JENKS, Okla. — The impressive turn around for the Stillwater High football program finished in heartache Friday with a 38-14 loss to Jenks in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.

"To me, the season doesn't mean a whole because we come out and we lose in the first round," SHS senior receiver Jesse Vester said. "I wanted a state championship. We all wanted that and we just didn't get it done."

SHS senior quarterback Jerame Littell added, "Coming up short is definitely a hearbreaker. I probably won't sleep for a few nights now."

While falling in the first round of the playoffs isn't what the Pioneers were hoping for, it's difficult to consider the season a failure consider all three of Stillwater's losses came to championship favorites — the other loss being to Class 5A favorite Tulsa East Central in the first week of the season.

"That says a lot about this team. We fought all year. We did everything we could to succeed," Littell said. "We did everything to put ourselves in position to win, but coming up short isn't enough for us. We wanted to be playing in a state championship, too — not just playing in big games like those three teams that we lost to."

The Pioneers, who shared a piece of the district championship but earned the third seed due to the tiebreaker, prevented being shutout for the second time this season when the offense finally finished off a drive with 1:53 left in the third quarter with Stillwater's senior quarterback connecting with Darrian Williams on a fourth-and-7 from the Jenks 8-yard line.

But it was too little, too late with No. 5-ranked Jenks already having 31 points on the board — with the Trojans holding a 28-0 lead at halftime.

"I don't know what it is in the first half for us. Tonight, I don't know if we were nervous or were overwhelmed. I don't know what it was," SHS coach Tucker Barnard said. "But we just had a hard go at it the first half and Jenks is a great football team and just got down too much."

Stillwater caught the Trojans off guard on the kickoff following its touchdown by recovering an onside kick — recovered by senior linebacker Alex Demauro. However, the Pioneers went backwards and had to punt the ball away.

After the SHS defense forced Jenks to punt the ball on the next drive, the Pioneer offense would march down the field with a 13-play, 83-yard drive capped off with a touchdown pass from Littell to fellow senior Jesse Vester from the Jenks 3-yard line — for Littell's 40th touchdown pass of the season to set a new single-season touchdown record, which was previously 35 held by Matt Holliday.

"That's a huge way to finish our career. I didn't really think about it until now, but to go out like that is definitely something I can look back on and have a positive note coming out of this game, coming out of this season and coming out of my career," said Littell, who finished the night going 25-of-38 with 248 yards. "Throwing a touchdown to one of my best friends is definitely heartwarming."