HS Football: Oak Ridge and College Park Battle for Playoff Spot

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- As the district season comes to an end, there are two top spots already clenched and heading to the playoffs. One is the New Caney Eagles and the other is The Woodlands Highlanders. With fourth place up for grabs this was a must win for the College Park Cavaliers and the Oak Ridge War Eagles.

Both teams in the first half would thrive on defense. College Park struggled with the pass as well as trying to contain linebacker Justin Williams and defensive lineman Joseph Jonah-Ajonye with the War Eagles. And on the other side of the ball College Park would put pressure on Frankie Arthur and the Oak Ridge running game.

The defensive first half would result in a stalemate with no team crossing the goal line. Teams would enter the locker rooms to strategize for the upcoming half.

As the second half began, Steve Smedley would find Braylan Harrell wide open up the middle in their opening drive to put the War Eagles up 7-0. College Park would fire back handing it off to running back James Sweeney to tie it up 7-7 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter.

Although College Park would block a potential Oak Ridge field goal, they would struggle to convert on offense. Oak Ridge would tighten up their defense and put pressure on College Park’s quarterback Mickey Wells forcing him to get rid of the ball early.

On offense, Oak Ridge would continue to push the run with Frankie Arthur as he would find the endzone to put the War Eagles up 14-7.

In the beginning of the fourth quarter, Jaxon Wiley would pick off Mickey Wells and run it in for 6 and another Oak Ridge touchdown.

Up 21-7, College Park would find themselves on the 11-yard line and would once again throw an interception, this time tipped to defensive back Kamran Nekooi. Oak Ridge would convert with another Frankie Arthur run up the middle.

With a little over two minutes left in the game, Braylan Harrell would run it in and solidify an Oak Ridge victory 35-7. This would bring Oak Ridge up in playoff contention with just a couple games left in the season.

College Park would go on to face New Caney while Oak Ridge will travel to Moorhead Stadium to face Caney Creek next week.