Gallery by Heather Belcher
Friday night at John P. Duda Stadium the high powered offensive shootout never materialized.
Instead, the Oak Hill defense stole the show.
Benefiting from three turnovers that led directly to scores, as well as a stop on a late two-point conversion, the Class AAA No. 7 Red Devils slipped past Class AA No. 5 Independence 21-20 in front of a packed house.
“Defense,” Oak Hill head coach Davon Marion said when asked about the difference in the game. “It is still football. Who is going to block better and who is going to tackle better. I give all of the credit to my coaches and my coordinators. We worked extra hard at halftime to make adjustments and the kids executed. I am just trying to manage the whole thing and pull out victories the best we can.”
Oak Hill created the first big play of the contest when Carson Treadway jumped in front of an Independence pass at the Patriots 45 yard line. The speedy safety weaved his way to the six-yard line giving the Red Devils a golden opportunity just minutes into the contest.
After a pair of Oak Hill penalties moved the ball back to the 20-yard line, quarterback Devin Richardson ran the ball for six yards before he launched a pass into the end zone in the direction of Treadway. High topping the defender, the sophomore wide-out hauled in the pass for a 7-0 lead.
Both teams then exchanged punts before Independence moved the ball 66 yards in 11 plays to even the game at 7-7, less than a minute into the second period.
The Oak Hill defense made the second big play of the night on the next Indy possession.
Facing third-and-11 from his own 14-yard line, freshman Brock Green dropped back to pass and fell under a heavy rush from J.D. Mauritz who forced a fumble that was recovered by Mikey Spack.
One play later Richardson beat the defenders to the pylon for a 14-yard touchdown run and a 14-7 lead with 3:33 to play in the half.
“Two good teams played tonight, but we hurt ourselves,” Independence head coach John Lilly said. “We hurt ourselves and they didn’t. That is the game.”
Undaunted by the turnovers, Green led a seven-play, 67-yard drive in less than three minutes to tie the game at the break. Green hit Dalton Adkins for a key third down conversion and also hit Micah Cuthbert for a 27-yard pass that moved the ball to the 11-yard line after a roughing the passer call.
Nelson scored for the second time in the first half on a eight-yard jaunt.
The eventual game winning score came on the first Independence drive of the second half.
A pass out into the flat was met by a host of Oak Hill defenders who ripped the ball free and sent it rolling into the end zone. James Green dove on the loose ball to give Oak Hill a 21-14 lead with 8:16 to play in the third period.
“We have been hanging our hat on our defense all year. I played safety in college, so that is what I love,” Marion said, smiling. “The offense still isn’t clicking. We don’t have a true No. 1 per se. We have five or six guys that can get passes and make plays. We are just trying to get those guys in space.”
For the majority of the second half, the offenses sputtered and the defenses controlled the game. However, Independence had some golden opportunities to score, but could not convert.
To open the final quarter, Oak Hill faced a fourth-and-2 from its own 25-yard line and elected to go for it. The Indy defense stuffed the run and handed the ball back to the offense.
The Patriots could not move the ball and the long field goal attempt sailed wide left.
Oak Hill once again handed Independence a gift on the next series when a low snap on the punt attempt left Independence just 10 yards from a score. Again, the hometown defense stiffened and force a turnover on downs.
“You can’t get mad at anybody or anything when you get two opportunities to score. They came up with the plays and we didn’t, but I am proud of our team,” Lilly said. “We still went down and scored with our backs against the walls. We came to win the game. We didn’t come to tie the game. There was no hesitation. We don’t practice all year to play for a tie.”
With the clock ticking inside three minutes, Oak Hill faked a fourth down attempt and went with a quick kick that was shanked out of bounds at the Oak Hill 36-yard line.
Following a critical third-down pass conversion to Nelson for 15 yards, the junior tailback crashed into the end zone for his third score of the night from six yards out.
Needing a stop on the two-point conversion to preserve the win, the Oak Hill defense had one more big play left in the bag. Heavy pressure once again from Mauritz blew up the pass play which was stopped by a host of Red Devil tacklers.
Stopping the run and applying heavy pressure to the young Independence quarterback was the game plan according to Marion.
“Let’s get him off his spot and make him make plays outside of the pocket. I felt like our pressure up front did that,” Marion said. “I heard somewhere or read somewhere that they had four freshman on the offensive line, so I felt like we could take advantage of it.”
Owen Grose recovered the onside kick attempt and Oak Hill ran the clock out to earn the win.
“We beat ourselves tonight. I don’t think they beat us,” Lilly said. “All three scores came off our turnovers. I didn’t think that last one was a turnover, but it is what it is.”
The win by Oak Hill was the second one-point thriller over the last two years with the Patriots.
“Credit coach Lilly. He is a great coach and he has been doing this 35 or 40 years now,” Marion said. “I knew it would be a hard game and a chess match between me and him. I just appreciate him bringing that squad every year and challenging us.”
Independence (3-2) will travel to Westside (5-0) next Friday in a AA showdown, while Oak Hill (4-1) hosts Greenbrier East (2-3) in a AAA match-up.
I: 0 14 0 6 – 20
OH: 7 7 7 0 – 21
First quarter
OH: Carson Treadway 14 pass from Devin Richardson (Elisha Jones kick)
Second quarter
I: Sylas Nelson 10 run (Micah Cuthbert kick)
OH: Richardson 14 run (Jones kick)
I: Nelson 8 run (Cuthbert kick)
Third quarter
OH: James Green fumble rec (Jones kick)
Fourth quarter
I: Nelson 6 run (pass failed)
Stats
Rushing: (I) Nelson 23-57-3, Cole Laxton 1-2, Brock Green 3-(-13), Brady Rose 2-9, Christian Linksweiler 2-21, Dalton Adkins 1-(-2); (OH) J.D. Mauritz 17-45, Richardson 13-99-1, Tyler Ashmore 5-15, Team (-25)
Passing: (I) Green 6-15-1-77-0; (OH) Richardson 6-13-0-37-1
Receiving: (I) Adkins 1-12, Nelson 2-23, Rose 1-9, No. 11 1-6, Cuthbert 1-27: (OH) Carson Treadway 1-14-1, Armonyi Hicks 2-15, Antione Hicks 2-5, Zy Lewis 1-3.
