Gallery by Tina Laney
Oak Hill – Oak Hill head football coach Davon Marion has made it clear that his team hangs its hat on defense.
Friday night at John P. Duda Stadium, defense won the day when longtime rival Beckley came to town on Senior Night.
Surrendering only two scores, Class AAA Oak Hill put up just enough points to knock off the Class AAAA Flying Eagles 19-14 in a game with huge playoff implications for the home team.
“I honestly don’t know where I am at right now,” Marion said. “This is a really good feeling. We have been looking at it and if we could win tonight we could possibly host a first round playoff game. I am just excited for our kids and our community.”
“We know we have University next week, but to host here would be like the first time since 2000,” Marion went on to say. “That would be huge for the community and this program. That was a goal of ours at the beginning of the season. I am happy for our kids and thankful for our (administration) for taking a chance on me. And these seniors, they are a great group of kids. I am just proud of this team right now.”
Oak Hill was forced to punt on its opening drive of the contest, giving Beckley the ball in its own territory at the 48-yard line.
The first defensive series for the Red Devils became the theme of the night. The Flying Eagles would get the ball in plus territory, but could not move the ball consistently to take advantage.
“We couldn’t punch it in tonight,” Beckley head coach Street Sarrett said. “We lost tonight. Oak Hill was the better team and we didn’t make the plays that we should have made.”
Taking the ball at its own 40 yard line after the turnover on downs, Oak Hill marched 60 yards using heavy doses of senior running back J.D. Mauritz. The bruising tailback toted the rock seven times on the nine-play drive, ramming his way in from seven yards out for a 7-0 lead.
The drive also highlighted a problem for Beckley which happened at some key moments in the contest – penalties. A late hit on Oak Hill quarterback Devin Richardson during the drive helped moved the ball into the red zone.
“We had penalties. Penalties that put us in the hole,” Sarrett said. “We had a 15-yarder and things like that. We came out and moved the ball well, but you just can’t have silly penalties.”
The next drive by the Red Devils started 96 yards away from a score, but eight plays later, the home team was back in the end zone. The big play of the drive came on a 53-yard keeper from Richardson who later scored from four yards out.
From that point on, however, scoring became a huge struggle for Oak Hill.
“They have a great coaching staff. They made a ton of adjustments,” Marion said about Beckley. “It has been a while since we have been up 13-0 on a team, so I thought we might roll. Kudos to their coaching staff for making some adjustments and slowing us down. They took some things away.”
Unfortunately for the Flying Eagles, finding success on offense was limited in the first half until they found some lightning just before the break.
Aided by a pass interference call, Beckley moved the ball 60 yards in less than a minute, ending with a 24-yard strike from Gage Price to Preston Clary with 1:17 left on the clock.
“At halftime, my whole coaching staff does a great job of watching the game back and making adjustments. I try not to be the worst disciplinarian, but I have to let them know where they are messing up,” Marion said. “My coaches do a great job of picking them back up. I give all of the credit to my coaches for making those halftime adjustments.”
Oak Hill appeared to have weathered the momentum change by stopping Beckley on the opening drive of the second half.
Unfortunately for the Red Devils a bad punt on their first series gave the visitors the ball at the Oak Hill 27-yard line. Two plays later Beckley had a 14-13 lead following a nine-yard run by Konnor Ray.
“Our kids are grinders. We have been leaning on our defense all year. We knew if we could get to 21 or 28, which we didn’t, we didn’t feel like they could score three touchdowns on us running that offense,” Marion said. “I am proud of our defense. They step up and play, but we have some bright spots on offense as well.”
The biggest bright spot for the offense came on the ensuing drive that answered the Beckley score.
Zy Lewis sparked the drive with a kick return into Beckley territory. A personal foul penalty and a 14-yard run from Richardson then moved the ball inside the red zone. Three plays later, Richardson scored for the second time from eight-yards out for a 19-14 advantage.
The Oak Hill defense made the Richardson score stand for the game winner, but it was tested several times the rest of the way.
Four times, Beckley started drives right at the midfield stripe, but could never muster a score to regain the lead.
“They stepped up to the task. We hang our hats on defense,” Marion emphasized, “I played defense in college and fell in love with it. It’s a mind set. You have to want to get guys on the ground. Our kids have bought into that.”
The game did not close without some controversies on a night where both teams took the officiating to task.
Facing a fourth-down punting situation deep in its own territory with roughly one minute to play, Oak Hill coaxed Beckley into the neutral zone. The five-yard mark off awarded Oak Hill a first down and the means to run out the clock.
The Beckley coaches were convinced the five-yard penalty should have still left the Red Devils short of the first down.
“They messed the sticks there,” Sarrett said. “It was a half of a yard short and when they took them out, they messed it up. I disagreed with the spot. They marked it too far ahead.”
The final call was salt in the wound for the Flying Eagles on a night where there were several conversations with the officials.
“Some of them weren’t our fault,” Sarrett said about the officials. “I am going to talk about how poorly officiated this game was for a high profile rivalry game. I have been coaching for 26 years and this was the worst officiating mistakes made in a game.”
“That is not fair to kids. That is what it is about,” Sarrett continued. “It is about these kids that work there tails off all winter and summer. Then we come out here and they are messing up the chains. They are messing up the downs and things like that. It is just not right for kids. Whether we win or lose, that game should not have been officiated by (this group) tonight.”
Oak Hill is now firmly in the driver’s seat for a home playoff game, especially if it can knock off University Friday night on the road.
Beckley will look to rebound when it hosts George Washington for Senior Night, also Friday.
B: 0 7 7 0 -14
OH: 7 6 6 0 -19
First quarter
OH: J.D. Mauritz 7 run (Elisha Jones kick)
Second quarter
OH: Devin Richardson 4 run (kick blocked)
B: Preston Clary 24 pass from Gage Price (Vince Umberger kick)
Third quarter
B: Konnor Ray 9 run (Umberger kick)
OH: Richardson 8 run (Kick blocked)
Stats
Rushing: (B) Bryce Ford 17-98, Ray 10-29-1, Jabob Reeves 1-0, Price 4-(-7), Bryce Ford 3-10; (OH) Richardson 10-92-2, Mauritz 28-98-1, James Green 4-12, Tyler Ashmore 3-6
Pasing: (B) Price7-10-0-45-1, Gage Burdette 0-1-1-0; (OH) Richardson 2-9-0-14-0
Receiving: (B) Clary 3-34-1, A.J. Thomas 4-9, Javonta Wise 1-2, (OH) Carson Treadway 1-10, Owen Grose 1-4.
