Jenks stuns Tulsa Union to reach Oklahoma Class 6AI football championship game
Once again, Black Friday was not kind to Tulsa Union.
And this time, the Redhawks were denied a second straight trip to the Class 6AI championship game against their biggest rival.
At one point trailing 21-0, Jenks stormed back to take the lead early in the fourth quarter of Friday night's 6AI semifinal in Sand Springs. Then after Union (11-2) regained the lead, sophomore tailback Kaydin Jones sprinted 27 yards with 32 seconds left to lift the Trojans to a dramatic 33-27 win against the Redhawks.
Jenks (8-4), which started the season 0-2 before beating Union 31-24, now plays in next week's 6AI title game. The Trojans will play another familiar foe, Bixby, which beat Jenks in the regular-season finale on Nov. 3.
Bixby - which beat Owasso in Friday's other semifinal - is seeking to win its second straight 6AI championship and sixth consecutive state title. Jenks is attempting to win its first title since 2021.
As for Union, another strong season ended in heartbreak on Black Friday night. On Black Friday 2022, the Redhawks lost in the 6AI semifinals to Owasso in a game that went six overtimes.
Things seemed to be going better this time around for Union as it raced to a 21-0 lead 13 seconds into the second quarter. But Jenks chipped away at the deficit and pulled within 21-10 at the half.
Then, the Trojans crept to within three, 21-18, in the third quarter on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Owen Jones, set up by a 98-yard return on the kickoff by Semaj Stanford down to the Union 1 to start the second half. Jones added a two-point pass to Jack McInelly.
With Union up 24-18, Jenks finally went in front, 25-24, as Kaydin Jones raced into the end zone from 59 yards out with more than nine minutes left.
The Redhawks responded with a 22-yard field goal by Emerson Kiker with 4:40 left to regain the lead, 27-25. But Jenks had the final say on Jones' third TD run on the night.
Union's Myles Davis had two TDs, a rushing TD and a receiving TD. The Redhawks then went up 21-0 early in the second quarter on a 41-yard pass from former Jenks quarterback Shaker Reisig to Jino Boyd.
Photo of Jenks RB Kaydin Jones by Michael Kinney
-- Buck Ringgold | buck@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveOK
