Freshman football - Saturday special

That's right, there was a freshman football game this past Saturday against Cavalero Mid-High, also known as the Lake Stevens junior campus. This was not part of the regular freshman season, but a chance for the "B" squads of each school to get some playing time.

The game was close throughout, neither team getting ahead by more than a touchdown.

Oak Harbor got the ball first on their own 33, and after runs by Brent Ryan, Michael Mack and Nick Farrell, and an incomplete pass thrown to Brandon Stratton, the 'Cats were forced to punt from the Cavalero 21. The Lake Stevens drive lasted 6 plays, and was stopped by a Chris Opdyke interception at that he returned out to the Cavalero 48. A nice run by Ryan was negated by a holding call and the Wildcats lined up to punt. Instead of kicking the ball, Justin Everett ran to the left but was tackled short of the 1st down. Cavalero was able to get a drive going and a pas-and-run combination resulted in a Colt TD with just 32 seconds in the first quarter.

Oak Harbor responded with a score of their own, with runs by Stratton and Ryan moving the ball to the OH 44, then Edward Denmon got his hands on the ball and ran it down to the Colt 20, and two plays later ran in for a 19-yard score with 8:57 left in the half.

Cavalero fumbled the OH kickoff, and the Wildcats recovered on the Cav 32. This Oak Harbor drive only lasted a single play, as the Zach Van Pelt pass was tipped and caught by the Colts at the 20 then returned to the 32. The Wildcat defense stepped up and held Cavalero to just 18 yards, forcing them into a 3rd & 21 situation, then preventing a pass completion on 4th down. The 'Cat weren't able to do anything with the ball and punted from their own 43 after the Colts were able to sack Van Pelt. The punt was partially blocked, but still rolled down to the Colt 42.

On their first play, the Colts ran the ball to the OH 48, but then the team of Colin Higginbotham and Elias Whitefoot combined for a QB sack, then Matt Burgoyne intercepted a pass at the OH 30. Denmon then broke another long run, moving the ball 50 yards down to the Cav 20, then again to the 2. 2 plays later, Van Pelt, on the QB keep ran the ball in for the score from the 1 yard line with 23 seconds left in the half, putting OH in the lead 12-6.

The Colts tried hard to get the ball downfield, completing a pass from their own 41 to the OH 32, and were able to call the timeout with just 0.5 seconds left in the half, but the final pass attempt was incomplete, and the teams headed for the locker room.

Oak Harbor kicked off to start the 2nd half, and fortune smiled again, as Cavalero fumbled the ball and Oak Harbor recovered on the Colt 41. Runs by Ryan, Stratton, Vail and Farrell used 4 minutes off the clock and moved the ball to the 4 yard line. Things went bad at that point. First the 'Cats were flagged for a false start, and then Van Pelt was sacked. Another false start moved the ball back to the 21. Vail then got the ball and started around the end on a sweep, but the defender caught his foot and dragged him down for another loss of yards. Finally, facing a 4th & goal from the 20, Noah Lightfritz caught a pass at the 7, but wasn't able to make it to the end zone.

Cavalero used the remaining 2 minutes of the 3rd quarter to move the ball to mid-field, but the OH "D" showed some grit, and a 10-yard pass by Cavalero was intercepted by Whitefoot at the OH 45. A short run by Vail was added to by a facemask foul on the Colts, and a pass reception by Adriel Eckart and runs by Vail, Mack and Stratton moved the ball down to the 31, where another OH pass was intercepted.

This drive was productive for Cavalero, but was aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty on Oak Harbor, which combined with the pass reception moved the ball from the Cav 47 to the OH 23. Two QB keepers got the ball into the OH end zone. The PAT pass attempt failed, and now the game was tied at 12 each.

The next OH drive stalled after gaining 8 yards, and a 2nd fake punt attempt was 4 yards short. That gave Cavalero excellent field position, and they capitalized on it, scoring in only 3 plays, passing for a 14-yard TD. This time the PAT run was good, leaving the Colts with a 20-12 lead.

Oak Harbor now had the ball on their own 35 with just 1:22 left in the game. A false start flag made it 1st & 15 from the 30, then 3 straight QB sacks left the 'Cats looking at a 4th & 32 from their own 18 and only 30 seconds left in the game. The Colts were able to stop the OH offense after only a 3-yard gain, and then ran a single play to end the game with a 20-12 win.

Video highlights should be posted by Tuesday evening.