta 15 Okemah -8-6-16-14 (44) Henryetta-0-7-0-8 (15)

First Quarter

Okemah - C.J. Harjo, 38-yard run (Corey Ramsey run); 9:58

Second Quarter

Okemah - Ramsey, 51-yard run (Run Failed); 1:21 Henryetta - Austen Macaluso, 13-yard pass from Jakob White (Tyler Wilson kick); 0:02

Third Quarter

Okemah - Kaiden Bear, 9-yard pass from Harjo (Landon Dennis run); 5:13 Okemah - Harjo, 1-yard run (Harjo run); 1:37

Fourth Quarter

Okemah - Wacey Williams, 17-yard pass from Harjo (Pass Failed); 10:59 Henryetta - Austen Macaluso, 2-yard run (Aiden Macaluso pass from White); 10:17 Okemah - Harjo, 7-yard run (Dennis run); 9:34

Team Stats

First Downs: Okemah 20; Henryetta 14 Rushing: Okemah 48-336; Henryetta 27-135 Passing: Okemah 6-10-0 71; Henryetta 10-27-0 161 Total Offense: Okemah 407; Henryetta 296 Fumbles: Okemah 2-1; Henryetta 3-2 Penalties: Okemah 5-40; Henryetta 4-30

Henryetta Individual Stats

Rushing: Austen Macaluso 4-62, TD; Jordan Hart 16-56; Riley Pixler 2-20; Jakob White 5-(-3). Passing: Jakob White 10-27-0 161, TD. Receiving: Aiden Macaluso 2-60; Jordan Hart 4-36; Austen Macaluso 2-29, TD; Daniel Bear 1-23; Logan Whitlock 1-13.