Varsity football - 9-19 - Everett

It was the first win of the season for the Oak Harbor varsity football team last Friday against the Everett Seagulls at Wildcat Memorial Stadium.

Oak Harbor received the opening kickoff but went 3-and-out after a bad snap on a 4^th-and-1 attempt.

The play gave Everett a short field with the ball at the Wildcat 25, but after 5 plays the Seagulls only gained 2 yards and attempted a 40-yard field goal that was good with 8:18 left in the first quarter.

The next offensive possession was better than the first, but resulted in a punt. The first play was a 6-yard run by Pat Higbee, and then an offsides penalty on Everett gave OH a first down on their own 31. A Josh Higbee run brought the ball out to the 38, but that was it. The punt was downed at the Everett 40.

Everett got down to the Oak Harbor 27, but a tackle for an 8 yard loss by Jason Curles got the ball back to the OH 35, and gave Everett a 3^rd down with 22 yards to go. The Everett QB scrambled to the 29, but it was still 4^th down, and Everett settled for another field goal to increase their lead to 6-0 with 1:44 left in the first quarter.

Oak Harbor’s 3^rd possession stalled after only 9 yards, and a 4^th and 1 attempt (the first play of the 2^nd quarter) failed to convert.

Everett now had the ball at the Oak Harbor 39, and things were not looking good for the ‘Cats. Everett drove down and had a first down at the OH 14. As they have before, the defense stiffened, and on a 4^th and 1 at the OH 5, Everett elected to go for it rather than kick a field goal, and after a measurement, the ball was awarded to Oak Harbor with 8:39 left in the half.

Clarence Lamont was now the QB, as reports say that Luke Felkner sustained a concussion earlier in the game and was not allowed to play. On the first play from scrimmage, Clarence rolled to his right and found Josh Sayre open. Sayre caught the ball and ran it into Everett territory at the 48 yard line. A short run coupled with a face mask penalty brought the ball down to the Everett 35, and a Mike Washington, Jr. reception got it to the 27. Facing a 4^th and 6 at the Everett 31, Lamont found Washington again for an Oak Harbor touchdown. Ryan Fakkema kicked the PAT to put OH in the lead 7-6 with 6:36 left in the half.

On the kickoff, Fakkema kicked it deep, but the returner was able to slip through the coverage and broke into the open around the Everett 40. Fakkema was there and made an unassisted, open field, touchdown-saving tackle at the OH 33.

Everett could only get down to the OH 32, and facing a 4^th and 9, again elected to forego a field goal and tried for the first down. Alec Castillo wasn’t fooled by the play and pulled the QB down short of the first down, giving OH the ball at their own 28.

A nice run by Donovan Hunt and a reception by Brad Farnum took the team across midfield, but a 3^rd and 8 pass attempt was intercepted and returned to the Everett 24 with 3:56 to go in the half. Everett drove down to the OH 32 where they faced a 4^th down and 7 yards to go with just 34 seconds on the clock. Everett again elected to go for it and the pass attempt was incomplete at the 5 yard line.

A pass reception by Josh Higbee at the Everett 48 with 16 seconds left gave Oak Harbor a first down, but the next pass was intercepted at the Everett 15 and returned to the Oak Harbor 38. With just 3 seconds left, Everett attempted a pass that fell incomplete, ending the half with Oak Harbor leading 7-6.

To open the 2^nd half, Fakkema kicked the ball to the 5 yard line, and the coverage was there, tacking the return man at the 18. Everett mounted an 11-play drive but the Wildcat defense held, forcing a punt from the OH 42. Oak Harbor started at their own 13 yard line and ran 12 plays, taking the ball to the Everett 28 before time ran out on the 3^rd quarter with OH hanging on to a 7-6 lead.

The first play of the 4^th quarter was a pass to Sayre down to the 11, then two plays later Hunt caught a pass for Oak Harbor’s 2^nd touchdown of the game. The PAT was partially blocked, so the score was 13-6 with 11:11 to go in the game.

Everett’s next drive was long, using up nearly 6 minutes, but resulted in a punt from the OH 32 yard line that was downed at the OH 15.

Oak Harbor punted after a 5 play series, giving Everett the ball at their own 36 with 3:04 left.

With a first down at the Everett 47, the Seagulls attempted a halfback pass play, but the throw was intercepted by Josh Higbee at the OH 33 with 1:41 remaining.

For a while it looked like the ‘Cats might score again, as two consecutive personal foul penalties against Everett gave OH a first down at the Everett 19 with 1:09 remaining. A Sam Wolfe run went one yard, and a second Wolfe run was stopped at the 7 as time expired, giving Oak Harbor their first win of the season, 13-6.

6 video clips from the game are posted HERE.

Next Friday the Wildcats are at Mt. Vernon.