Fall high school basketball

The Oak Harbor girls basketball team has just started their 7-game fall season with a game Sunday morning at Mt. Vernon.  Results have not yet been posted, but if anyone is in the area, games are all on Sunday and last about an hour.  A complete schedule can be found at the Skagit Parks and Rec site.  Most games are either at Mt. Vernon HS or Skagit Valley College.  The Wildcats do have one game at Sedro-Woolley, on October 6th, and another on October 20th.

Youth football 2013-09-28

Four of the five OHYFL teams were in action this past weekend, with the junior Pumas having a bye, and two of those games were at Ft. Nugent.

The Seniors and PeeWees were at home and both posted wins to maintain their undefeated seasons.  The Wildcats beat Sedro-Woolley 25-0 and the Bobcats beat Sedro White 25-15.

On the road, the midget Cougars went all the way to Friday Harbor and came away with a 36-0 victory.

Finally, the Jaguars went up against one of the best teams in the league, and while falling 32-12, showed a lot of heart by not giving up and scoring twice in the second half.

Next week there are two home games - both junior teams, the Pumas and Jaguars are at Ft. Nugent, with the 2-2 Pumas going first at 2:30pm against Anacortes (1-3), then at 4:30 it's the 2-3 Jags taking on 5-0 Bellingham.

On the road, it's the Wildcats at LaConner, Cougars at Stanwood Black and Bobcats at Stanwood Red.

Tennis update

It was an up and down week for the Oak Harbor boys tennis team, winning and losing big, and losing a close one.

On Sep 23rd, the varsity squad hosted Mt. Vernon.  Casiano Atienza was the only single winner for OH, and the 'Cats won at 1st and 2nd doubles, but the Bulldogs won 4 matches to win the day 4-3. 

All 3 OH winners needed 3 sets to win.  Atienza won 6-3, 46-, 6-3, 1st doubles (Jose Dimaculangan and Jozef Mendoza) won 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, and 2nd doubles (Jacob Nelson and Tom Dale) had the closest match of all, winning 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(5).

Two days later the varsity squad traveled to Marysville Pilchuck and whipped the Tommies 7-0, with all the Wildcat wins coming in straight sets.  The closest was at 4th singles where Jackson Wezeman won 6-2, 6-4.  The JV team had the day off as MP does not have a JV squad.

The next day the varsity team was on the road again, this time to always strong Shorewood. The Thunderbirds are strong again, beating the Wildcats 6-1.  The lone Wildcat win came at 2nd doubles at the team of Nelson and Dale won 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.

At home, the JV squad did not fare well, losing all 7 matches in straight sets.

This coming week the teams play 3 times.  The Varsity squad hosts Meadowdale on Monday and Glacier Peak on Wednesday and the JV squads play at the opposite school.  Varsity is on the road Thursday, along with the JV squad, at Mountlake Terrace.

Photos from the JV match against Shorewood are HERE, or at WescoAthletics.

Cross country update

The Cross Country season for Oak Harbor started with a bang.

Traveling to Everett on Sep 19th, the boys team annihilated their opponents, sweeping the top 6 spots for a perfect score.  John Rodeheffer was first, Clayton Richardson 2nd, Logan Clark 3rd, Sebastian Ceasar 4th, Nathan Richardson 5th and Nathan Wagner 6th.

The girls were almost as perfect, giving up the top 2 spots, but the depth of the Wildcat program gave them the team win.  Alex Laiblin was 3rd, Jonalynn Horn 4th, Carolynn Wicker 5th, Natalie Fiallos 6th and Suzanne Kaltenbach 7th. 

That weekend the team made their annual trip to Seaside, Oregon for the 3-course challenge.  John Rodeheffer was first on the hard course and boosted OH to an overall 2nd place win.  Clayton Richardson was 5th in the same race.

For the girls, Alex Laiblin was 3rd on the hard course and Laura Rodeheffer 9th which allowed the girls to also capture an overall 2nd place finish.

Back on the local circuit, the runners went to Maryville and captured first place in both the boys and girls races, and JV

Again, John Rodeheffer won the boys varsity race and Alex Laiblin the girls race.  The boys JV race was won by Cascade, but with Joe Gorman in 2nd, Mathew Nortier n 3rd, Ziwei Peng in 6th, Alex Hartley in 7th and Patrick Abercrombie in 9th, the Wildcats won the team title.

This coming Thursday, October 3rd, the Wildcats have their one and only home meet of the year, hosting

Complete results from all races are at athletic.net

FB 2013-09-27 at Everett

It was revenge of a sort for the Wildcat football team Friday night at Everett Stadium.  After a heartbreaking loss to Lake Stevens the previous week, the 'Cats came out on fire, spoiling Everett's homecoming.

After holding Everett to a 3-and-out on their first possession, the Wildcats drove 46 yards in 5 plays, ending with a Gage Eccleston 4-yard run with 8:18 left in the first.

Oak Harbor also scored on a 48-yard run by Dejon Devroe, a 14-yard fumble return by Mark Johnston and a 9-yard run by Sheyenne Sams.  That was just the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the defense continued to shine, denying Everett any first downs the entire first half.  Oak Harbor scored 3 more times before the horn sounded for halftime - a 15-yard pass from Clay Doughty to Devroe on 4th down, a 30 yard interception return by Eccleston and a 4-yard run by Carlton Johnson.

For the second half, the Wildcats went deep into the depth chart, while Everett continued to play many of their starters.  As a result, Everett was able to hang two scores on Oak Harbor, a 26-yard pass play with 1:32 left in the 3rd and  a 39-yard pass play that was tipped into the hands of an Everett receiver with 9:59 left in the game.  The entire second half was played with a running clock.

In the end, it was Oak Harbor 49, Everett 16.

Video highlights are posted HERE.

Photos from the game are posted HERE, and also at WescoAthletics.

The 'Cats are at home for the next three Fridays, hosting Stanwood, Mt. Vernon and Getchell (homecoming).

Volleyball update

The Wildcat netters were in action twice this past week, against 4A schools Arlington and Snohomish.

In the Arlington match, the Wildcats went the distance before falling to the Eagles 3-2.  Both the JV and C squads also lost to the Eagles by identical 2-1 scores.

The next day, the girls took on Snohomish and some of the fatigue of the previous night's match showed, as the Panthers won 3-1.  Again, the JV and C teams both lost 2-1.

The girls are at home on Tuesday, Oct 1st, opening league play against 3-2 Shorewood then travel to 1-4 Shorecrest on Thursday.

Girls Swim update

The girls swim team is a perfect 3-0 in WESCO 3A North, having defeated 3 of their 4 league opponents.  The girls do have two losses, one to Lake Stevens, the other to state powerhouse Mercer Island.

On Sep 19th, the team swam against both Marysville schools, Getchell and Pilchuk, beating Pilchuck by a close 94-86 score, and totally dominating Getchell 122-38.

Against league opponent Stanwood, the Wildcats won 109-61.

The girls swim at home on Monday the 30th in a non-league contest against the Snohomish schools, 4A Snohomish and 3a Glacier Peak.  Start time is 6pm at Vanderzicht Memorial Pool.

Girls Soccer update

After a promising start to the season, including sweeping their Whidbey Island neighbors, the Oak Harbor girls soccer team dropped a pair of matches this past week.

Tuesday the girls took on the 5-1 Marysville Getchell Chargers and had trouble getting through a tough Getchell defense, losing 5-0.  On the same night the JV squad also could not find the goal and fell 2-0.

Two days later the 0-5-1 Everett Seagulls came to Oak Harbor and gave the Everett team their first win of the season, falling 4-0.  The JV squad was blanked 2-0.

This coming week the girls take on the 1-4 Stanwood Spartans on Tuesday, then the 4-1-1 Shorecrest Scots on Thursday.  Both games are at home.

HERE is a link to photos from the varsity match against Everett, or click HERE for WescoAthletics photos.

FB - JV and Freshmen vs Lake Stevens

Last Monday, the Oak Harbor JV football team took to the field at home against Lake Stevens, hoping to avenge Friday nights' loss, but fell by an eerily similar 1-point difference.  Both teams scored 3 touchdowns, but PATs were the difference, with the Vikings ending with 21 points and the Wildcats 20.

Later in the week the Freshman team traveled to Lake Stevens and lost 28-13.

Youth Soccer 2013-09-21

While it wasn't raining, the clouds could not decide whether to show or hide the sun.  As a result, there aren't as many good photos as usual.

This week the concentration was on the NWSC U-8 teams.  Since there is an odd number of teams, one boys and one girls team had a bye, and will be photographed at a future date.

Below are links to the photos from Saturday.

Purple Islanders vs Pink Paws

Dark Blue Jaguars vs Med Blue Pop Rocks Girls

Lime Glowing Grasshoppers vs Red Dragons

Red Devils vs Orange Crushers

Black Zombies vs Green Anacondas

Blue Warriors vs Grey Sounders

Youth Football 2013-09-21

In an interesting twist, it was the teams on the road that had success this past Saturday, while the home teams stumbled.

At the Ft. Nugent Field, The Pumas took on Mt. Vernon Green, and after taking an early lead, wound up falling to the visitors 24-19.  The loss drops the Pumas to 2-2 on the season.

A few Pumas photos are HERE

Also at Ft. Nugent, the Jaguars could not score late and lost to the visiting Sedro Blue team 8-0.  The game was marred when the Jaguar QB was taken off the field by ambulance, but he is fine and was back in school Monday with no after effects.

Jaguars photos are HERE.

Both the Bobcats and Wildcats were in Lakewood taking on the Cougars.  The Bobcats gave up two safeties, but won the game 41-4.  They are now 4-0 on the season and have outscored their opponents 128-17.

Also improving to 4-0 were the senior Wildcat team, who thumped their host 44-8.  Lakewood's score was the first against the Wildcats this season.  They have outscored opponents 172-8.

The final OH victory was a close-fought affair in Sedro-Woolley, where the Cougars nipped S-W 13-12.

There are only two home games on Saturday the 28th.  Both the Seniors and PeeWees take on their Sedro counterparts.

The Jaguars are at the Burlington cornfield, the Cougars at Friday Harbor and the Pumas have a bye.

FB 2013-09-20 Varsity at Lake Stevens

Last Friday night the Wildcat football team traveled to Lake Stevens to take on the 4A Vikings.  The weather cooperated, for the most part, during the first half, but the second half proved to be very wet.

The game started with both teams trading punts, neither team getting much in the way of yardage.  Oak Harbor's second possession ended with an interception at the Viking 43 and on the very next play Lake Stevens went deep, completing a 46-yard pass play for a touchdown at the 4:01 mark in the first quarter.

While the Wildcat defense continued to stuff Lake, forcing two more punts in the first half, the Viking defense was just as strong, forcing 3 Wildcat punts.

With just 38 seconds left in the half, Lake Stevens drove 90 yards to score on a 2-yard pass to take a 14-0 lead at halftime.

OH received the second half kickoff and drove down to the Lake Stevens 8 yard line.  Facing a 4th and 1, the 'Cats elected to go for the first down, but came up about a foot short.

Lake Stevens took over at their own 7, and 3 plays later a heads-up play by Sheyenne Sams resulted in an Oak Harbor score.  Lake Stevens ran the ball up the middle, and it appeared to just about everyone in the stadium, including the cameraman, that the Viking runner was down, but Sams snatched the ball right out of the ballcarrier's hands and raced 37 yards to the end zone.  There were no whistles during the play and after a short conference the officials ruled a touchdown.  Now with 4:28 left in the 3rd quarter it was OH 7, LS 14, and that score would stand to the end of the quarter.

The 4th quarter began with the Wildcats looking at 4th and 2 at their own 14.  They went for it and succeeded.  Then they succeeded again and again during the drive, facing and making it on 4th down 4 times.  A fifth time was down at the Lake Stevens 9 yard line.  After an apparent TD was ruled incomplete by the officials, Wildcat QB Clay Doughty found Dyllan Harris on a slant and he went all the way to make it 13-14 for Oak Harbor with 3:33 left in the game.  Unfortunately, the PAT kick was just right.

OH forced a LS punt with 2:15 left, but on that final drive the 4th down magic did not materialize and Lake Stevens won in the end 14-13.

Next Friday the varsity squad travels to Everett Stadium to take on the 0-3 Seagulls of Everett High School.  Kickoff at 7pm.  According to WescoAthletics.com, it's Everett's homecoming game.



A few video highlights are posted HERE.

Photos from the 1st half are HERE.

Freshman football 2013-09-18 vs Arlington

A depleted freshman football team took the field Wednesday evening against Arlington and became even further depleted as the game wore on, with a key player missing nearly half the game due to an injury.

The game started with an Arlington score at 6:01 in the 1st quarter.  Oak Harbor struck back at 3:30 with a 55-yard scamper by Brycin McIntyre.  The Wildcat PAT kick was good giving OH a 7-6 lead.

At 6:51 in the 2nd, the 'Cats increased their lead to 14-6 after a 9-yard sweep to the left by JJ Mitchell.  Another good PAT made it 14-6 for Oak Harbor.

Arlington closed the gap with a 21-yard pass with 4:25 to go in the 1st half, but the 2-point PAT failed, leaving OH up 14-12.

Then, with just under 5 seconds left, Arlington struck with another pass touchdown, this one from 11 yards out to put Arlington up 20-14 at the half.

The last-second score and Wildcat injuries seemed to take the wind out of the Oak Harbor sails, as the offense sputtered and Arlington scored twice in the final quarter to win the game 36-14.

A few video highlights are posted HERE.

Photos from the 1st half of the game are posted HERE and also at WescoAthletics.

Volleyball 2013-09-17 vs Stanwood

Tuesday evening the Stanwood Spartans came to down and put on a good display of defensive volleyball.  Good enough to win all 3 matches.

In the dome, the Freshman girls played 3 tough sets, falling 18-25, 23-25, 19-25

At the same time, the JV squad had similar scores in the main gym as Stanwood won 26-24, 25-18, 25-17.

In the Main Event, game one was a virtual tie all the way from beginning to end.  Stanwood earned the first point and OH led 6-3 early - the biggest lead by either team through the entire game.  With the game tied at 24, Stanwood was able to get two shots past Oak Harbor to win 26-24.

Oak Harbor took control of game 2 early by building a 10-3 lead and never let up, going on to win 25-13 an tying the match at 1.

Game 3 started out looking like the reverse of game 2, with Stanwood building an early 4-0 lead, but the Wildcats came back to close the gap to 5-6 before Stanwood went on runs of 5-0 and 6-0 to win 25-17 and take a 2-1 match lead.

After a promising start in game 4, which had the 'Cats leading 10-4, the Spartans slowly came back to knot the score at 16, then went on to take a late 22-18 lead.  Oak Harbor closed to within 1 at 22-21, but Stanwood was able to score the final 3 points to take game 4 25-21 and the match 3-1.



Varsity video clips are HERE.

Photos from all 3 matches are HERE, or at WescoAthletics

Boys Tennis 2013-09-16 JV vs Stanwood

It was a tough day for the Wildcat JV netters as they fell 7-0 Monday afternoon at OHHS to the Stanwood Spartans.

All the Spartans won in straight sets, but at 3rd doubles, Shinzo Higashiyama and Nathan Magdalera almost forced the second set into a tiebreaker but fell 6-4.

Next for tennis are home varsity matches on Wednesday against Getchell and Thursday against Everett.  Tuesday the varsity squad heads to Stanwood to make up a rained out match from Monday.  The JV squad spends the rest of the week on the road at Getchell and Everett.

JV action photos are posted HERE.

NWSC 2013-09-14

The second week in the season was a decent day for soccer.  Not to hot, not too cold, and it didn't rain.

At the Ft. Nugent complex, hundreds of children ran up and down the soccer fields to the cheers of family and friends.

Our photographer was on scene and got photos from all the U-6 teams.

Links to each game are below:

Blue Pixie Dust vs Orange Crush

Lime Green Hello Kitties vs Purple Princesses

Pink Raspberries vs Yellow Bumblebees

Blue Sharks vs Red Tigers

Blue Bombers vs White Lizards

Yellow Golden Eagles vs Gold Dragons

Green Machine vs Orange Avengers

We'll be at Ft. Nugent again next Saturday, concentrating on the U-8 teams.

Youth football 2013-09-14

It was a good weekend for the OHYFL, with all 5 teams winning.

On the road, the Pumas struggled, but prevailed against South Whidbey, 27-25 while the Jaguars pummeled Mt. Vernon 25-0.

At home, it was the Cougars 24-0 over Mt. Vernon, Bobcats 27-7 over Anacortes and finally, the senior Wildcat team won 50-0 over Concrete and goes to 3-0.  In three games, the Wildcats have outscored their opponents 128-0.

The Bobcats are also 3-0, while the Jags, Pumas and Cougars are all 2-1 on the season.

Some video highlights from the Jaguars' game are posted HERE.

Jaguars photos are HERE

Cougars photos are HERE

And click HERE for Wildcat photos.

Girls Soccer 2013-09-14 at Mt. Vernon

Saturday the girls had a rare daytime game, played Saturday afternoon in Mt. Vernon.

The JV squad got a nice win, and the Varsity team looked on their way to a victory.  Lydia Peplinski scored late in the second half, and ball-stopping machine Kenzie Perry stopped shot after shot on the Wildcat goal.  Until the final 2 minutes.  A Bulldog player was able to break free and went 1-on-1 with Perry, and was able to shoot left when Perry juked right, leading to a very unsatisfying 1-1 tie.


Photos are posted HERE and also at WescoAthletics.  Photos are from the varsity game only, even though the WescoAthletics site says JV.

The soccer girls are at home this Thursday, Sep 19th, opening league play against Marysville-Pilchuk.

FB 2013-09-13 varsity vs Arlington

Friday's game started with a bang.  On their second play from scrimmage, Arlington fumbled the ball and on the very next play, Sheyenne Sams, playing in his first game of the year, scampered 22 yards to put the Wildcats up 6-0 just 17 seconds into the game.

Arlington was forced to punt on their next possession, but so was Oak Harbor.  The difference is that OH's punt was blocked, giving the Eagles a first down at the OH 16.  They also needed only 1 play to score, a 16-yard pass.  at the 7:42 mark in the 1st, it was Arlington 7, OH 6.

More trouble on Oak Harbor's next possession, as the punt was shanked and went out of bounds at the Wildcats' 15 yard line.  One play later it was Arlington 15, OH 6.

The next OH possession lasted on play, with Arlington intercepting  at their own 25, but the Wildcat defense stood and the Eagles turned the ball over on downs at the OH 37.  Three plays later, Dejon Devroe broke loose for a 32-yard scoring run to make it 14-15 at the 2:39 mark in the first quarter.

The first quarter still wasn't finished, as Arlington marched 52 yards and scored on a 19-yard pass in the final minute of the quarter to boost their lead to 22-14.

At 7:12 in the 2nd quarter, Arlington scored yet again, this time on a 26-yard pass to make it 14-29.

A 32-yard kickoff return by Sams started the next OH drive, that stalled on the Arlington 26.  Arlington then drove into OH territory, but that drive was halted by a timely pass interception at the Wildcat 9-yard line by Dyllan Harris.  OH was able to get the ball back out the 50, then time expired in the first half.  Arlington led 29-14.

Oak Harbor got the ball to start the 2nd half, and the first drive looked promising, until Arlington appeared to pick off a pass at their own 4-yard line and return it 96 yards for a score.  It appeared that was, but before the pass there was a flag on Arlington, giving OH the ball at the Arlington 9-yard line with a new set of downs.  Two plays later it was Sams with a 1-yard plunge to close the gap to 21-29.

Arlington's next drive ended after 5 plays when senior Isaiah Rennes recovered a fumble at the Arlington 36.  Six plays later it looked like the Wildcats would score, but the OH pass was intercepted in the end zone.

The OH defense got fired up and held the Eagles on 3 plays, forcing a punt, then with 10:29 left in the game, Sams sprinted to the end zone from 12 yards out to make the score 27-29.

The next drive by the Eagles also ended with a fumble.  The Arlington QB scrambled out of the pocket, was chased down by Rhys Mattila who stripped the ball, and Nate Stanford and Ben Danielson jump on the loose ball for the 'Cats at the OH 18 yard line.  Seven plays later it was Devroe again, this time from 2 yards out to give Oak Harbor a 33-29 lead.

Arlington wasn't ready to lie down, and went 75 yards in 9 plays, capped by a 4-yard run to regain the lead 36-33 with 4:10 left in the game.

Starting at their own 46 yard line, the Wildcats used 5 plays and took over 2 minutes off the clock, scoring on a 16-yard Devroe run to make it 40-36 for the Wildcats with 1:54 to go.

Arlington started their final drive on their own 31 and drove into Oak Harbor territory.  Facing a 4th and 2 at the OH 48 and time running down, Arlington threw the ball deep.  Dyllan Harris stepped in front of the Arlington receiver to snag the ball and secure the Wildcat victory.

Final - Oak Harbor 40, Arlington 36.


Photos are posted HERE, and also at WescoAthletics

Video highlights from the game are HERE.

Next week the varsity men travel to always-tough Lake Stevens on Friday.  Monday the JV team travels to Arlington while on Wednesday the Freshman/C team hosts the Eagles in their first home game.  Entrance to JV and Freshman games is free, so come cheer the Wildcats!

Boys Tennis 2013-09-13 vs Mountlake Terrace

In an effort to save transportation costs, the Mountlake Terrace tennis team brought both their varsity and JV teams to Oak Harbor last Friday afternoon.

First up were the varsity boys.

The singles matches were hard-fought affair, with 3 of the 4 matches going to 3 sets and the 4th going to tiebreaker in the first set.

In the end, a pair of OH netters won in singles.  Harrison Miller won 7-6(2), 6-1 and Casiano Atienza won 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

1st doubles went to 3 sets, but unfortunately the Wildcats were on the losing end.  Oak Harbor did pick up a win at 2nd doubles as Tom Dale and Jacob Nelson won 6-2, 6-2, but Terrace picked up the 4-3 win for the day.

JV play was reversed, with the boys winning 4-3.

At singles, #1 Jared Alano-Gray won 6-1, 6-1 and 4th singles T.J. Cortez won 2-6, 6-1, 10-4.

JJ Abides and Greg Johnson won 7-5, 1-6, 10-8 at 2nd doubles and the Shinzo Higashiyama/Nathan Magdalera won 6-3, 6-4.

Only a few photos from the JV singles matches are posted.  They are HERE.

Boys Tennis 2013-09-11

Wednesday afternoon the boys tennis team launched their 2013 campaign with a nice win over visiting Lake Stevens on an atypically hot day at OHHS.

In singles play, 1st singles Harrison Miller took advantage of his opponents' mistakes to come away with a 6-4, 7-6(4) straight-set victory.  Carter Saar won at 2nd doubles, 6-2, 6-4.

Casiano Atienza won in 3 sets, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 and freshman Jackson Wezeman fought hard in his inaugural match but fell 6-4, 7-6(5)

Only one of the Wildcats' doubles team won, 2nd doubles (Tom Dale and Jacob Nelson), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, but it was enough give OH a 4-3 victory.

Both the varsity and JV teams are at home Friday, starting at 3:30pm.  The varsity will go first, then the JV team.  Come on over and cheer on the home boys before the football game.

Photos are posted HERE, or at the WescoAthletics.com site

VB 2013-09-10

The OH Volleyball squads kicked on their 2013 season with a trio of matches at home against Burlington-Edison.

Over in the dome, the freshman team, under coach Rick Swankie, wasted no time in demolishing the Tigers 25-10, 25-11, 25-9.  They finished their 3-game match before the JV team started their 2nd game.

It took a game the JV team a game to warm up (they fell 23-25), but turned things around in the 2nd and 3rd games, winning each 25-20 to win the match 3-1.  Showing early skills were front-row ladies Hannah Faught and Geslyne Barreta, and libero/DS Priya Osborne.

Game one of the varsity match was an interesting affair.  The game was back-and-forth early, with OH at one time having a 9-7 lead, but the Tigers fought back to tie at 10, then  went on a 6-2 run to take what appeared to be a commanding lead, but the Wildcats had some fight of their own and crawled back to within 1 point, 17-16.  B-E was able to put the game away, though, to win 25-20.

In game 2 of the varsity match, the Tigers showed why they are a perennial volleyball powerhouse.  In 2012 the Tigers were the 2A state champs and in 2013 finished 6th in state and are currently ranked 4th by the Seattle Times.  They won game 2, 25-7, and made it look effortless.

The Wildcats recovered a bit in game 3, but scored 11 points to the Tigers' 25 and giving B-E the 3-game sweep.

The team travels to Mt. Vernon on Thursday the 12th, the plays their league opener at home against Stanwood on Tuesday the 17th.

Photos from the varsity and JV matches are posted HERE, and also at WescoAthletics.com

JV and varsity video highlights are HERE

FB JV 2013-09-09

Like the varsity squad, this years' JV team has a lot of youth an inexperience, but it didn't stop them from beating Snohomish at home last Monday night, 34-28, in overtime.

First-game jitters showed early for both teams.  Snohomish got the ball first and on their second play of the game gave up an interception to the Wildcats.  The 'Cats moved the ball from the 27 down to the 5, where they fumbled the ball back to the Panthers.

Snohomish then ran 3 plays and went to punt, but Connor Parmenter snuck through the line and blocked the kick, setting up a 1st-and-goal at the Snohomish 2 yard line.  From there it took the 'Cats 6 tries, including a penalty on each team to get the ball into the end zone on a Quinn Karney 1-yard carry.  The PAT kick failed, leaving OH with a 6-0 lead at 7:17 in the first.

It looked like Snohomish might score on their next possession, after completing a 67-yard pass, but a holding call brought it back and the Panthers wound up turning the ball over on downs, setting up the Wildcats' second score, a 15-yard QB keeper by Sophomore Stephen Dixon.  A pass from Dixon to Taylor Kolste completed the 2-point conversion and put the 'Cats up 14-0.

On their first play from scrimmage, Snohomish proved they have a deep threat, completing a 74-yard catch and run pass play to cut the OH lead to 14-6.

The 2nd quarter was back and forth, with OH punting once and both teams turning it over on downs, until the Panthers mounted a 10-play 88-yard drive and scored on a 14-yard pass to tie the score at 14 with just 22 seconds left in the half.

Oak Harbor was not content to go into the locker room at the half with a tie, so used a quick 3-play drive, ending with a pass from Mike Laningham to Tyler Dodd to make it 21-14 with just 4 seconds left in the half.

To start the second half, OH got the ball, but threw an interception at the Snohomish 35 that was returned to the OH 18, where the next play was an 18-yard pass touchdown, followed by a 2-point PAT to give Snohomish a 22-21 lead with 9:31 left in the 3rd.

Like the 2nd quarter, OH punted once and both teams turned the ball over on downs and the quarter ended with Snohomish driving at the OH 23.  The scored just under a minute into the 4th quarter, but failed the 2-point conversion, making it 28-21 for the Panthers.

The 'Cats fired right back, scoring with 8:04 left.  Dixon's pass was tipped by a Snohomish defender, but caught by Karney for a 48-yard touchdown.  OH elected to kick the PAT, tying the game at 28.

For the remainder of the 4th quarter, both teams turned the ball over on downs and a final Snohomish drive was ended by 0:00 on the scoreboard.

In the OT period, Oak Harbor won the toss and elected to go 2nd.  Snohomish got the ball first and threw 4 straight incompletions, the last one batted down at the last second.

On the first play of the Wildcats' possession, Dixon tossed an easy pass to a wide-open Laningham, ending the game and giving OH the first win of the season, 34-28.

Photos from the game are posted HERE, or HERE at WescoAthletics.com

Some video highlights are HERE.

Varsity football is at home Friday night vs Arlington, JV is on the road next Monday, and the Freshman team is at home Wednesday at 5:30pm.

Youth football 2013-09-07

It was a good weekend for the OHYFL as 4 of the 5 teams scored big victories.  The only loss on the day was the Junior Pumas who fell to Lakewood 38-6.

At home, the midget Cougars took on South Whidbey and started the day in a big way.  The first play of the game went for 51 yards and a score.  SW fumbled on their first play and a 5-yard run capped a 6-play, 30-yard drive to make it 12-0 halfway through the first quarter.

SW fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and 4 plays later it was 20-0 after a 13-yard scoring run.

In the 2nd quarter, the Cougs scored just once, a 22-yard run.  The halftime score was 28-0.

A 38-yard run in the 3rd quarter boosted the Cougar lead to 36-0.  The Falcons were able to get on the board after a 40-yard scoring run with 6:56 left in the game. The final score was 36-6.

Click HERE for video highlights of the Cougars game

Next up were the peewee Bobcats, taking on Concrete.  They also won big in a shutout 48-0 shutout.

The Bobcats scored twice in the first quarter, one a nice 50-yard QB keeper, and scored 3 times in the second quarter, all in just over 2 minutes.  They scored on a 37 run with 3:26 left in the half, again on a 13 yard run with 2:39 to go, and finally a 20-yard run with 1:32 remaining after Concrete fumbled the kickoff.  The halftime score was 35-0.

To open the 2nd half, the Bobcats returned the kickoff 60 yards to make it 41-0, the finished scoring with 1:50 left in the game on a 37-yard run on a 4th down play to make the final score 48-0.

Bobcat highlights are HERE.

The final home game of the day was the Junior Jaguars vs Darrington. By the end of the first quarter, the Jags had scored 4 times, running a total of just 6 offensive plays.  Their first series took 4 plays ended with a 27 yard run.  The second series was just 1 play - a 27 yard TD scamper.  The third score was an 11-yard interception return and the final score of the quarter was a 15-yard pass TD.

In the second quarter, the Jaguars scored 1 play after intercepting a halfback pass and returning the INT to the 3 yard line.  At halftime the Jags led 34-0.  It was such a blowout that the coach let the normal center move back to running back and he gained 7 yards on his first carry of the season.

The only long drives of the afternoon for the Jag came in the second half - an 11-play, 70-yard drive ending on a 3-yard run, and a 9-play, 75-yard drive ending in a 4-yard run.

Darrington scored twice in the 2nd half - both on long runs.  The first was a 71-yard scamper down the far sideline, the other a 32-yard run.

It wasn't enough as the Jaguars won 46-14.

Jags highlights

The nightcap was a game in Mt. Vernon where the senior Wildcat team took on the Bulldogs at MVHS.  The first quarter was a bit slow, with the 'Cats on top 8-0, but things sped up from there.  By halftime, the Wildcat led 32-0, including an interception return for a TD.

Too add onto the beating, the 'Cats returned the 2nd half kickoff 81 yards to make it 40-0, which was the final score.

HERE are Wildcat highlights.

FB 2013-09-06 Varsity at Snohomish

The Wildcats opened the 2013 football season with an impressive win over Snohomish on the road.

It didn't take long for the young Wildcat team to get on the board.  Their first drive went 71 yards in 9 plays and ended with Clay Doughty tossing a 15-yard pass to Troy Sturdevant after a bit of scrambling.  With 7:32 left in the first it was OH 7, Snohomish 0.

The Panthers looked to tie the game right away.  They returned the OH kickoff down to the Wildcat 6 yard line, but a stiff defense held the Panthers on all 4 attempts, forcing the turnover on downs.

Starting at their own 5 yard line, the Wildcats drove deep into Panther territory before the drive faltered, but Mark Johnston came out on the field to boot a 25-yard field goal with 9:00 left in the half to boost the OH lead to 10-0.

After the defense held the Panthers to another 4-play turnover on downs, the offense drove 52 yards, ending with a Dejon Devroe 4-yard run to make it 17-0 with 4:32 left in the half.

The two teams traded punts, then Snohomish got on the board with a nicely-thrown 49-yard pass touchdown.  The Panthers went for two and converted.  17-8 Wildcats with 1:45 to go in the half.

The 'Cats roared back, scoring on a 22-yard pass from Doughty to Dyllan Harris with 14 second left and Oak Harbor took a 24-8 lead into the locker room.

Snohomish scored on their first possession of the 2nd half, scoring on a 43-yard pass play, but failing to convert the PAT.  7:14 in the 3rd, 24-14 for OH.

Showing that while the Oak Harbor skills players lacked varsity experience, they certainly had depth, with yet another player scoring, this time Julian Faralan on a 5-yard run with 1:55 left in the 3rd.

Just under 3 minutes later, Devroe broke loose and sprinted 91 yards down the OH sideline to put the game away.  OH now led 38-14 with 11:09 left in the game.

Snohomish scored once more late in the game, completing a 13-yard pass with 1:40 left.

In the end, it was a big Oak Harbor victory, 38-20.

Monday night the JV squad takes on the Panthers at home while Thursday the Freshman squad goes to Snohomish for an early 4pm game.

Next Friday the varsity team hosts Arlington in the 'Cats home opener.

Photos are posted HERE

Photos are also posted at WescoAthletics.com

Video highlights are HERE