You name it, he's coached it
Keota coach retires after 457 wins

By Marhya Price, Sports Editor

Nineteen years. That’s almost a score. And retired coach Darrell Jones understands the meaning behind score. He’s had many games where he’s outscored the other team for a victory. Four hundred and fifty-seven to be exact.

Last year made his 19th year to coach at Keota before retiring. Not too many coaches get the chance to say they coached for 19 years and all of those years were spent at the school you graduated high school from.

Darrell Jones attended Keota public schools and participated in “everything” they offered when it came to sports. He played basketball and football and summer league baseball. After graduating from high school, Jones was faced with that one question that all of us face after graduating: What do I want to be? But in his case it was easy.

Coach.

“It is all I have ever known and I enjoyed playing,” Jones said. “I always said that you could tell what season it was by seeing me” because if it was basketball season he had a basketball, if it was baseball season he had his glove.

Once he knew he wanted to coach and teach, Jones headed for college. He started out at Carl Albert State College and finished at Northeastern State University. He graduated summa cum laude with a grade point average of 3.9, “something, which means with the highest of honor.”

That was 21 years ago. Since graduating from college, Jones has been teaching and coaching at Keota public schools.

For more on this story, pick up this week's Stigler News Sentinel.
To subscribe, call 918-967-4655.

Baseball, softball districts

SOFTBALL
Thursday, Sept. 24 and Friday Sept. 25
Keota will host Cameron and Preston, 4 p.m.
McCurtain will host Kinta and Bokoshe, 11 a.m.
Dewar will host Porum and Prestom, times TBA.

BASEBALL
Thursday, Sept. 24 and Friday, Sept. 25
McCurtain vs. Panola at Red Oak, 2 p.m.

Football, week 3

Stigler 13, Morris 28
Porum 6, Sallisaw Central 38
Quinton 26, Pocola 7
Keota 6, Gore 35
Claremore Christian 58, Canadian 12
Webbers Falls 14, Kinta 40

Football, week 4

Heavener (1-2) at Stigler (2-1)
Savanna (2-1) at Porum (1-2)
Talihina (3-0) at Quinton (1-2)
Warner (1-2) at Keota (1-2)
Canadian (1-2) at Midway (1-2)
Kinta (1-2) at Sasakwa (3-0)