On Friday, Oct. 3, the Seminole Chieftains travelled to battle with district opponent, the Bristow Pirates. In the first edition of October Friday night lights, it was the Mean Green grinding out a 28-24 victory behind a big night through the air and timely turnovers from their defense. With the win, Seminole improves to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in district play, putting itself firmly in the driver’s seat to secure a playoff spot.

First to strike was the Chieftains on a 32-yard touchdown pass over the middle from QB Donavin Garfield to freshman WR Tre Johnson. Then it was the Pirates’ turn, aided by five Seminole penalties and a fourth-down trick play, Bristow tied the score at 6-6 six minutes into the game. After QB Donavin Garfield threw his first interception of the year, then turned around and intercepted a ball for himself. The score stood still at 6-6 entering the second quarter.

The Chieftains started the period with a punt, and what followed was a six-minute, 90-yard scoring drive by the Pirates to take a 12-6 lead. With both defenses standing tall for the remainder of the half, Seminole would go into the intermission trailing for the second straight week, down 12-6.

Bristow received the second-half kickoff and went right back to work, scoring another touchdown to extend their lead to 18-6. However, after a long break in the visitors’ scoring, the Chieftains’ offense finally got going. On Seminole’s first offensive play of the half, WR Jay Ladd took a screen pass 53 yards to the house, igniting the visitors’ sideline, and cutting the deficit to 18-14. The Pirates’ offense was in rhythm and marching once more when all of a sudden, Chieftain CB Mason Bennett made a diving interception in the red zone. With the momentum swinging in Seminole’s favor, the offense went right back to work. Capitalizing on the second Pirate turnover just three minutes later with another WR Jay Ladd touchdown reception. Going into the final period of play, the Chieftains were clinging to a 20-18 lead.

The start of the fourth saw Bristow take the lead right back in front of their homecoming crowd, 24-20 with 9:35 remaining. Just like the week prior, QB Donavin Garfield would have to orchestrate a game-winning drive for the Chieftains. The Seminole QB would convert on two 3rd and longs before finding WR Tre Johnson in the endzone for the freshman’s second receiving touchdown of the day. With 5:53 remaining, the score stood at 28-24 with the Mean Green needing a defensive stand. One offensive play later, the Pirates found themselves inside the ten and ready to hand Seminole their first loss of 2025. However, DE Christian Bragher would force the third turnover of the game when he stripped the Bristow QB, allowing CB Mason Bennett to pounce on the ball. The Chieftains then converted one third down, ended the game in victory formation, and celebrated the team’s first 5-0 start since 2021. Here is what Head Coach Mike Snyder had to say after the win, “I’ll tell you what, that was one of the biggest wins we have had in a while because they are a playoff team, we are trying to get there as well. To come up here on their field, it was a really big win. We just hung in there again. We got down at halftime, and our kids just kinda came back there in that second half. We executed a little better; we had a turnover, which really helped us out. That turnover really helped us.”

QB Donavin Garfield led the game-winning drive and statistically had another big week for the Chieftains. Finishing 21-29 for 359 yards and four touchdowns through the air, to go along with 21 carries for 108 yards on the ground. Garfield’s leading wideouts were Jay Ladd (7 receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns) and Tre Johnson (4 receptions for 85 yards and two touchdowns). Defensively, Seminole forced three turnovers, tying a season high. CB Mason Bennett had the momentum-shifting diving interception and the clutch fumble recovery, with Safety Donavin Garfield recording an interception as well.

Next up for the Chieftains is a home contest against the Perkins-Tryon Demons. A win in that upcoming contest would give Head Coach Mike Snyder 398 career wins and would be pivotal in the district standings. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.