Bartlesville’s Davin Carter earns The Wiley Post Player of the Week
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
Sept 13, 2026
Matt Hennesy returned to Custer Stadium with home-field advantage and a chance to put Bartlesville back in the win column.
His Bruins got him there. But it got a little messy on the way.
Four turnovers, a safety and a collection of other mistakes gave Collinsville every reason to believe it could steal this one. Some flag-related calls also saw both teams walking backward and negating plays. By some I mean many.
Bartlesville's Davin Carter celebrates after a sack during the Bruins' game against Collinsville on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, at Custer Stadium in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
By the end of the night, the number of penalties rivaled the violations in Ron Durbin's Oklahoma Supreme Court disbarment case.
Fortunately for Bartlesville, every offensive mistake seemed to be answered by a defense unwilling to let the game get away.
The Bruins held Collinsville to six points in the second half and finished off a 36-22 win. According to KWON Radio, it was Bartlesville's first victory over Collinsville in nine tries and ended a 12-game losing streak against Class 5A opponents.
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Among the Bruins making Collinsville earn every inch was a 5-foot-6, 170-pound defensive lineman who spent Friday night playing much bigger than either number.
His name is Davin Carter.
Now, Carter isn't small — football just has a funny way of messing with your sense of scale. I'm 5-foot-11, and standing on the sideline covering these games, some nights these players make me feel like I’m not tall enough for the ride.
And Carter happens to play on a field populated by some very large human beings.
Wiley Post Player of the Week: Davin Carter
Three solo tackles. Six total. Two sacks.
A very respectable night.
But if that's all you saw of Carter's game, you missed what makes Carter truely standout.
Carter hit the Collinsville quarterback five times and hurried him into three early throws. He did it while battling a quarterback who was a foot taller and 50 pounds heavier than him — not to mention the considerably larger bodies assigned to keep Carter away from him.
By the final whistle, all that pressure had left a mark.
Bartlesville's Davin Carter and the Bruins defense pressure the Collinsville quarterback during a 36-22 win on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, at Custer Stadium in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
Collinsville's quarterback completed just 9 of 19 passes for fewer than 100 yards. Running away offered little relief. Eight carries produced minus-51 yards, and his longest run of the night went for all of 2 yards.
Credit the whole Bartlesville defense for it. Carter, though, seemed to take particular pleasure in being a nuisance.
Watch him before the snap, and you'll understand why he's such a fun player to follow. When the defense is called onto the field, Carter is often one of the first Bruins off the sideline, sprinting toward the line of scrimmage.
Then there's what happens after he makes a play.
Carter doesn't do subdued.
A big stop gets a celebration worthy of Super Bowl Sunday. His teammates feed off it, Carter feeds off them, and suddenly a tackle on a Friday night in September has half the defense carrying on like somebody needs to find the Gatorade bucket.
Friday gave them plenty of opportunities.
One of Carter's biggest came during a strange second-half possession as Collinsville tried to mount a comeback. Penalties kept extending the series until the third down felt like it would never end.
Collinsville kept getting another chance.
Carter finally took it away.
He got to the quarterback for a crushing sack, and whatever momentum Collinsville had been gathering disappeared with him into the turf.
Bartlesville's Davin Carter reaches up to finish the tackle after being knocked to the ground during the Bruins' game against Collinsville on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, at Custer Stadium in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
One of my favorite Carter plays Friday shows why he should never be underestimated.
He came in off balance trying to make a tackle and caught a stiff-arm from a runner. Carter went down.
The runner thought he was free.
Carter, still on the ground, reached up, grabbed hold and pulled him down anyway.
That's Davin Carter in one play.
If Carter is on the field, the ball carrier should keep one eye on him, because he won’t stop until the whistle is blown.
He's going to be shorter than most of the guys across from him. He's probably going to be lighter, too. But you wouldn’t know that by the way he plays.
Bartlesville is 2-1 and heads to Enid for its final game before the bye week.
Bigger players will be waiting there, too.
Carter is probably counting on it.
Bartlesville's Davin Carter plays with a relentless motor, attacking each snap with the same energy whether he's chasing the quarterback or fighting through a blocker.
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
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