Oak Harbor misses upset with missed opportunities / Football

File this one under “What Could Have Been.”

With a folder stuffed with “What Ifs,” the Oak Harbor High School football team lost 41-38 to Timberline at North Thurston High School’s South Sound Stadium in Lacey Friday in a winner-to-state, loser-out quad-district game.

After the game, Oak Harbor coach Jay Turner said, “Over time, I’m sure I’ll remember this as a good year, but tonight I am disappointed. We had a chance to steal one.”

Steal, indeed. The Wildcats, the sixth seed out of District 1, just missed upsetting the South Sound Conference champion and District 3’s top seed. The Blazers drove 80 years to score the winning points with just under a minute remaining.

Oak Harbor marched into Timberline territory in its last drive but an interception at the 3-yard line ended the threat with 17 seconds remaining.

What went wrong….

Fourth-down follies: Oak Harbor was 0-for-2 on fourth down plays. Timberline was 5-for-5, including two on the game-winning drive. One of those came on fourth-and-12 and resulted in a 38-yard completion one play before the winning touchdown. Earlier in the game, a fake punt on fourth down went for 60 yards and a TD. The Blazers also converted a fourth-and-17 play on a scoring drive just before halftime.

Special team troubles (there were plenty):

One: The fake punt.

Two: Oak Harbor fumbled a kick-off, giving the Blazers the ball at the Wildcat 30 and setting up a score.

Three: A high-snap on a punt forced a run that came up short. Timberline took over at the Oak Harbor 20 and scored.

Four: PAT problems. Because of the inability to consistently kick extra points, Oak Harbor started going for two on each try three games ago. The strategy worked against Arlington, where a two-point try provided the winning points, but against Timberline, Oak Harbor was successful on only one of six point-after opportunities.

(To be fair, Timberline had some special teams issues of its own, particularly its punting game. Three short kicks —- one went only five yards —- gave Oak Harbor favorable field position.)

Drops: Oak Harbor dropped two passes, and one looked to be a 60-yard score. The drops came on the two series the Wildcats failed to convert on fourth down.

Just plain bad luck: Dorian Hardin’s acrobatic interception on the Blazers’ game-winning drive was nullified when his momentum carried him inches out of bounds.

Obviously, it wasn’t all bad for Oak Harbor as they took the favored Blazers to the wire.

Standouts in the game, according to Turner, were what he called the “usual suspects.”

Linemen Sam Zook and D’Andre Bellamy played well on both sides of the ball, he said.

Defensive back Mac Carr put in a gutsy performance. Playing with a bad back, he collected an interception and broke up multiple passes.

The entire defensive backfield played well, Turner said, getting their hands on a number of passes.

Quarterback Jordan Bell “played really well for a guy who hasn’t played since week three.”

Bell returned from a shoulder injury and sparked the Wildcat passing game. Turner, however, added another “What If” to the pile, wondering how much better the junior might have played if he hadn’t missed six weeks.

Bell hit six of 12 passes (two were dropped) for 102 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also threw the successful PAT.

Brycin McIntyre “had a nice catch,” Turner said. McIntyre pulled in a pass and tip-toed down the sideline for a 50-yard score.

And, “Princeton was Princeton,” Turner said.

Princeton Lollar almost willed Oak Harbor to the win with his bruising running style. In his final game, he rushed for 229 yards on 30 carries and three scores. He finished as the Oak Harbor season and career scoring and rushing record holder.

The Oak Harbor defense limited the Blazers to 86 rushing yards on 35 carries. Starting quarterback Jacob Henning was 3-for-11 for 62 yards. Trenton Horn took over late in the second quarter and the Blazer offense perked up. He finished 9-for-23 for 159 yards and two scores.

In all, Timberline had 367 yards of offense.

Oak Harbor had 430 yards. TJ Hollins-Passmore ran for 59 yards and Mac Nunez 34.

The Wildcats finished the year with a 7-3 record.

Timberline moves on to the state tournament, hosting defending champion Eastside Catholic in the first round Friday.

Oak Harbor’s Jordan Washington (5) and Brycin McIntryre (8) bring down Timberline’s Anthony Hathaway. Hathaway, Timberline’s top running threat, gained only 46 yards on 20 carries against the stout Oak Harbor rush defense. (Photo by John Fisken)