Varsity Football

OC vs. Greene Co – I haven’t seen all of the Patriots football games at Patriot Stadium, but Friday night was the first time I’ve seen 106 points scored there.  Unfortunately for OC, they came out on the short end of a 56-50 slugfest against Greene Co.

Team Captains
 

        The key to the game, at least for the Patriots, were first half fumbles.  OC fumbled the ball three times in the first half, which allowed the Tigers to score twice.  Were it not for these two scores OC would have won by a touchdown.

        The other notable characteristic of the game was how both teams handily defeated the other’s defense.  Greene usually broke for big plays through OC’s defense while OC’s offense was more measured moving the ball down the field.  That’s not to say that OC didn’t have big plays.  Fullback Tanner Bowman had several good runs up the middle for big yardage, while both quarterback Kendrick Presley and running back Anthony Thornton had big gains and touchdowns throughout the game. 

Anthony Thornton

        Greene Co scored first at the 9:45 mark but didn’t make the extra point.  They tried an onside kick but it fell short of the required 10 yards and OC got their first possession near the fifty yard line. The Patriots drove the ball down the field.  After drawing the Tigers off side (something the Patriots managed to do several times all night) Presley gave the ball to Thornton who ran in from the 13 for OC’s first score of the game.  Kenneth Cinereski got the ball on a fake PAT and put two more points on the board for OC, thus making the score 8-6.

        Less than a minute later Greene would put their second touchdown on the board and successfully convert for two points.  OC would answer with another touchdown but twenty seconds later Greene would take the lead again with a touchdown of their own.  At the end of the first quarter the score was 21-15 Greene.     

Tanner Bowman, hard yardage.

        The second quarter is where we really hurt ourselves with two fumbles that allowed Greene to put points on the board.  Nevertheless, OC put two more touchdowns on the board and both teams went to the locker room with the score 41-29.  One highlight for OC was an interception late in the half Cinereski that stopped a scoring opportunity for the Tigers.

        The third quarter saw a game more in line with what a football game should look like.  Both teams’ defense stiffened which allowed only one touchdown each for the third quarter. 

Touchdown

        OC managed to score twice in the fourth quarter to Greene’s one touchdown bringing the game to just six points difference.  OC’s last touchdown came with 2:25 left in the game.  Despite several onside kick offs Patriot head coach Larry Milligan couldn’t find another couple of minutes in his bag of tricks and the clock ran out with Greene in possession. 

        This loss forces OC into a must win situation against both Washington-Wilkes and Rabun, OC’s last two opponents of the season, if OC expects to make it to the play-offs. 

        OC (4-4, 2-3) take on the Tigers of Washington-Wilkes (7-1, 4-1) next Friday night at home.  As a reminder next Friday is Senior night and all the seniors will be honored at half-time. 

        You can see all the pictures here:    http://hdgp.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8730964