Oak Glen Dominates, 49-7
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NEW MANCHESTER -- One could excuse Oak Glen for coming out a little rusty Friday night, even against a visiting, winless Philip Barbour squad.
Nobody had to feel sorry for the Golden Bears even though they have not played the last two weeks due to COVID-related issues from their opponents. They picked up right where they left off and pummeled the Colts, 49-7.
"The nice thing is that even though we lost the Frankfort game (last week), we had a really good week of practice," Golden Bears coach Ted Arneault said. "We didn't know we were playing Frankfort until after practice the day before. We had a really good week of practice, and that showed a little bit (Friday). I didn't see a lot of rust."
Oak Glen's first three snaps from scrimmage went like this: 13-yard run by Paxton Shuman, a 41-yard touchdown run from Gage Patterson and a Nick Chaney 47-yard scoring pass to Patterson. The Bears (6-1) led, 14-0, within the first two minutes and already collected 101 yards.
"It felt good. We came out and showed everyone we are ready for the playoffs," Chaney said. "All the credit goes to our coaches for that. We had a perfect game plan coming into the game."
Hunter Patterson ran for a 17-yard TD with 4:46 remaining in the first. He later hauled in a 26-yard scoring pass from Chaney to put Oak Glen ahead, 42-0, late in the second frame.
In-between Hunter Patterson's scores, Shuman ran for a 9-yard touchdown, while Dylan Conley took his lone carry 8 yards into the end zone. Oak Glen led, 49-0, at halftime after Matt Greenlief picked off a pass with less than two minutes remaining in the end zone and ran for a 77-yard score two plays later.
Jeremy Adams booted the first four PAT attempts, while Trenton Richmond connected on the final three.
Overall, the Bears ran for 392 yards on 51 carries. More surprising is the fact that 29 players recorded at least one carry.
"It was part of the game plan to try to give some kids some looks and playing time in positions they normally wouldn't," Arneault said. "We wanted to make it an enjoyable night for the kids. They enjoyed it, and it was great to give them that opportunity."
Hunter Patterson only touched the ball five times but totaled 99 yards (30 rushing, 69 receiving) and two scores. Chaney threw for 116 yards on just four completions. Gage Patterson totaled 88 yards on one rush and one reception.
"I was happy to see that all of the wheels are still clicking," Arneault said. "We feel pretty confident and we're as healthy as we can be going into the playoffs. We're in a good place right now mentally, ready to move forward and meet our first playoff opponent next week."
The biggest question for Oak Glen was how would the new-look defensive backfield perform since losing a pair of starting cornerbacks for the season. Buck Franklin and Greenlief were the two main replacements.
"We saw some stuff that we need to shore up on. I know the score doesn't show it, but there are a lot of things we need to clean up," Arneault said. "But, overall, I thought the defense played really well."
The Bears did allow 133 passing yards (46 on a long touchdown late in the fourth with the jayvee squad playing), but their rush defense was hard to get past. They allowed negative 4 yards overall.
"It's not always easy to manage these types of games. I'm proud of our kids for managing this one well and limiting the penalties," Arneault said. "I just want to make sure we carry that kind of discipline into practice next week, and I'm happy that the kids had fun. We really need to have that worker's mindset going into Monday.
"I want to give Philip Barbour a shoutout for coming up here to play us after playing on Tuesday and to give our kids a game. They are just a classy group of guys for coming up here. In this day and age, you can almost find any excuse not to come up and play."
PLAYOFF TIME
Oak Glen is guaranteed a home contest either next Friday or Saturday to open the Class AA playoffs. As of Friday night, Arneault believes his team will play Point Pleasant, the same squad Oak Glen defeated in the season opener.
"We've just been looking to go one step farther every year, and we're looking to win that ring this year," Chaney said. "Shoutout to coach (Jason) Wiley, our quarterback coach, and Ross Comis for always helping me."
Teams in orange and red on the COVID map released every Saturday will not be able to play. However, according to MetroNews late Friday night, they now will be allowed entry into the brackets. To be cleared to play, the team must be in green, yellow or gold before game time.
"I'm hoping every team gets a chance to compete. I'd hate to see any team eliminated by the map, and there are some really good AA teams this year," Arneault said. "It's been very competitive. I would hate to see any team have to hang it up because of COVID. That's just the year we're running into."