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HS Football: College Park runs away from Oak Ridge in second half

By: JD Hurd II
| Published 10/11/2019

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THE WOODLANDS, TX -- It was a tale of two haves in College Park’s 45-28 victory over district-rival Oak Ridge on Friday night. 31 unanswered points flipped a 14-point deficit into a 17-point win in College Park’s second district win of the year.

In last year’s game, special teams plays were the story of the game. On Friday night, turnovers were the theme of the game. After Adrian Murdaugh’s 23-yard touchdown capped off an effective opening drive for the War Eagles, College Park quickly found themselves in a 14-point hole after fumbling on their opening possession. Alton McCaskill would cash-in on the gift from the Cavaliers with a 2-yard TD run to Put Oak Ridge in the driver seat early on.

When College Park’s second possession fizzled out just outside the red zone, Oak Ridge had a chance to go up 21 points in the first quarter and silence the College Park side of Woodforest completely. However, the War Eagles also had a case of fumblitis on Friday night. Three plays into their third possession, Oak Ridge fumbled in their own territory, allowing College Park DB Curt Evangelister to give the Cavs their first points of the game on a 35-yard scoop and score.



College Park killed their momentum with another fumble late in the first quarter that set up Oak Ridge running back Kywon Morgan’s stunning 64-yard rushing touchdown right up the gut of the College Park defense.

The first half quickly was turning into a track meet when senior CP running back Gabe Morgan sliced his way into the end zone on a 23-yard run to cut back into the Oak Ridge lead. However, Adrian Murdaugh's second TD of the night would be the War Eagles' response, pushing their lead back to 14.

With a minute to go in the first half, sophomore Dylon De Angelo fought his way into the end zone on a goal-line carry to help College Park cut into the lead. Oak Ridge taking a 28-21 lead into the locker room seemed like the most likely scenario, but the biggest fumble of the night, technically two fumbles, would occur to officially turn this game on its head.

On the ensuing Oak Ridge kickoff return, College Park forced two fumbles, they recovered the second to set up a 33-yard Andrew Lutz field goal. This cut their deficit to four points at halftime and gave College Park all the momentum to go on a huge second-half run.



The Cavalier defense shut out Oak Ridge in the second half, offensively, CP found their groove which led to three more touchdowns in the second half. Another by Gabe Morgan and a pair of QB sneaks from Hank Hudson sealed a comeback win for College Park.

The combo of De Angelo and Morgan rushed for over 280 yards in the much-needed win. Coming into the game with three district losses already this season, a fourth would all but guarantee being on the outside of the 2019 playoffs. For Oak Ridge, the loss is their third in district, so now their backs will be against the wall for the rest of the year.



College Park (4-3 / 2-3) will take the win into a bye before traveling to Klein to face Klein Oak in two weeks. Oak Ridge (2-4 / 1-3) hosts Klein Oak on Thursday at Woodforest Stadium.

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