Gallery by Heather Belcher
Oak Hill – Football coaches preach about being solid all three phases of the game.
Friday night at John P.Duda Stadium, special teams and big plays on defense were the undoing for the hometown Red Devils.
Needing a win over University in the final regular season contest to secure a home playoff game, Oak Hill came up just short in a 34-27 setback to the Hawks.
“That was the end goal, to host a home playoff game,” Oak Hill first year head coach Devon Marion said. “I have preached all week to the underclassmen that there is no guarantee we will be back in this situation ever again, so take advantage of it. To the seniors, why not get one more on your home turf.”
“It’s football. You win some, you lose some,” Marion went on to say. “I just hate it for our community, the kids, our school. It is my first year and we probably exceeded a bunch of expectations, but if you can get more, why not?”
Trailing 21-14 at the break, Oak Hill hit University with a scoring drive of just over seven minutes to pull within one point.
“(University head) coach (John) Kelly is a great coach and his team fought to the bitter end,” Marion said. “I thought we were going to take the momentum and ride it on out. We held ball like seven minutes right there on that drive.”
The tide of momentum swelled for the Red Devils swelled after a quick three-and-out by the Red Devils defense was followed by a 70-yard touchdown run from J.D. Mauritz for a 27-21 lead with just over two minutes to play in the quarter.
Mauritz finished the night with 123 yards to send him over 1,000 yards for the season.
“He has been a workhorse and he said that has been a goal since day one to finally break 1,000 yards,” Marion said. “I think he only had 400 last year. For him to get to 1,000, it just shows how much work he has put in during the offseason. I am happy for the kid. He has a bright future.”
The game-changer came just three plays into the fourth quarter for the Hawks.
With quarterback Luke Hudson scrambling to find a receiver and the home crowd screaming for a holding call, Hudson found Ethan Jackson on a 49-yard pass to the Oak Hill 5-yard line.
Two plays later, Brock Kehler dove across the goal line to tie the game 27-27.
“I think that was the back-breaker because they had our number,” Kelly said about the key pass play. “(Oak Hill) came out and took the lead there. I didn’t think we could stop their running game. They are very powerful running team. A very balanced team. That (play) crushed them. We got the score there and everything swung our way. We started playing better defense and forced them to something they didn’t want to do.”
An inspired Hawks defense force a three-and-out and gave the offense the ball at the Oak Hill 30-yard line after a shanked punt by the Red Devils.
Four plays later Hudson found Jackson in the corner of the end zone for a 10-yard score and a 34-27 advantage.
“We gave up more big plays than we have since the Princeton game. Then we got a shank on the punt. We couldn’t flip the field, so it gave them a short field,” Marion said. “Some things didn’t fall our way. We just have to focus a little better. Our guys took a lesson tonight and us coaches as well. They gave us a few different looks on offense and defense that we hadn’t prepared for.”
For all of its struggles defensively in the first three quarters, University had two big stops in the final period, along with an interception to seal the win.
“They were eating us up, but the big difference we got the sacks on the quarterback. We got them into third-and-longs and fourth-and-longs,” Kelly said. “We knew they didn’t have a real good punter and we knew that going in. That was a big factor too because we had field position the whole fourth quarter. It wasn’t over until it was over because with that quarterback they have and some of the athletes they have. We knew we were going to be right up against the wall.”
Oak Hill has to wait for official word on its playoff opponent, but for the Hawks, who did not make the playoffs, their playoff game was Friday night.
“Some have said what is the difference between 4-6 or 5-5 and you just saw it. They are pretty happy. This was their playoff game and they played hard like it was,” Kelly said. “It was playoff atmosphere type of thing. I am just proud of my kids. They didn’t have the year they wanted, but we lost a game by six, a game by four and a game by three. That is why you are not in the playoffs.”
U: 5 16 0 13 – 34
OH: 0 14 13 0 – 27
First quarter
U: John Coleman 39 FG
U: Safety
Second quarter
OH: Malachi Lewis 1 run (Jackson Pino kick)
U: Brock Kehler 1 run (Ethan Jackson rush)
U: Kehler 1 run (John Coleman from Luke Hudson pass)
OH: Elijah Gray 9 pass from Lewis (Pino kick)
Third quarter
OH: Lewis 1 run (kick blocked)
OH: J.D. Mauritz 70 run (Pino kick)
Fourth quarter
U: Kehler 1 run (kick no good)
U: Jackson 10 pass from Hudson (Coleman kick)
Stats
Rushing: (U) Josh Jorge 5-13, Hudson 3-15, Melique Lewis 4-9, Brock Kehler 8-20-3, Jackson 3-4; (OH) J.D. Mauritz 16-123-1, Lewis 15-11-2, Tyler Ashmore 3-35, James Green 2-7.
Passing: (U) Hudson 12-19-0-179-1; (OH) Lewis 17-24–1-142-1
Receiving: (U) Jackson 5-91-1, Kehler 4-72, John Coleman 3-16: (OH) Mikey Spack 2-22, Elijah Gray 2-19-1, David Spaulding 9-73, Armonyi Hicks 1-17, Zycheus Lewis 2-9, Ashmore 1-2.
