Omar Mesta (14) controls the ball during the secoind half of the 4A state quarterfinals at Guymon on Friday evening. Guymon fell to Clinton 5-4 (4-2) in a sudden death shootout to finish the season 10-4 overall.

By SHAWN YORKS
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The tension was palpable. The air was thick with it.
Or maybe that was just the dust filling the sky as the Guymon Tigers took on Clinton in the state quarterfinal playoffs Friday evening at Memorial Stadium.
With 50 mph wind gists and blowing dust in the air, Guymon and Clinton played arguably one of the best high school soccer games in perhaps some of the worst conditions.
The north wind gave a distinct advantage to the team running with the wind. And that was Clinton in the first half.
The 17th-ranked Red Tornadoes took full advantage and scored three goals in the first 13 minutes of the game, while the fourth-ranked Tigers (10-4) could hardly mount an attack.
Guymon coach Mike Taylor switched goal tenders after Clinton’s third goal. That and a stiffening Tiger defense kept the Red Tornadoes at bay the rest of the first half.
And those in attendance could sense the Tigers’ anxiousness to get that Panhandle wind at their backs and reclaim dominance in the game.
And that’s exactly what Guymon did.
Just 31 seconds into the second half, senior captain Ulises Caba broke free and found himself one-on-one with the Clinton goalie. Caba easily scored and the Tigers were in business, down 3-1.
Omar Mesta got into the act with a goal at the 24:06 mark to cut it to 3-2.
But the Red Tornadoes threw caution to the wind, and answered Mesta’s goal with one of their own a mere nine seconds later to take a 4-2 lead.
That would remain the score for about five minutes.
Caba scored an unassisted goal on a corner kick. The senior used the wind to his advantage and curled the ball around the Clinton defense and into the net to cut it to 4-3.
And it was again a corner kick that allowed the Tigers to tie it. A corner kick by Alan Molina was headed into the net by Mesta and the game was tied at 4.
And that it would remain at the end of regulation.
Guymon had the wind at its back in the first 10-minute overtime, but could not score. But with the wind at its back in the second OT, Clinton was also unable to score, sending the game into a shootout.
In a shootout, it’s one-on-one — kicker against goal keeper. And for the shootout, Taylor put Caba in goal. The team’s matched each other shot-for-shot in the first two attempts.
Caba scored the first shot, and Clinton’s Josh Martinez answered to make it 1-1.
Jesus Uribe put Guymon up 2-1, and Miguel Martinez kept it tied at 2. Mesta’s attempt went wide, and Clinton’s Marco Solaria answered with a score to put the Red Tornadoes up 3-2 in the shootout.
Fernando Muñoz gave Guymon a chance to tie it, but his shot was also wide, and Clinton scored on the next shot to win the game and send the Red Tornadoes to the state semifinals on Tuesday.
Clinton, unranked until this week, has upset two top five teams in the playoffs so far. The Red Tornadoes downed then No. 4 Heritage Hall 7-0 on Tuesday, and then upset No. 4 Guymon on Friday.