We are the champions
Published 6:07 pm Friday, April 25, 2008
Sixteen and counting.
When the Oak Harbor High School football team opened the 2007 season, the defending class 4A state champions were riding a seven-game winning streak.
When the regular season ended Friday night with a 21-7 victory over Cascade, the streak had reached 16.
In between star players have graduated and new stars have emerged on the Wildcats’ roster.
That was evident in Friday’s Senior Night matchup when Jordan Young stepped to the forefront and played a career game.
Filling in for all-league wide receiver Rodrick Rumble who was hampered by a thigh bruise and unable to play at full strength, Young caught a 36-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Johnny Encinas in the first quarter and scored on a 7-yard rushing touchdown with 1:34 remaining in the third quarter.
Not incidentally, his second touchdown was set up by a pass interception by, you guessed it, Jordan Young, that gave the Wildcats possession at the Bruin 27-yard line.
“It was a great game and an amazing way to end the season,” Young, who was named Comcast Player of the Game, said. “I finally got the opportunity and I got a lot of good blocks by my teammates.”
Head coach Dave Ward said Rumble should be back to 100 percent and ready to play next week.
“Jordan stepped up on both offense and defense and he really played a good game today,” Ward
said.
Oak Harbor’s defense held Cascade to three plays and out to open the game.
Following the punt, the Wildcats drove the ball 68 yards for a touchdown with Donovan Hunt going the final seven yards to score at the 8-minute mark.
Hunt finished the game with 59 yards rushing on nine carries.
Mike Johnston added the first of his three extra point kicks to give Oak Harbor a 7-0 lead.
“Our line did a great job blocking and we started running the ball in the first quarter,” Encinas said. “They were in a 40 defense, (four players on the line), and we were just running the ball and running the ball on that first drive.”
The Wildcats upped the lead to 14-0 with 38 seconds remaining in the first quarter when Encinas connected with Young on the 36-yard scoring strike.
“We came out and played hard, and we jumped on them right away,” Ward said.
Cascade narrowed the margin to 14-7 with 3:41 remaining in the
second quarter on a 1-yard run by quarterback Aaron Frye, capping a 12-play drive that began at the Bruins’ 33-yard line.
Cascade had success running the football in the first half with workhorse back Lorne Bridgeford gaining 98 yards on 14 attempts.
“Their offensive line was really taking it to us for awhile,” said senior linebacker Chris Valencia. “We made our adjustments at half time and we were able to slow them down.”
Valencia said the Wildcats were able to limit Cascade’s offense to just one man, Bridgeford, by having a defensive player keying on
him every play in the second half.
“He was the only one getting any yards, so we figured we might as well stop him if we were going to stop anything,” Valencia said.
Oak Harbor’s defense held the Bruins to 165 yards in total offense, all of them coming on the ground.
The Wildcats put the final points on the board with 1:34 remaining in the third quarter on Young’s second touchdown and the remainder of the game belonged to the defense.
With 5:23 remaining and Cascade in possession of the ball at Oak Harbor’s 18-yard line, Bru-ins running back Nick Morrison
fumbled and Wildcat junior defensive tackle Chris Numiller fell on the loose ball.
“Oh, man, it was crazy down there,” he said. “There were arms flying around everywhere. I just fell on the football and held on to it for dear life.”
After the recovery, Oak Harbor retained possession of the football and ran out the remaining time on the clock to nail down the victory and an undefeated season.
Encinas was 7-for-12 passing for 105 yards and rushed for an additional 28 yards on four carries.
Young had two receptions for 36 yards, Michael Bell caught two passes for 33 yards and tight end Jake Rouser had a pair of catches for 28 yards.
Stephen Lewis had six carries
for Oak Harbor gaining 46 yards and Valencia gained 37 yards on 11 attempts.
Playoff game vs. Bellarmine
Oak Harbor hosts Bellarmine Prep, the No. 5 seed from the Narrows League, Saturday at Wildcat Memorial Stadium.
Ward said Bellarmine Prep likes to spread the field and runs its offense out of a shotgun formation.
“They try to run the option out of the spread and will only try to throw the ball when they need to on third and long situations,” he said. “They also try to run inside/outside with a belly/blast series like we do.”
Ward said the Lions have a quarterback that can run and throw the ball.
“I think they would be more effective if they tried to throw the ball down the field,” he said.
Ward said Bellarmine Prep has a nice balance of size and speed on the team, but he is not sure they’ll be able to match up very well with Oak Harbor’s fleet of rangy receivers.
“On defense they get in a five-three and blitz their strong safety, and try to cause problems up front that way,” Ward said. “What we’ll do is go to our quick passing game, execute and try to take advantage of some mismatches.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Oak Harbor 21, Cascade 7
First quarter
OH — Donovan Hunt 7 run (Mike Johnston kick) 8:00
OH — Jordan Young 36 pass from Johnny Encinas (Johnston kick)
:38
Second quarter
C — Aaron Frye 1 run (Camden McDonald kick) 3:41
Third quarter
OH — Young 7 run (Johnston kick) 1:34
Game stats Cascade Oak Harbor
First downs 11 12
Rushes-yards 46-175 33-184
Passing yards 0 105
Comp-Att 0-5-1 7-12-0 1
Sacks-yards lost 3-21 0-0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-35 4-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Cascade: Lorne Bridgeford 24-145, Julian Willis 8-25, Nick Morrison 3-6, Derek Sepe 1-6, Junior Tisdale 1-3, Aaron Frye 9-minus 10. Oak Harbor: Donovan Hunt 9-59, Stephen Lewis 6-46, Chris Valencia 11-37, Johnny Encinas 4-28, Jake Rouser 2-8, Jordan Young 1-7.
PASSING — Cascade: Frye 0-5-1 0. Oak Harbor: Encinas 7-12-0 1 107.
RECEIVING — Cascade: 0. Oak Harbor: Young 2-36, Michael Bell 2-33, Rouser 1-28, Lewis 1-0.
WesCo North final standings
League Overall
Team W L W L
Oak Harbor 8 0 9 0
Snohomish 7 1 8 1
Cascade 5 3 6 3
Lake Stevens 4 4 5 4
Arlington 4 4 4 5
M-Pilchuck 4 4 4 5
Everett 3 5 4 5
Stanwood 1 7 2 7
Monroe 0 8 0 9
Scores Oct. 26
Oak Harbor 21, Cascade 7
Snohomish 37, Monroe 26
Everett 31, Lake Stevens 14
Arlington 21, Marysville-Pilchuck
