Sunday, September 30, 2012

Varsity Football


OC vs. Riverside – Like Washington-Wilkes, Georgia Military and Whitfield Academy before them, the Oglethorpe County Patriots had little trouble handling the Riverside Military Eagles handing them their fourth loss of the season 31-12. 
Final

        Following the kickoff and with just two minutes ticked off the clock, the Patriots were 2nd and 5 on Riverside’s 30.  Kenneth Cinereski got the call and scampered 30 yards for OC’s first touchdown of the game.  Griffin Giles’ PAT was good giving OC a 7-0 lead.

        Giles’ kickoff resulted in a touchback and the Eagles started their first series on their own 20. Riverside threw a short pass to the flat which Cinereski read the whole way tackling the receiver for a two yard loss.  Riverside’s second play was an incomplete pass.  On 3rd and 12 Riverside’s pass was intercepted by cornerback John Mathews (Mathews has intercepted at least one pass in the last three games).  Combined with a 5 yard facemask penalty against the Eagles, OC started their second possession on Riverside’s 34.

Presley on the way to the endzone.
        On this possession Riverside’s defense held OC forcing a 4th and 4 situation.  However, OC got called for a delay of game making it 4th and 9 for the first down from about the 29 yard line.  OC QB Kendrick Presley threw his first completion of the game to Trey Martin for an OC first down to the Riverside 3. 

        On first and goal from the three Anthony Thornton moved the ball to the one foot line.  Second and goal to go saw Presley put it across for OC’s second touchdown of the game.  Giles’s PAT was good so with 3:46 left in the first quarter OC was ahead 14-0.

King and Queen
         OC opened the second quarter with the ball on the 42 and second down.  OC got called for movement which backed the ball up 5 yards.  Thornton made up 4 of those yards leaving OC 3rd and 11.  Presley found Giles open over the middle for a 10 yard gain leaving the Patriots 4th and 1.  One the next play OC got called for an illegal chop block moving the ball back to the 49 yard line. On 4th and very long, Presley did his Presley thing, running through the Eagle defense to the end zone.  But it was for nothing because a holding penalty on the Patriots called the back. 

        The second half seemed to be more confused that the first half.  Riverside’s defense was doing a little better; penalties and two self-recovered fumbles stopped OC drives in their tracks.  At one point in the quarter there were three flags on the ground all for the same play.  Two were for illegal chop blocks called on Riverside while one was a un-sportsman like conduct call on the Patriot sidelines.

        Nevertheless, OC put more points on the board on a 60 yard rush by Presley on OC’s next possession (no flag this time) and Giles’ PAT made it 21-0.  OC would put three more points on the board from a 24 yard field goal by Giles thus going into the half time break 24-0.

Coach Bill and Casey Pacheco
        Giles’ touchback gave the ball to the Eagles on their own 20 to open the 3 quarter.  Riverside went 3 and out on their first possession of the second half.  OC after the punt started on our own 42. Tanner Bowman, on third and a few picked up the first down for OC.  OC would fumble the ball two plays later giving Riverside the ball on their 36.   

        Riverside couldn’t do anything much, suffering from self-inflicted penalties and incomplete passes.  Following an Eagles timeout, Riverside’s pass to their wide receiver was intercepted by Jarrett McElheney around the Eagle 35 and returned all the way down to the 11.  But OC couldn’t put any points on the board and gave the ball back to the Eagles at the OC 20 on downs.

        Riverside moved the ball backwards until they fumbled and OC recovered on the 6.  Presley scored and Giles added the PAT which gave OC their 31 points of the game.

        Riverside’s first score of the game came on the ensuing kickoff when their receiver caught Giles’ kickoff at the one yard line and ran it all the way back for a score.  The PAT was blocked and the Eagles had 6 points on the board.  The Eagles would score once more on the last play of the game with a final score of OC 31 – Riverside 12.

Winners
        Also in the fourth quarter, with many substitutes, OC’s Sean Atkinson had a 10 yard rush and a 50 yard rush, both of which were called back because of Patriot penalties. 

        Besides the offensive names already mentioned, some defensive names to remember are Mathews, Casey Pacheco, Cinereski, Zytavious Watkins and McElheney. 

        On the night OC had eight first downs, five of which were in the first quarter.  Presley was 3-4 passing (with no interceptions) and scored two touchdowns.  OC lost one fumble in the third quarter.  They lost and recovered four of their own fumbles and recovered one Riverside fumble. 

        OC faces Union County (3-1 overall, 0-1 region) next week at home in their region opener.  Union County has defeated Fannin Co., Towns Co., and Andrews, NC; their only loss being to Washington-Wilkes 36-0.  This should be a close ballgame between comparable teams. 

        You can see the pictures here:   http://hdgp.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8694167

       

       

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Cross Country

Best in Class - From Coach Norton: 

On Saturday, Oglethorpe hosted the Best in Class Invitational, the first of 3 home cross country meets, and probably the largest in school history. About 500 runners competed from around the area, including both high schools and middle schools. The Best in Class Invitational is like a regular cross country meet in every way except for how the medals are awarded. Instead of medaling the top overall, the awards are presented by class, so students can see where they stand amongst others their own age. The meet nearly tripled in size since last year with 20 teams competing.

The past couple weeks had delivered several great performances from many of the Varsity runners earning the boys a top 10 state ranking in class AA, but Saturday's race delivered some great performances from JV runners and middle schoolers alike. The Varsity teams didn't have their best day of racing with two boys running injured and another not running at all, but managed to finish in the middle of the pack with Abe Tompkins (19:17) and Quinton Nash (19:35) leading the way. The girls were led by Sarah Chastain (23:37) who had another great run to lead the girls team.

North Oconee swept the team scores in both meets, reminding us how nice it is that they've moved up to class AAA. Individual champion for the Boys was Ross Morris of Hart County and for the girls, Rachel Sigler of North Oconee, who's dad Brady Sigler works at Oglethorpe Middle.

In the JV races, several Oglethorpe boys had great races including Dylan Ballew, Lee Boswell, and Austin Busbin who are all trying to work their way up to the Varsity team. In the middle school races, several boys shined, including 8th grade medal recipient Joel Bencini, 7th grade medal recipient Austin Gabriel, and 6th grade medal winner Jonah McElhaney.

Next up for OC is a tri-meet with Banks County and Riverside this Thursday.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Cross Country

From Coach Norton:  The boys and girls cross country teams had a great showing at the East Jackson Eagle Invitational Saturday. Once again the boys finished ahead of region rival Jefferson and a handful of other teams. Top times of the day all belonged to a group of very talented freshmen Sid Wightman (18:25) Abe Tompkins (19:01), Taviz Reid (19:22), and Garrett McCormack (19:33). These boys have been working very hard at practice and the results are starting to show up here in the middle of the season. There's no telling how fast these boys will be by the Region meet or by their senior year. Needless to say, the future of the team is bright. Other boys who saw drastic improvement between the first race and this one included Brandon Pinto, Lee Boswell, Christian Ruppelt and a whole slew of others.

On the girls side, we were missing some key runners due to club soccer obligations but I was very happy with how they did. Sarah Chastain led the team with a 23:47 which moves her up in the top 5 on the school's all time top 10. Freshman Vivi Diaz had a nice showing at 27:30 and will continue to be a big contributor to the varsity team for many years.

The next meet is this Saturday at home. It's called the Best in Class Invitational and awards will he based on grade level. There are about 15 high schools from around the area attending as well as about 5-6 middle schools. First race is at 9am. Come out and support the Patriots!

Saturday, September 15, 2012


OC vs. Fellowship Christian ­– OC traveled to Roswell to face the Fellowship Christian Paladins for the Patriots third game of the season.  Despite the Atlanta traffic, the fact that the band couldn’t play due to a noise ordinance and the handicap of having to play on a turf field (just kidding there), OC came away winners defeating the Paladins 43-20.

Captains
            OC won the toss and elected to receive.  FC kicked off but it was a squib type kick that was hard to handle and FC recovered the ball.  As a result FC didn’t take long to put the ball in the end zone.  Their kicker put it through the uprights and the score was 7-0 Paladins.

            On the ensuing kickoff Taylor Liedberg fielded another squib kick from the Paladins and lost the ball when FC’s #53’s helmet knocked the ball out of Liedberg’s grasp.  Paladins recovered on the OC 40.  On the first play of this series FC ran the ball to the end zone for an apparent touchdown but it was called back for a holding penalty.  FC’s next play resulted in an intentional grounding penalty against FC’s quarterback.  They had to move back to the 45 and lost the down setting up an obvious pass play which John Mathews intercepted for OC. 

            The Patriot’s offence finally had the ball for the first time in the game on their own 25 yard line.  OC would move the ball out to their 41 yard line when Anthony Thornton got the call around the right side and ran all the way to the end zone for OC’s first points of the game.  Griffin Giles would make the PAT and the score was tied at 7 each.
Anthony Thornton gaining yards.

            On the kickoff Giles would put the ball in the end for a touchback which gave FC the ball on the 20.  FC would take a couple two or three plays then would pitch out to their running back who scampered 60 yards for the Paladin’s second touchdown of the quarter. 

            On the kickoff OC would mishandle the ball and lose it to FC for the third time of the quarter giving them the ball on their 42.  But to illustrate how a game can turn on a dime, FC fumbled and Jay Fleming picked it up for a 40 yard touchdown with 1:07 left in the quarter tying the score 14-14.

            Following another touchback kickoff by Giles FC would make a thirty yard reception putting the ball deep in OC territory.  FC would move the ball to OC’s 4 yard line but OC’s defense got tough and held forcing the turnover on downs.      

Tanner Bowman after his touchdown.
            OC, starting on the 4 got a procedure penalty which moved the ball back to the three.  But OC’s offense started moving the ball 4 and 5 yards at a pop.  Once OC got a first down on the 17 Thornton got a 20 yard gain to the 37 yard line.  Two plays later, OC quarterback Kendrick Presley would run through FC’s defense for an apparent 45 yard touchdown.  However, a holding penalty would bring it back.  Nevertheless, after the penalty assessment, which put the ball on our 48, Presley would complete his first pass of the game to Jarrett McElheney on FC’s 35.  On the next play Presley, on a keeper, would get all the way down to the Paladins 15 yard line for a first down.  Presley would keep the ball again and finish off the remaining 15 yards for OC’s third touchdown of the game.  Giles came in for the PAT but that was a fake and Fleming scored 2 points for OC.

            FC would not be able to move the ball after the kickoff.  FC tried some razzle dazzle on the punt but in the end OC would get the ball with less than a minute left on the clock.  On the first play from scrimmage Presley would dump a little pass to Fleming over the middle and Fleming would run all the way down to the Paladin 16 yard line.  With just seconds remaining OC did a play action pass fake which gave Presley a hole in the line.  Presley’s short 16 yard run put another touchdown on the board for the Patriots.  Giles would make the PAT and at halftime the score was 29-14.

            The third quarter was interesting in that FC would earn 5 first downs to OC’s 0 yet not score a single point.  Inopportune penalties and another opportune interception by Mathews would put a stopper in any scoring chances the Paladins had made for themselves. 

            In the 4th quarter FC would score and attempted a 2 point conversion but that failed.  On the kickoff, which was like the other hard to handle kickoff’s OC’s Giles was able to handle the ball mainly because, as he said, it bounced right into his chest and he curled up around it.  OC would not be able to make any hay with this possession and would give the ball up on downs on the FC 20.
The most important statistic.

            FC would run three plays and then try a fake punt play on 4th and 20.  OC wasn’t ready for it but the Paladins would not gain enough yards for the first down and OC took over on the FC 25.

            OC would get thrown for a loss back to the 31.  The second play from scrimmage saw Presley run for OC’s 5th touchdown of the game.  Giles would again good for the PAT.   With 3:09 left in the game the score was OC 36-20. 

            FC returned Giles’s kickoff to the 30.  On 3rd and 8 the Paladin QB ran right for a pass throwing it short and Giles intercepted giving OC the ball on FC’s 30 with about 2 minutes left in the game.  Presley would give fullback Tanner Bowman the ball on the first play from scrimmage.  Bowman, who would not be denied, ran up the middle through the FC defense to score OC’s final touchdown of the game.  Giles’s PAT closed out the scoring at 43-20.

            On the night OC only had 8 first downs to FC’s 15; OC lost the ball to fumbles twice on the first two kickoffs and recovered one and OC had three interceptions.   Presley was 2 for 3 passing, and both teams had a bunch of penalty yardage.  However, where it counts, the score on the board, OC scored twice in the first, second and fourth quarter.  

Hey, it was in the parking lot.
            Despite the win, Coach Milligan was somewhat disappointed, “I’d hope to get some of the younger guys some playing time tonight.  Yeah, we won, but it was ugly.” 

            OC is now 2-1 going into the region portion of the schedule.  The Pats have a week off next week before they take on Georgia Military (0-2 2012, 0-9 2011) at home on Friday, September 28th for Homecoming.
            You can see all the pictures here:  http://hdgp.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8677417

           

 

           

           

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Updates and JV Football


Updates – The OC Lady Patriots lost to Hart County Wednesday 7-3, which means it was a pretty close game until the last inning.  The softballers played Social Circle today but I don’t know the results at this time.  They take on Putnam County Monday.

JV Football – In a quick update the JV football team traveled to Harlem today and came away with a 7-0 win.  Check back later for the details.  You can see the pictures here:  http://hdgp.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8675280


OCJV vs Harlem JV – OC traveled to Harlem Thursday to play the Harlem Bulldogs.  Unfortunately for the Bulldogs the JV Pats took their revenge out on the Bulldogs coming home with a 7-0 win.
Dylan Pulliam returning a kickoff.

        OC won the toss and elected to receive and Dylan Pulliam took the kickoff out to the 32 yard line.  Kody Smith, JV QB directed the OC offense.  Between running by Tyler Sharp, Moochie Wymbs, Smith and others I don’t know, OC would move the ball down to the Harlem 10.  But a series of penalties would move the ball back out to near the 40 forcing the Pats to punt.  OC’s unsuccessful drive did use up nearly 7 minutes of the first quarter clock.

Moochie Wymbs
        Harlem started their first possession of the game on their own 20.  Harlem basically went the wrong way between a penalty and two sacks forcing the Bulldogs to punt.     

        Following the punt OC got the ball on the Bulldog 32 yard with just a couple of minutes left in the quarter.  Tyler Hooper got a good gain for a first down at the 20.  With first and ten at the Bulldog 20 Tyler Sharp gained another 15 yards down to the 5 and a first down.  OC moved the ball to about the one yard line and Smith pushed it across the line for and OC touchdown.  Ben Giles was good on the PAT making the score 7-0. 

Will Tyndell
        For the sake of brevity, this was the only score of the game even though the Patriots managed 12 first downs for the game.  The major problem from a scoring point of view was penalties and interceptions.  Both teams had their fair share.  

        Harlem had two players hurt bad enough to be removed from the game.  One player hurt his knee and the other player broke his leg.  For the Patriots Tyler Hooper got sandwiched from the back and front and injured his neck.  He said at the varsity game he hoped to be able to practice next week, but his neck was still sore. 

        OC travels to Washington-Wilkes on Thursday, September 20 to take on the Tigers at 5:30pm.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Varsity Softball


OC Softball – The Lady Patriots have improved their record in the region this week with wins over Greene County and Rabun County to 3-2 (7-10 overall).  On Monday OC slammed Greene 19-1 and on Tuesday OC defeated Rabun 6-5 after going to ITB rules.  According to Facebook Rebekah LaFleur was awarded the game ball. 

The Patriots play Hart County at home today at 5pm.  Hart, who is AAA, is 5-5 for the season. 

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Varsity Football


OC vs. Harlem – The Patriots had a red letter game against the Bulldogs of Harlem winning their first game of the season 35-13. 

Game Captains Matt Beyatt, Casey Pacheco and Jarrett McElheney
        Jarrett McElheney received the ball for OC on the kickoff returning it for nearly 30 yards.  Tanner Bowman picked up OC’s first, first down but the offense shut down and had to punt.  Harlem started the game on their own 20 yard line. 

        Harlem put together a good drive marching the ball down the field earning the first touchdown of the game.  The PAT was good and with a just a few minutes left in the first quarter the Bulldogs were ahead 7-0.  This would be the last time Harlem had the lead in the game.

Tanner Bowman
        Anthony Thornton received the ball for the Patriots and returned it to OC’s 35.  OC started their drive and moved the ball down to the Harlem 24 when the first quarter clock ran down.  OC faced a 4th and 4 situation when play resumed for the 2nd quarter.  QB Kendrick Presley passed to Kenneth Cinesreski for a pickup of 9 yards and a first down on Harlem’s 13 yard line. 

John Mathews interception.
        Bowman picked up another Patriot first down giving OC first and goal where Presley puts it across the goal line for OC’s first touchdown.  Griffin Giles makes the PAT and the score is tied at 7 apiece.

        Harlem runs through a series of downs before having to punt to OC.  The Patriots move the ball all the way down to the Bulldog 6 yard line before an illegal procedure penalty pushes OC back to the 11.  Presley finds John Mathews open and throws an 11 yard scoring pass putting OC’s second touchdown on the board.  Giles’s PAT is good and OC is ahead 14-7 with 8:42 remaining in the second quarter. 

Kenneth Cinereski digs for yards.
        OC kicks off to Harlem but the Bulldogs can’t move the ball and are forced to punt giving the ball back to OC on OC’s 33.  However, Harlem got called for a facemask penalty that gave OC 1st and 10 on Harlem’s 48 yard line.  Presley would scramble, juke and jog through the Harlem defense making his biggest gain of the day scoring on a 48 yard run giving the Patriots their third touchdown of the game.  Giles’s PAT was good and the Patriots were ahead at the half 21-7.

        The third quarter saw a lot of football but no points were put on the board by either team.  Perhaps the most exciting moment for OC was when at 9:07 in the quarter John Mathews made a drive stopping interception at OC’s 14 yard line.

        Near the end of the quarter Harlem was again on the move when they tried a razzle dazzle play that had the QB throwing a pass to the wide man in the flat and he threw a long pass to their wide receiver who couldn’t quite handle the ball even though it hit him in the hands.  The Bulldogs had a bad snap on the put and OC got the ball on the OC 49 yard line. OC would move the ball to Harlem’s 20 before the third quarter clock ticked 0.

No question about this one, but no flag.


Straight from the GHSA website, but no flag.
No player or nonplayer shall grab the inside back or side
collar of the shoulder pads or jersey of the runner and
subsequently pull (backward or sideward) that opponent to
the ground (Horse-collar). The horse collar foul is enforced asa live ball foul.
        The 4th quarter opened with OC’s offense on Harlem’s 20.  Dylan Pulliam got the call and gained 5 yard to the Bulldog 15.  Jay Fleming carried the ball up the middle to Harlem’s 7 and another OC first down.  Presley would carry the ball across the goal line for OC’s fourth touchdown of the game.  Giles’s PAT was no good but Harlem got called for roughing the kicker.  An off sides penalty moved the ball back to the 8 yard line where Giles finally made good the PAT.  OC was ahead 28-7 with 10:40 remaining in the game.

        Harlem got a little bit of their passing game going hitting their receiver for a 30 yard gain following the kickoff.  A couple of more plays and a penalty on OC would give Harlem a 1st and goal which the Bulldogs would turn into a touchdown.  The PAT was no good.  The score with 9 minutes left in the game was OC 28 Harlem 13. 

        OC would start on their own 24 following the kickoff.  Fleming got the call up the middle and almost broke free for a touchdown before a Bulldog pulled him down from behind on the Bulldog 9 yard line.  Thornton got the ball with 2nd and goal to go and put it across the goal line running to the right.  Giles’s PAT was good. 

Winners
        Harlem would get the ball one more time on the ensuing kickoff but the drive would come to a stop with 33 second remaining with a Dylan Pulliam interception of a Bulldog pass.  The final score was 35-13.

        On the night, OC had 19 first downs, one fumble recovery and one fumble lost.  OC also had 50 yards in total penalties.  Presley had 7 attempts with 3 completions one of which was a touchdown.   

        OC is on the road next week traveling to play the Fellowship Christian Paladins (1-1 this year, 5-5 last year) located at 10965 Woodstock Road
Roswell,GA 30075-7502.  OC is off the following week.  
 
        You can see the pictures here:  http://hdgp.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8668488
 

Friday, September 7, 2012

Varsity Football

Varsity Football - A quick update, OC defeated Harlem by a score of 35 to 13 Friday night.  A more detailed look at the game will follow.

Also, the softball Patriots lost to Washington-Wilkes 5 to 1 Thursday. 

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Varsity Softball


OC vs. Social Circle – After a week off due to weather the Lady Patriots hosted the Lady Redskins from Social Circle in a rare Wednesday afternoon game.  Perhaps it was the time away from the field that was the major factor in OC’s 7-4 loss to Social Circle. 
Jessica Pulliam stretching for the ball at first. 

        The Redskins scored seven runs on ten hits and one error.  OC put four runs on the board from 8 hits and had seven errors.  It was OC’s errors that insured SC’s win.  

        Jenna McElheney pitched the entire game for OC, racking up four walks and four strikeouts on the day.

            Social Circle scored two runs in the top of the second, mainly because of two OC errors.  OC would finish the inning leaving one runner on base. 

Dottie Wray snags a fly ball for an out.
        The top of the third brought 6 SC batters to the plate even after McElheney struck out the first two.  But OC’s defense would hold and not allow any Redskin runs to cross the plate, stranding three SC runners to end the top half of the inning. 

        OC would get two hits in the bottom half of the 3rd, but couldn’t convert them to runs.

        The Redskins would score another run in the 4th on two hits while OC’s offense was three up – three down.

        The fifth inning for SC was big, scoring three runs on two hits but with help from three OC errors.  However, the Lady Patriots finally got their offense churning and put runs on the board.

        Tristan Ogle was up first and thrown out at first.  Up next, Blair LaCount got a nice hit putting her on first.  Rebekah LaFleur moved LaCount to second with a hit that put her on first.  OC’s leadoff batter, McElheney, was up next and helped OC’s cause with a hit thus loading the bases.  Dottie Wray, OC’s fifth batter of the inning hit the ball to SC’s shortstop who mis-handled the ball allowing OC to put their first run on the board. 

Brooklyn Poole throwing for an out at first.
        Tonya Huckaby hit a line drive to SC’s shortstop which resulted in OC’s second out of the inning.  Slugger Madison Blocker showed why she’s in the clean-up position in the batting order with her hit that scored two more of OC’s runs for the inning.  First baseman Jessica Pulliam hit a long fly to center field to end the inning. 

        The Pat’s would pull within two when they scored another run on three hits in the bottom of the 6th.  But SC matched OC’s offense in the top of the seventh when they score one final run on three hits defeating OC 7-4.

        OC faces Washington-Wilkes (6-5, 3-1 region) today at home.  When the Patriots played WW on August 23rd OC lost 2-1 in a tie-breaker. 

        OC’s next four scheduled games after today’s game will be away games (not counting a rained out make-up game with Greene County) against Rabun, Social Circle, Putnam and Greene.  OC’s final game of the regular season will be on September 20th against Jefferson. 

        You can see the pictures here:  http://hdgp.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8665555

       

       

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Varsity Football


OC vs Johnson of Gainesville – OC traveled nearly to Gainesville to take on the Knights of Johnson High School for their season opener.  The Knights, with a new head coach and a new focus, handed the Patriots their first loss of the season 36-21.

Ready to Go
OC lost the toss and kicked off to Johnson.  Griffin Giles’ kick went out of bounds which resulted in a 15 yard penalty to give Johnson good field position.  The Knights steadily moved the ball down the field and scored but missed the extra point. 

OC and Johnson would trade the ball a time or two until late in the first quarter when OC regained possession and started moving towards the goal line.  The quarter would end with OC deep in Knight territory. 

Kendrick Presley scores!
At the start of the second quarter OC found themselves in a fourth and goal situation at the four yard line.  Kendrick Presley ran wide to score OC’s first points of the game.  Giles’ PAT was good giving the Patriots a one point lead. 

The second quarter would turn out to be the busiest quarter for both teams.  Johnson would put three on the board from a short field goal.  After a 43 yard Presley punt Johnson started on their own seven yard line.  The Knight’s quarterback pitched to their running back but he fumbled the ball that OC’s Zachtavious Watkins recovered on the Knight ten yard line.  Presley, who was caught in the backfield, broke loose and through a great second effort scored for the Patriots giving OC the lead 14-6.

The Band
 
Johnson, however, would come back to score twice more in the quarter.  The first time, the Knights regained their lost PAT from the first quarter by scoring a two point conversion.  Their second touchdown was late in the quarter when Johnson engineered a drive that ate up a good bit of the clock.  But they only got six when their kicker missed his second PAT of the game.

OC took the kickoff and tried desperately to get down the field for either a touchdown or a field goal but time ran out and both teams went to the locker room with the score Johnson 23 OC 14.

D.J. Roberts and Anthony Thornton
The third quarter would be pretty dull by first half standards with neither team scoring.  The fourth quarter saw Johnson score first but the PAT was blocked by Kenny Cinesreski. OC would score once more on a Presley run and Johnson answered with another touchdown with the final score Knights 36 Patriots 21.

Good Things for OC:  Presley’s scoring; Watkins’s fumble recovery; both Casey Pacheco and Tanner Bowman’s defensive play. 

Bad Things for OC:  First quarter penalties, blocking and tackling; fumbles. 

On the night OC had 10 first downs, 40 yards in penalties, four fumbles (recovering two for a net loss of two), and Presley went 3 for 1 in passing. 

OC’s home opener will be next Friday night against Harlem (3-AA, lost 13-7 against Georgia Military Friday) at 7:30pm.  Last year Harlem went 0-10 and is hoping to break their losing streak against the Patriots. 

You can see the pictures here: http://hdgp.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8660291