With less than a minute to play in a daunting road tilt with Bristow, the Checotah Wildcats were staring down elimination in the 3A state quarterfinals.
Their 28-17 fourth-quarter lead had become a 32-28 deficit after two late Bristow scoring drives. Checotah's meal ticket, four-star WR and Oklahoma commit Elijah Thomas, had already racked up nearly 200 receiving yards and hauled in three touchdown passes.
But it all would be for naught unless Checotah could channel some magic.
Every one of the eleven defenders on the field for Bristow knew where the ball was going; all that the Pirates had to do was keep Thomas from getting loose. But that's much easier said than done.
On second-and-10 from the Wildcats' own 24-yard line, Thomas hauled in a screen pass along the left sideline. Rather than staying along the boundary and trying to duck out of bounds after picking up a few yards, he went for broke. The 6-foot-1, 183-pound phenom stuck his left foot in the ground, cut back toward the middle of the field and found a glimmer of daylight.
From there, all that the future Sooner had to do was kick on the afterburners. Nobody on the field, in either uniform, was going to keep up with him step-for-step.
76 yards later, Thomas streaked across the goal line for the go-ahead touchdown. He had not been touched by a single Bristow defender, and that catch and run would prove decisive some 39 seconds later when the clock ran out on a 35-32 Checotah win.
When the final horn sounded, an exhausted Thomas collapsed to the ground and caught his breath for a few seconds. He'd totaled 270 yards and four touchdowns on the night, and he'd catapulted Checotah to the state semifinals for the first time in three decades. Rising to his feet once again, Thomas shook the hand of each Bristow player and coach before sauntering back to a jubilant Checotah sideline.
On a night where the Wildcats had needed their superstar to deliver a signature performance and a signature moment, Thomas delivered with a flourish.
“It felt pretty good," he chuckled nonchalantly after dozens of postgame hugs and photo ops. "Teammates believed in me; coaches believed in me. Just had to make a play. As soon as that linebacker came in, I’m sticking, going to the other side — I’m sprung. Because I know my blockers are on that left side; I know they’re gonna get the job done.”
Checotah (8-4) now advances to face undefeated Sulphur (12-0) with a berth in the 3A state title game on the line. And for Thomas, that means he'll spend Thanksgiving on the practice field. But he'd hardly have it any other way.
And some 24 hours after his season-saving catch and run, he'll be back at his future home. Thomas has been a regular in Norman on game days ever since committing to the Sooners in July of 2023. And he's quietly been the linchpin of Oklahoma's 2025 recruiting class, a role that became more obvious to the general public when longtime OU quarterback commit Kevin Sperry abruptly flipped to Florida State on Thursday.
