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Oak Ridge War Eagles grind out victory against College Park Cavaliers, 20-13

By: Jason Halpert, WOL Sports
| Published 10/17/2014

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SHENANDOAH, Texas- The Oak Ridge War Eagles (6-2, 3-1) bounced back from their first district defeat to topple the College Park Cavaliers (1-6, 0-3), 20-13, at Woodforest Bank Stadium on homecoming night. The win puts Oak Ridge in prime position to clinch a playoff berth in the coming weeks. Watch the entire game again On Demand!

“We’ve been here before,” said Oak Ridge Head Coach Dereck Rush. “We win these games in the offseason, as far as adversity, and we do those things in practice everyday, putting them in those situations.”

Leading the way for the War Eagles was running back Kwame Etwi, who had 25 carries for 113 yards and two touchdowns, including carrying the ball on nine of the ten plays in the decisive final drive of the game. Quarterback Braden Letney threw for 86 yards and rushed for another 70 yards. Wide receiver Jimmie Moore caught two balls for 72 yards, including a big 68-yard catch late in the second quarter, to setup the only score before half. Oak Ridge finished the game with 295 total yards of offense.

For College Park, quarterback Robert Ferguson threw for 140 yards and a touchdown, and ran for another 70 yards and a score. Wide receiver Will Rabson caught three balls for 44 yards and a score, and running back Dane Nichols carried the ball seven times for 39 yards. College Park finished the night with 310 yards of total offense.

Before College Park could get a snap on their first series, they were flagged for having twelve men in the huddle, setting them back five yards. Two plays later they had a false start, keeping them out of rhythm and forcing a three-and-out punt that took less than two minutes off the clock.

Oak Ridge’s first drive also stalled quickly. After a first down, two runs went backwards and an incomplete pass on third-and-12 forced a punt back to the Cavaliers, and both teams were still looking to find their footing halfway through the first quarter.

The third series for College Park saw movement, as the halfback dive play with Dane Nichols was working well. After gains of 6, 7, and 8 yards the Cavaliers had the ball down to the Oak Ridge 29-yard line. A Ferguson run of 13-yards and 10-yards (with a penalty) got the ball to the 15-yard line, and College Park was looking to grab the early lead as the first quarter concluded.

On the 11th play of the drive, College Park was stopped on a quarterback run that set up a 28-yard field goal attempt on 4th-and-6, however, the Cavaliers tried a fake field goal and Nichols threw an attempted pass that went incomplete to defensive lineman/blocker Roosevelt Henderson, and the score remained 0-0 early in the second quarter.

“We had a couple devastating injuries,” said College Park Head Coach Richard Carson. “We lost our kicker, lost our deep snapper. We made the decision to do that, take a little pressure off the young kicker, and they just did a good job of playing it.”

After more defensive dominance from both teams, a second-and-17 play for Oak Ridge saw wide receiver Jimmie Moore get a free release to the middle of the field. Letney hit him in stride and Moore ran away from the defense for a 68-yard gain that got the ball down to the Cavalier 11-yard line before he was caught from behind with 1:30 left in the second quarter. Two plays later Etwi snuck through the line from six-yards away, and Oak Ridge jumped on top 7-0 with 1:05 left before the break.

The first drive for Oak Ridge out of the locker room saw a reinvigorated offense drive down the field, but a third down run that went for no gain led to a 30-yard field goal attempt by Omar Barrientos. The kick was successful, upping the lead to 10-0 with 7:15 left in the third quarter.

The next drive for College Park saw the offense move quickly down the field, but after a holding penalty, the Cavaliers were backed up on a third-and-18 from the Oak Ridge 34-yard line. Ferguson didn’t seem worried and managed to find wide receiver Will Rabson behind the defense on a post route for a 34-yard strike to tighten the game to 10-7 with 3:53 left in the third quarter.

“We’re going to hang in there and keep fighting,” said Carson. “We have to eliminate our mistakes, but it’s not due to lack of effort on our kids part I promise you that.”

Oak Ridge got the ball and methodically worked down the field on their next possession. Mixing up runs with Letney, Etwi, and Handy was having success. An illegal substitution penalty and a tough throw on third-and 12 led to a 40-yard field goal attempt by Barrientos, which sailed through the uprights with room to spare. The scoreboard now read 13-7 Oak Ridge, with 11:04 left to play in the contest.

The Oak Ridge kickoff after their score sailed five yards deep into the end zone, but kick returner Colin Rockins took it out for College Park and found success, scampering 55 yards to the Oak Ridge 45-yard line to set the Cavaliers up in great field position. After 13 straight running plays, including a 4th-and-1 that saw Nichols run for 13-yards to the Oak Ridge 5-yard line, Ferguson punched it in from 2-yards out to get the score. However, the crucial extra point was missed after a botched snap, and the score was deadlocked at 13-13 with 5:04 left in the game.

Starting at their 28-yard line and looking for points, Etwi strapped Oak Ridge on his back and took over the game. After three runs, he had already taken the ball over midfield into College Park territory to their 47-yard line. A Letney keeper for 22-yards got the ball to the Cavalier 25-yard line with time dwindling in the game. Etwi would not be denied, and he took the next three carries down to the College Park 7-yard line with 1:35 left in the game. After three more carries, Etwi crashed through the goal line from one yard out, and Oak Ridge grabbed the lead 20-13 with 52 seconds left in the contest.

“He’s been a workhorse for us the entire year,” said Rush. “We had to ride those guys.”

College Park got the ball at their 25-yard line, and tried to move down the field quickly. The Cavaliers maneuvered the ball to the Oak Ridge 42-yard line with six seconds left in the game. The hail mary attempt by the Cavaliers was intercepted by defensive back Kevin Tillery Walker, sealing the game for the War Eagles, 20-13.

“Our kids played hard,” said Carson. “They didn’t quit until down to the last second on the clock. Seems like all our games with those guys are that way.”

Oak Ridge gets a chance to vie for first place next Friday against the top-seeded Woodlands Highlanders, while College Park will take on Summer Creek next Saturday at Woodforest Bank Stadium.

“Everybody will be excited, it’s The Woodlands,” said Rush. “It’s a district game, we still have an opportunity to get a share of the district championship, and that’s apart of winning next week.”

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