By Michael Kinney
Two weeks before the start of the 2024 football season, the official end of the 2023 campaign took place with the All-State Game.
Held at Oklahoma Baptist University, the contest featured players from across the state who are closing out their high school careers. That includes Guthrie’s Nate Benford, who started at cornerback for the West All-Staters.
“It was everything I expected and some more,” Benford said. “It was great playing with some future teammates, some old teammates, some guys I’ve known for a while. I built new bonds and I hate the East, but I made some bonds over there too. It was just all love from everybody. It was a pretty good experience.”
Unfortunately for Benford, the West came up short 14-6 against the East in a tight game that came down to the final minutes.
However, when the contest started, it looked like it had the making of a blowout. The East jumped on top 14-0 built off West turnovers.
The first score came after Del City’s Braelon Adamah collected an interception for the West. But as we scrambled around trying to make a play and return it for a TD, he was stripped, and the East recovered near the goal line. That set up a short TD run and a 7-0 advantage.
Later in the second quarter, the East started airing the ball down the field and connected for a long TD pass and a 14-0 advantage at halftime.
The first half featured a lot of back-and-forth action and words between the two teams, who had gotten to know each other pretty well over the week of preparation. That included a shoving match that broke out in the second quarter.
“I knew that was coming,” Bedford said. “We’ve been talking to each other all week. We’ve been in the same dorm room. We’ve been chatting up at lunch saying we don’t like the East, they don’t like us. We were telling the receivers how sorry they were in there and they were talking back to us. So I already knew that was going to happen.”
The West had the ball deep on the East side of the field twice in the third. However, the first drive ended on an interception by Seling’s Kaden Manuel.
The West got the ball back when they forced the East to punt. On the return, Adamah broke several tackles and brought the ball back into the red zone.
However, Marlow’s Cade Gilbert was unable to hook up with Heritage Hall’s Jordyn Harris twice in the endzone and turned the ball over on downs.
With eight minutes left in the game, the West finally got on the scoreboard when El Reno’s Malachi Nicholson scored on a 9-yard TD run. However, the missed extra point kept the score at 14-6.
The West got the ball back two more times with a chance to tie the game with a TD and two-point conversion. However, both drives ended with turnovers to close out the night.
Despite the loss, Benford was able to put his talents on display in front of a packed stadium.
“I showed that I’m an athlete,” Benford said. “I made it this far and I was here for a reason. God blessed me with that talent, and I just showed I could play.”
The 6-0, 180 pound Benford was a key component for the Bluejay’s impressive defensive unit that helped guide the squad to a 10-2 season before losing to in the 5A quarterfinals. He was named First-Team All-District and finished his senior campaign with 52 tackles, two Forced Fumbles, a tackle for loss and four interceptions.
Benford will continue to show people he can play the game at the next level. He has signed with Emporia State University.
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