Oak Ridge rallies to defeat Kingwood, 30-26

KINGWOOD, Texas –The Oak Ridge War Eagles came up with their biggest stop of the season to preserve a hard-fought 30-26 victory over the Kingwood Mustangs in a District 16-6A football game Friday night at Turner Stadium.

The four-point win moved Oak Ridge to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in District 16-6A, while Kingwood fell to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the league.

“This was a big win for us,” Oak Ridge head coach Dereck Rush said after the game. “We started this year with a goal to win a district championship. We needed this win to keep that dream alive.”

Kingwood marched to the Oak Ridge 17 with less than a minute left in the game before the War Eagles stopped Mustang quarterback Dawson Trudell four yards short of a first down on fourth-and-seven. Trudell was making his first start of the season.

Oak Ridge trailed by as much as 14 points, 21-7, before its defense and running game came to life in the second half.

“The defensive guys did a good job in terms of adjustments,” Rush told the media. “Then the offense came out and took care of the football.”

Running back Kwame Etwi finished with 132 yards on 13 carries. After Oak Ridge trailed 14-0, he scored on a 38-yard touchdown run in the opening minute of the second quarter, to cut the Kingwood lead to 14-7.

Kingwood had 264 yards rushing in the first half, but Oak Ridge held the Mustangs to only 35 yards rushing during the second-half comeback.

“They got after us a little bit in the second half,” Kingwood coach Barry Campbell told media members. “They stepped up their game and made some adjustments against what we were doing. In the end, they made one more play than us.”

Kingwood running back Griffin Lay rushed for 183 yards on 21 carries, including a 21-yard touchdown that gave the Mustangs a 21-7 lead.

Oak Ridge cut the lead to 21-14 at halftime when quarterback Braden Letney found Etwi on a 37-yard touchdown pass with 1:58 left in the second quarter.

Letney was 12-of-16 for 159 yards passing. He hit Riley McKnight five times for 68 yards.

The two teams traded field goals in the third quarter to bring the score to 24-17.

Oak Ridge fullback Justin Edwards then took a direct snap near the goal line for a 5-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 24-24 with 5:21 in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the War Eagles took a 30-24 lead when Lamar Handy scored on a 22-yard reverse with 1:11 left in the game. Kingwood cut the lead to 30-26 when Sewo Olonilua returned the ensuing blocked extra point 98 yards for a two-point score.