One of the more bizarre things happened under the Friday night lights.
It was an epic clash in Cashion with the wildcats hosting Fairview with district title implications on the line. A win by Fairview and they claim the district title, and a win by Cashion meant it would come down to district points.
Cashion rallied in the fourth quarter to tie the game up at 36 with 29 seconds to go. Then all the sudden the unthinkable happen, the power went out.
“The momentum is huge and our kids are going crazy and our side of the stands are going crazy. We’re lining up to kickoff and then boom the lights go out,” explained Cashion Head Coach and Athletics Director Lynn Shackelford.
A blown transformer nearby was the cause of the chaos in Cashion. With no power to light up the field, the two teams were left scrambling to figure out how they could finish the game.
“Definitely a weird feeling,” said Fairview Head Coach and Athletics Director Robert Bernard. “Like what are we doing, what are our next steps, what are our options?”
The two sides got together, and after a few phone calls, reached a decision. They would drive 15 miles up the road to nearby Crescent and finish out the game that night. Luckily for both teams, the Tigers had just wrapped up their regular season finale against Hooker, and were willing to work a little bit later to lend a helping hand, even if for their rivals.
“They told us there had been a transformer blow and they didn’t know if they could get it back on and asked about the possibility,” detailed Crescent Athletics Director Shawn Booth. “So I ran it up the food chain a little bit and I thought it was the right thing to do, so we just went ahead and went with it.”
With players, coaches, fans, cheerleaders, and band members all sitting in the dark, the announcement was made that the game would be moved to Crescent. So both sides packed up everything and made the move up the road.
It became the great migration from Cashion to Crescent with everyone piling in cars and busses and making the commute up north.
“It kind of felt like Field of Dreams,” said Booth. “I was telling one of my coaches ‘look at all these cars coming in.’ So you know, they’re fighting for the district championship type of stuff, it was a big deal [to finish the game].”
After about an hour the two teams resumed the game, which went to overtime. After Cashion settled for a field goal, Fairview scored the game-winning touchdown to escape a wild night with a 42-39 win to claim the district title.
“We talked on the way over there about that this would not be fun if we come home a loser. So it was a great drive home, the kids were excited, definitely worth the trip,” said Bernard.
“It didn’t end up well for us, or at least like we wanted to, but it will be a memory all of our kids and fans will have forever,” said Shackelford.
A late night for all involved, but one that will live in Oklahoma sports lore forever.
