HAT TRICK RETURN: Dobbins' three scores in first game back from injury highlights Tigers' opening day
· Yahoo Sports
Opening day was more than just the first game of the season for Kael Dobbins. It was a return, a reminder and a showcase for anyone who forgot what type of player he was after missing the last two games of 2025.
The senior wide receiver started an offensive outbreak with a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage vs. Poteau. Then added another in the second quarter. Then added one more for good measure, all before the end of the first half.
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“It feels great to be back on the field,” Dobbins said. “I love being back with the team. I was just ready to get back out there and get some wins.”
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Tahlequah’s Kael Dobbins drags a defender into the end zone as Konner Tindel [1] urges him forward.
A week eight knee injury to repair cartilage resulted in surgery and left Dobbins out of commission in the games against the Nathan Hale Rangers and Will Rodgers Ropers. But after rehabbing the injury, the senior returned like he never left.
In one half, Dobbins matched his 2025 touchdown total.
The hat trick gave the Tigers the first-half lead and gave the senior something to celebrate in his return to the field. Dobbins starts his senior year as the most experienced receiver on the roster.
His junior year, he notched 464 yards on 32 catches for a then run-heavy squad.
“Any game like this is something to build on,” THS coach Brad Gilbert said. “He is a guy that does things the right way night in and night out. He goes out and makes plays for us on Friday nights.”
The first touchdown was a play the Tigers have run frequently over the years to a lot of success.
THS lined up four receivers to the right of quarterback Will Talburt, one receiver to the left and lined Dobbins up on the outside of the offensive line. Rather than block, the senior took off and found a massive hole over the center of the field.
Talburt evaded pressure from the PHS defensive line, set his feet and threw a dart to Dobbins, who caught the ball and hauled it 40 yards after the catch for the touchdown. While he was crossing the goal line, the two closest defenders were still at the 5-yard line.
“First play of the play, good play drawn up by the coaches,” Dobbins said. “It was kind of a sneaky play and worked really well; we were ready for it.”
The second score of the game took a little more work for the senior. From the 11-yard line, Talburt connected with Dobbins at about the 3-yard line and he dragged a Poteau defender across the goal line for the score.
Shortly after the previous score, Dobbins completed the three-score half by once again beating a defender and getting just enough separation to wrangle in the ball as he fell to the ground, giving THS a first-half lead.
Dobbins had to give credit to the Tigers’ defense for recovering a pair of fumbles prior to each of his final two scores.
“That was a huge confidence booster,” he said. “That gets us all pumped up. Those big plays get both sides of the ball get the team motivated to go, go, go.”
The Tigers are back on the field at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11 at Wagoner.