Demons earn 15th-straight postseason berth in 2022

The Beggs Golden Demon varsity football team increased its playoff appearance streak to 15 in 2022.

For the first time since 2016, the Demons failed to win more than 11 games in a season, finishing the 2022 campaign with a 7-5 record.

The 2022 season was also the first time since 2016 Beggs failed to reach the quarterfinals of the postseason, ending their dreams of its first state title since 1975 with a second-round loss to Idabel.

The Demons secured their 15th-straight playoff appearance in Week 9 with a narrow road win against an Okmulgee County foe.

In 12 games in 2022, the Beggs squad outscored their foes 418-370 – an average of 34.8-30.8 ppg. The Demons went 1-2 in non-district action in 2022 and were outscored 131-74 in those three contests an average of 43.7-24.7 ppg.

In seven district games in 2022, the Beggs squad outscored their opponents 284-187 – an average of 40.6-26.7 ppg. In their two postseason games in 2022, the Demons held a narrow 60-52 advantage over their foes – an average of 30.0-26.0 ppg.

The Demons kicked off the 2022 season September 2 at Hugo. The Beggs squad walked off the HHS football field with a convincing 52-21 victory, which included a commanding 36-0 lead in the third quarter. Hugo attempted to make a comeback in the second half, but a pair of late rushing TDs by tailback Red Martel thwarted the Buffaloes’ rally and earned the Demons the season-opening victory.

Following the season-opening win over Hugo, the Beggs squad found themselves on the short end of a pair of double-digit defeats to close out their non-district schedule.

The first non-district loss for the Demons came in Week 2 (Sept. 9) in Owasso, falling to the host Rejoice Christian Eagles by a 70-16 margin.

Beggs fell to 1-2 on the season following a 40-6 loss to the Verdigris Cardinals in the Demons’ 2022 home opener, which featured the naming of the Beggs football field to Tate Field prior to the non-district finale in honor of former Beggs football star and longtime assistant coach Rodney Tate.

The Demons began district play September 23 at home against District 2A-7 newcomer Westville. The Beggs gridiron squad evened its season record at 2-2 with a 68-6 win over the visiting Yellowjackets. The onesided win was the first for the Demons since the renaming of the football field on September 16.

In Week 5, the Beggs squad improved to 2-0 in district play with a convincing 72-46 decision over the Victory Christian Conquerors at Tate Field in Beggs. In the lopsided win, the Demons saw star tailback Red Martel find the end zone a total of seven times on offense, which was one more offensive score than the visitors. Martel scored six of his 7 TDs on the ground with the seventh score coming on a 71-yard TD pass.

After the rout of Victory Christian, the Demons notched their thirdstraight district win on October 7 with a 38-34 road win over another 2A-7 newcomer, the Kansas Comets. The narrow victory put the Beggs squad at 4-2 on the year and 3-0 in district play and appeared on its way to a district championship.

Six days later, the Demons increased their winning streak to four games with a 46-16 decision over their Okmulgee County rivals, the Okmulgee Bulldogs. The win over the Bulldogs pushed Beggs’ season record to 5-2 and 4-0 in district play with the Demons sitting atop the 2A-7 standings with Kiefer.

The two district leaders met in Week 8 in Beggs with the winner claiming the top spot in 2A-7 with two games remaining. The Demons had their bid for a district championship derailed in the home district battle, falling by a 28-14 margin to the unbeaten Kiefer Trojans.

The loss to Kiefer put Beggs into a 2-way tie for second with Victory Christian at 4-1 in district play with the Demons holding the tiebreaker with the Conquerors due to Beggs’ Week 5 win in Beggs.

On October 28, the Demons punched their ticket to a 15th-straight playoff appearance with a 28-20 win over county rival, the Morris Eagles, in Morris. In the Week 9 county battle in Morris, both teams tallied 20 points in the first half for a 20-20 deadlock at halftime. The Demons scored a third-quarter touchdown and successful 2-point conversion to walk off the Larry Bookout Field in Morris with the narrow 8-point victory.

The Beggs squad entered its regular- season finale at home against Sperry, needing a win over the visiting Sperry Pirates and a Kiefer win over Victory Christian to secure the second spot in the 2A-7 standings and a home game in the opening round of the Class 2A postseason.

The Demons were unable to end their regular-season schedule on a winning note, falling by a 35-18 margin to the visiting Pirates.

The regular-season finale setback, along with Kiefer’s 34-22 loss to Victory Christian in Week 10, put the Demons fourth in the 2A-7 standings and sending the Beggs squad on the road to begin the Class 2A postseason.

The Demons’ opening-round opponent was the undefeated Rejoice Christian Eagles in a Week 2 rematch.

In the November 11 rematch, the Beggs squad ended the Eagles’ bid for a state championship and a perfect season with a 48-28 victory and the Demons’ sixth-straight opening-round playoff win. In the opening-round win, the Demons did most of their offensive damage in the first 12 minutes, outscoring the host Eagles by a 28-14 margin. Beggs led 34-21 at halftime, then doubled the host Rejoice Christian squad 14-7 in the final frame to put the finishing touches on the opening- round-shocking win. The opening-round win put the Demons into the second round at home against the Idabel Warriors, who finished second in 2A-6 and began their postseason play with an opening- round win over Warner by a 42-7 margin.

The Cinderella postseason for Beggs came to a close in the second-round meeting with Idabel with a 24-12 loss to the visiting Warriors.

The Demons will look to continue their playoff streak in 2023, beginning with their season opener September 1 at home against Hugo.

— Beggs Golden Demons 2022 Record: 7-5 Game Results Regular Season

Sept. 2 – Beggs 52, Hugo 21 Sept. 9 – Rejoice Chr. 70, Beggs 16 Sept. 16 – Verdigris 40, Beggs 6 Sept. 23 – Beggs 68, Westville 6 Sept. 30 – Beggs 72, Victory Chr. 46 Oct. 7 – Beggs 38, Kansas 34 Oct. 13 – Beggs 46, Okmulgee 16 Oct. 21 – Kiefer 28, Beggs 14 Oct. 28 – Beggs 28, Morris 20 Nov. 3 – Sperry 35, Beggs 18 Playoffs Nov. 11 – Beggs 48, Rejoice Chr. 28 Nov. 18 – Idabel 24, Beggs 12