Youth football 2010-08-28 - Opening day

The Oak Harbor Youth Football League kicked off the regular season with a set of 5 games at the Ft. Nugent complex last Saturday.

First up were the midget Panthers, facing off against Stanwood Red. From the beginning, it was easy to see that the Panthers were the superior team. The Panthers first scored with 8:45 left in the 1st quarter on a pitch to lead 6-0. The second score was also in the 1st quarter after a reverse went the distance. The quarter ended with the Panthers leading 12-0 and that score would stand through halftime.

In their second series of the 3rd quarter, the Panthers started the drive with 2 consecutive penalties, then had a long TD run called back by another flag, but the Spartans muffed the Panther punt and it was recovered by Oak Harbor. The Panthers drove down to the Stanwood 3 but turned the ball over on downs. On their first offensive play, Stanwood fumbled the snap and the QB was tackled in the end zone for a safety. With 5:03 left in the game it was now OH 14, Stanwood 0. On the free kick after the safety, Oak Harbor mishandled the ball and Stanwood recovered, turning it into a touchdown 6 plays later to cut the Panther lead to 8, 14-6 and 2:10 left in the game. Oak Harbor grabbed the kickoff and drove down the field, scoring on the final play of the game to win 20-6.

Video highlights from the Panthers game are posted HERE.

22 photos of the Panthers game are posted HERE.

Next up were the Jaguars against the sole Stanwood junior team. The game was all Jaguars from beginning to end, as the Oak Harbor defense never allowed Stanwood to cross midfield.

The first Jags TD came on a handoff with 3:59 to go in the 1st quarter. A kicked PAT was good to make the score 8-0. The next OH score came with just 32 seconds left in the 1st on a 36-yard TD pass play. There was a bad snap on the PAT attempt and the run failed. 14-0 Jags. Oak Harbor scored twice more in the 2nd quarter on running plays making the score 26-0 at halftime. The Jaguars scored at the 5:16 mark in the 3rd and the 6:49 mark in the 4th to run the final score to 40-0.

Jaguars video highlights are posted HERE.

22 Jaguars photos from the game are HERE

The middle game, starting at 1pm, featured the junior Pumas vs Ferndale Gold. Ferndale game to Oak Harbor physically and mentally ready to play football, unfortunately, the Pumas were not. Ferndale took the opening kickoff down to the Puma 7 yard line before fumbling to Oak Harbor. The Pumas went 3-and-out, then Ferndale scored with 8:18 left in the 2nd. Each team had a single possession in the remaining 1st half time which ended with Ferndale leading 6-0.

In the 3rd quarter, things didn't get much better for the Pumas as Ferndale scored at the 3:48 mark then again at the 5:41 point of the 4th period. Oak Harbor just could not get any offense going at all and ended the game on the short end of a 20-0 score.

There were some highlights, and video clips of them are posted HERE.

12 photos from the game are posted HERE

The 4th game of the day was the midget Cougars vs Sedro Blue. This game started with a lot of excitement, as the Cougars recovered the onside kick and the first play from scrimmage went up the middle for a touchdown. The score was called back due to a penalty, but the score went back up with 5:48 to go in the first quarter, Cougars ahead 6-0. Later in the first, the Cougs returned a Sedro punt for another score to make it 14-0. Late in the 2nd quarter, an Oak Harbor runner got loose for a 63-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 20-0. The first-half shutout was sealed by a Cougar interception.

Scoring on their first possession of the 2nd half on a 54-yard run, the Cougars elected to attempt a kicked PAT (worth 2 points in youth football to encourage kicking) and the team watched the ball sail right through the uprights to make it 28-0 Cougars with 9:25 left in the 3rd. Oak Harbor added yet another score at the 2:50 mark on a 14-yard run to make it 34-0. In the 4th, Sedro was able to finally mount a drive, scoring from the OH 7 yard line then scored again on a 67-yard breakout run. The Cougars responded with a 68-yard scoring run of their own to end the game with a 40-12 victory.

An assortment of highlights are posted HERE.

22 Cougar game photos are posted HERE

Finally, starting almost on time, the peewee Lynx hosted Burlington Blue. Burlington struck first, needing only 4 plays to take an early 6-0 lead, then scored again as time expired in the 1st quarter to make it 13-0. The Lynx weren't down yet, as they had a decent drive of their own, scoring from 33 yards out to close the game to 13-6 at halftime.

Burlington used their first drive in the 2nd half to increase their lead to 20-6 on a 24-yard run and added another halfway through the 4th to make it 27-12. With plenty of fight still left in them, the Lynx broke loose for a 66-yard touchdown run, but BE got the final say with a touchdown as time expired, taking a 33-12 win home with them. In the books the score is listed as 34-12, but the pass PAT after the second Burlington TD was counted as 2 points instead of 1.

Some video highlights of the Lynx game are posted HERE.

14 Lynx photos are HERE

In the two games played outside of Oak Harbor, the senior Wildcats were at Arlington and had some center/QB exchange problems, with two fumbles leading to Eagle scores in the 1st half. The second half was better for the 'Cats, but Arlington still won 20-12.

Also at Arlington, the peewee Bobcats were down early 19-0 against Arlington White, but also recovered some, but not enough, as they lost 25-14.

Next week, Labor Day weekend, there are no games due to the long holiday weekend. However, the High School team will be at Edmonds Stadium on Friday, September 3rd to face Mountlake Terrace in their 1st game in the new WESCO 3A league.

The next OHYFL games are September 11th with 3 games at Ft. Nugent. The Cougars kick things off at 9am against Arlington Blue, followed by the Jaguars, also against Arlington Blue, at 11am, and finally the Lynx vs Mt. Vernon Green at 1pm.

The Pumas are at Burlington at 9am, the Wildcats at Lakewood at 11am and the Panthers at MV Black at 3pm. The Bobcats have the day off.