It was a matter of quality over quantity.
Thus was the story in Oak Harbor High School’s 47-25 football win over Marysville Getchell Friday, Oct. 10, at Quil Ceda Stadium.
In the first half, the Wildcats ran only 17 plays to the Chargers’ 42 and trailed in time of possession 6 minutes to 18, but Oak Harbor out-gained Getchell 332 yards to 173 and out-scored the Chargers 33-18.
In fact Oak Harbor scored three touchdowns in its first seven plays. The first three times Dejon Devroe touched the ball, he ran for scores of 51, 47 and 67 yards. The fifth time he touched the ball, he caught a 33-yard pass from Clay Doughty at the 2-yard line, setting up the final touchdown of the half. (And, to end the game on a high note, Devroe’s final carry of the night was a 51-yard TD scamper in the fourth quarter.)
On the Wildcats’ 15th play of the first half, Zach Jones zipped down the left sideline for an 81-yard touchdown.
Whew!
Oak Harbor finished with 456 rushing yards, and Doughty, in another efficient outing, hit six of seven passes for 85 yards. In all, the Wildcats out-gained Marysville Getchell 541 to 297 in 15 less plays.
Devroe sprinted for 220 yards on 10 carries, good for four touchdowns. Jones had 101 yards on only five runs, and Princeton Lollar tacked on 99 yards on 15 carries and scored twice.
The Wildcat defense had its moments as well, limiting the league’s top rusher, Collin Montez, who entered the game averaging more than 200 yards a game, to 91 yards on 24 carries.
Savion Hollins-Passmore helped the defensive cause with an interception; Blaine Coleman recorded a sack.
Oak Harbor coach Jay Turner said, “It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win.” Though his team won, he was peeved about its lack of consistent execution, particularly on defense.
Turner said his team was flat and played down to the level of the one-win Chargers.
He said there was a number of factors that could have led to the lethargy. Oak Harbor was coming off an emotionally charged homecoming win, the Wildcats were playing a team with a losing record and it was a non-school day for the players because of teacher-parent conferences.
Getchell opened the game with a three-and-out, but Oak Harbor muffed the punt and the Chargers recovered. That that led to a 30-yard field goal.
Devroe ran 51 yards on Oak Harbor’s second play, the PAT kick was wide left, and the Wildcats led 6-3.
Helped by a 40-yard pass play, the Chargers regained the lead. The point after kick was blocked and it was 9-3.
Moments later, Devroe raced 47 yards, Mark Johnston kicked the extra point and Oak Harbor took the lead for good.
It was three-and-out for Marysville Getchell. On the first play after the punt, Devroe scored on a 67-yard run, and Oak Harbor led 20-9 after the first quarter.
Getchell punted, the Wildcats failed to convert on fourth down and MG drove 55 yards to cut the lead to 20-15.
On the next play, Oak Harbor answered with Jones’ 81-yard TD.
The Chargers kicked a field goal to make it 26-18 with 48 seconds left in the half and then committed a costly blunder on the following kickoff.
Oak Harbor recovered the squib kick at its won 35. However, a personal foul at the 50-yard line and its 15-yard penalty gave the Wildcats the ball at the Charger 35 with 37 seconds remaining. It took Oak Harbor only two plays and nine seconds to score. First, Devroe made a nice catch of a Doughty pass at the 2, then Lollar plowed in for the TD.
Oak Harbor started the second half with a more conventional scoring drive. Lollar capped an eight-play, 64-yard march with a one-yard run. During the drive, Jones had a 17-yard run and Doughty hit Dyllan Harris on a 16-yard pass. Oak Harbor led 40-18.
With four minutes left in the game, Devroe dashed 51 yards for the final OH TD.
With the reserves in the game for both teams, Marysville Getchell ended the evening with a 60-yard touchdown pass.
With the win, Oak Harbor (3-0, 4-1) kept pace with Marysville-Pilchuck (3-0, 5-1) in the Wesco 3A North race. The Wildcats travel to Stanwood (1-2, 1-5) at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, and then host M-P the following week.
