Photo by Ron Firth Weir receiver Kanye Green (11) tries to get away from Oak Glen’s Matthew Greenlief (9) on Thursday.

NEW CUMBERLAND — The opportunistic Weir High Red Riders took full advantage of some opening-night mistakes by rival Oak Glen to post a 32-13 football triumph in the Backyard Brawl Thursday night.

Oak Glen coughed up the football six times in the game, losing three and the Red Riders capitalized with touchdowns off two of them to claim possession of the Carl Hamill Trophy.

“We’re happy to be on the (winning) end of it,” said Weir head coach Frank Sisinni.

The win by Weir snapped a three-game winning streak in the series by the Golden Bears. Weir owns a commanding 37-21 lead in the 58-year-old series.

“It was a tale of two halves or in this case, quarters,” said Sisinni. “A lot of the atmosphere got to our guys a little early but they settled in.”

“It was 7-0 with three or four minutes left in the half and then we had a fumbled snap they returned for a touchdown and on their next possession they were able to take it down and score and that was the turning point in the game,” said Oak Glen head coach Doug Taylor.

“You can’t give away two scores like that.”

Mistakes and penalties hurt Oak Glen throughout. Weir led in total offense at half, 163-59 and 332-200 for the game.

“We had strong defensive play up front,” praised Sisinni.

The contest was filled with opening-game penalties as Oak Glen had 14 for 143 yards and Weir had 10 for 115.

“We could never really get our offense going,” said Taylor.

After a scoreless first quarter, Weir hit the scoreboard first when wideout Devan Colson took an end around 36 yards around right end to score with 6:14 remaining before half. Kicker Ben Howard added the PAT boot and the visitors took a 7-0 lead.

“That reverse was really a turning point,” said Sisinni.

Seconds later, the Red Riders struck again — this time on defense. Weir 6-foot, 6-inch defensive lineman Cam Jones scooped up an Oak Glen fumble on a shotgun snap and raced 20 yards to score. The PAT kick was blocked but the Red Riders led 13-0 with 1:00 left before half.

“That was massive,” said Sisinni of the defensive touchdown by Jones. “You rely on your top players to make a play and he got into a situation where he got a scoop and go and he was determined (to score). He’s 6-6 and a D1 player.”

“I knew I was going to get it,” explained Jones of the scoop and score. “I saw the blue flag on the ground and I just picked it up, stiff-armed a kid and once I got the ball it was like do not slow down until I get to the goal line.”

With Oak Glen’s offense bogged down deep in its own territory and forced to punt, Weir added a third first-half touchdown on a 23-yard screen pass from quarterback Malachi Stromile to running back Corey Lyons with just 12 seconds left before the break. The Red Riders’ two-point conversion pass failed but Weir took a commanding 19-0 lead into halftime.

The domination continued in the second half as Weir added touchdowns on a four-yard scoring run by Corey Lyons in the third quarter and a 19-yard scoring toss from Stromile to Kayne Green in the fourth quarter.

Oak Glen got on the board in the fourth quarter with a 19-yard scoring run by Buck Franklin. The PAT pass failed. Oak Glen also added a one-yard scoring run by Matt Greenlief and a PAT kick by Trenton Richmond with 3:46 left.

Leading Weir’s offense was quarterback Malachi Stromile who combined for 132 total yards, including 80 through the air with two touchdowns.

Running back Matt Greenlief led Oak Glen with 80 yards rushing in 11 carries.

“It is what it is,” said Taylor. “We got some guys nicked up. There were times in the second half when we had three freshmen on the field.”