Hours after surviving horrific bus crash, coach who saved lives guides team to huge win

Despite near head-on collision with suspected DUI driver, Oklahoma high school football team hopped on different bus, made it to the game and won by multiple scores

Barnsdall High School's football team was involved in a violent bus crash with a suspected DUI driver on their way to Broken Arrow to play against Summit Christian on Thursday. Undeterred, the team got on a new bus, made the trip anyway and won the game by two scores. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Violent collisions are part of every football game.

But they’re only supposed to happen between the white lines on a football field, not between the white lines on a highway while traveling to the football game.

On Thursday, the Barnsdall (Oklahoma) Panthers high school football team was involved in both.

Only about 10 miles into their trip, while riding down State Highway 11 in the team bus, Barnsdall athletic director and head football coach Kylee Sweeney made the juke move of the season. A car had crossed the center line and headed directly for the bus. Sweeney, who was driving the bus with the souls of his daughter and the rest of the football team in tow, made a subtle move to pull the bus out of a direct head-on collision.

The vehicles violently collided, but Sweeney managed to avoid direct head-on contact, though the front of the bus was damaged. The car that hit them careened down the side of the bus, eventually busting up the back axle and blowing out the back tires.

A Barnsdall school bus carrying the high school football team was hit head-on near Avant on Thursday, but thanks to...

Posted by KOTV - News On 6 on Friday, October 17, 2025

Still, Sweeney steered the bus away from the ditch and, most importantly, somehow kept it on the road and from rolling over. The damage was extensive, the scene was ugly, but everyone miraculously survived. The driver of the car that crossed the line and hit them was later arrested on suspicion of DUI.

Sweeney told Oklahoma’s News On 6, “Just very grateful that no kid was hurt. You know, that’s the bottom line in this: we got out of a very scary situation not having anybody majorly hurt.”

Shaken but determined

While the coach, his daughter and the team were shaken up, everyone came out of the crash without major injuries, save for a few bumps and soreness. Undeterred, and perhaps needing the escape of football for a little while, the Panthers were still determined to play the game.

So, they did.

Before long, a different bus picked up the team and Summit Christian agreed to push back the start time about 30 minutes to accommodate the travel delay and allow the Panthers to get warmed up.

Barnsdall football coach Kylee Sweeney works with players during a football practice. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

A win after impact

When the collisions on the football field began, the Panthers pulled off the unthinkable. Only a couple of hours after their bus crashed, Barnsdall smashed Summit Christian, 29-15.

The Panthers defense held Summit Christian (1-6) to 222 yards of total offense, including just 74 rushing. The win also snapped a three-game losing streak in which the Panthers (4-3) had been blown out by Fairland (41-6), Woodland (50-0) and Ketchum (45-14). They began the season 3-0 with wins over Caney Valley (36-8), Oklahoma Union (54-18) and Nowata (37-36).

Looking ahead

Barnsdall will hopefully have a much safer trip this Friday when it heads to Afton to take on a struggling Eagles team that is 0-6. But no matter how the remainder of the season goes, Barnsdall’s most impressive play of the season will go to head coach Kylee Sweeney for the lives he saved that day.

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