First the Oak Harbor High School football team danced on Marysville Getchell, then the Wildcats did the hokey-pokey.

With a dense fog providing the backdrop, Oak Harbor celebrated homecoming with a 41-7 win over Marysville Getchell Friday, Oct. 18.

And, as is the tradition after a homecoming win, the Oak Harbor players formed a large circle on the Wildcat Memorial Stadium turf and performed the childhood dance.

During the first half, the Chargers must have felt like they were put in the middle and shook all about.

With the win, the Wildcats (3-0, 6-1) now head to Marysville-Pilchuck (3-0, 7-0) for the final Wesco 3A North game at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, with the division title on the line.

Fog often made it difficult to view what was happening on the field during Oak Harbor-Getchell game, and the Chargers played like they were in a haze. MG turned the ball over its first four possession and six times for the game. By halftime Oak Harbor led 34-0 and was humming the hokey-pokey tune.

The Wildcats scored on their first possession when Clay Doughty hit a wide open Dyllan Harris for a 39-yard touchdown. Sheyenne Sams set up the strike with a 23-yard run. Mark Johnston kicked the first of five PATs (one was blocked), and Oak Harbor led 7-0.

Doughty finished the game with only three completions on seven attempts, but all three went for scores, two to Harris, for 116 yards.

Later in the period, Marysville Getchell reached the Oak Harbor 7-yard line with the help of a 56-yard pass play. A fumble handed the ball back to the Wildcats. Moments later, Sams exploded for a 69-yard score.

After Harris intercepted a pass, Oak Harbor scored again. Doughty pitched a 2-yard toss to Rhys Mattila for six points. Once again Sams highlighted the drive, this time with a 34-yard run.

Harris intercepted Charger QB Taylor Koellmer once again. It took Oak Harbor one play to score, a 22-yard run by Dejon Devroe. That made it 28-0.

Getchell went three-and-out, setting up another nice play by Harris. The 6-1, sophomore receiver out-jumped and out-wrestled a Charger defensive back for a pass, broke several tackles and carried a defender the final five yards for the last touchdown of the first half.

At that point, the game took a weird turn. From 3:11 left in the first half until 6:43 left in the game, Marysville Getchell ran 37 plays to Oak Harbor’s seven for a time of possession advantage of 17:55 to 1:52. The Chargers gained 187 yards to the Wildcats’ 19, yet both teams came out even in points with seven.

Oak Harbor had two possessions in the span, and the first was a mess. One penalty wiped out a 27-yard Devroe run and another erased a 38-yard Sams’ touchdown. The possession ended on an interception of a halfback pass.

The other possession made up for it. Sams scooted 85 yards for a touchdown on the kickoff following the only Charger score.

After that, Oak Harbor turned the game over to the reserves.

The kickoff return capped an impressive night for Sams. The senior rushed for 130 yards on only five carries and scored twice.

Julian Faralan added 72 yards on 16 carries, and Devroe, given a light load after returning from missing a game with a concussion, finished with 52 yards on five rushes.

Oak Harbor out gained the Chargers 376-293.

MG ran for only 67 yards on 30 carries. Koellmer finished 14-for-33 for 226 yards and three interceptions.

Oak Harbor coach Jay Turner liked the first half when his team “played pretty well.”

He, however, was concerned about the final two quarters: “It was a strange second half; it didn’t have a good feeling. We didn’t have the killer instinct. We will look at some film and correct our mistakes.”

He did not critique his team’s dance moves.