Oak Ridge War Eagles Fall Hard To Lufkin Panthers, Playoff Bound

SHENANDOAH, Texas -- For the second year in a row, the Oak Ridge War Eagles should send a thank you note to the University Interscholastic League.

The War Eagles, despite losing their District 14-5A football finale to Lufkin 51-7 on Friday night, once again have advanced to the Region II-5A Division II state playoffs.

Why?

The War Eagles, despite a 2-3 conference record, managed to finish fourth in a six-team district.

Yes, a team that blew a 21-7 lead in the final six minutes against Conroe, gave up 24 points in the first 12 minutes vs. The Woodlands and managed only 11 yards in the first half against Lufkin is headed to the playoffs.

What is the high school football world coming to?

Sure, the War Eagles (5-5) managed some bright moments during the 2009 regular season. They took District 19-5A- champion Atascocita to overtime before losing 38-35.

But, if you look closely at their five wins, the five teams they beat combined for a 9-41 record. Not exactly playoff material, but these are the rules.

The War Eagles, who beat College Park (1-4) and New Caney (0-5) in district play, will meet District 13-5A champion Klein Collins (10-0) in a first-round playoff game.

If Oak Ridge doesn’t play better than it did against Lufkin, it should just wave the white flag and break out the basketball sneakers on Monday.

Klein Collins has one of the top defenses in the Houston area. It also sports one of the top running backs in Houston in JaMichael Rozier.

Yes, he is the son of former Houston Oilers’ running back Mike Rozier.

But, what about the Lufkin game, you say?

The War Eagles looked game for a while. The score was only 7-0 at the end of the first quarter and 10-0 with 3:52 left in the first half.

But Oak Ridge fumbled near its own goalline to gift-wrap DeAuntre Smiley’s 5-yard touchdown run with 1:14 left in the half, then failed to pick up a first down deep in its own end to set up JaMarcus Walker’s 5-yard scoring jaunt with 47 ticks left in the second quarter.

All of a sudden it is 24-0 at intermission. And the War Eagles had a grand total of one first down and 11 total yards.

Oak Ridge cut the lead to 24-7 on Torian Oakley’s 33-yard touchdown run off the Statue of Liberty with 6:10 left in the third quarter.

But, before the band stopped playing the War Eagles’ fight song, Walker returned the ensuing kick-off 95 yards for a score to put away the game for good.

Lufkin also scored on an 82-yard pass from backup quarterback Arthur Tinz to backup wide receiver Donte Finley with 4:50 left in the game.

In fact, by the fourth quarter, the only two Oak Ridge players who looked like they cared much about playing were quarterback Ryan Cyr and Oakley.

Cyr, who is as tough as a bed full of nails, went 0-for-12 passing on the night. But he was under duress the entire game. His receivers also had hands of stone.

Lufkin (8-2), which will travel to meet Klein in a Division II playoff game, finished the game with 338 total yards, including 210 in the air.

The Panthers, who are one of the fastest teams the War Eagles have played all year, had three plays of 58 yards or more in the game.

Oak Ridge wound up with 141 total yards -- all of it coming on the ground.

Klein Collins head coach Drew Svoboda used to be the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for Oak Ridge head coach Bob Barrett. He is looking forward to the playoff game.

“It is going to be a lot of fun,’’ said Svoboda, who has guided the Tigers to a 16-3 record in his two years at the helm. “I still know a lot of guys over there. It will be fun to play them.

“Oak Ridge has some weapons,’’ he added. “Cyr runs very hard. And Oakley is really fast. We are going to have to come ready to play.’’

Maybe not.

If Oak Ridge plays like it did against Lufkin, this game will be over before it starts.