Varsity football at Stanwood 10-10-08

Stanwood started out of the gate with a bang, and continued to hammer at the Wildcat run defense, and the Spartans finished on top, 22-10 on homecoming night for Stanwood.

Stanwood received the opening kick, and after a flag on their first play, got started with a 1st& 15 from the Stanwood 27. A long run coupled with a personal foul facemask against the 'Cats moved the ball to the OH 47. 7 plays later, facing a 4th and 6 on the OH 11, Stanwood lined up in a field goal formation, but went for the fake, but the pass fell to the ground, giving the ball to OH with 7:10 to go in the first on the OH 11.

Instead of the normal Wing-T formation Wildcat fans are used to seeing, Oak Harbor came out in a spread formation, with James Jordan taking almost every snap from the shotgun, and no more than 1 running back. The first play was a pass to #24 Josh Higbee for 11 yards. That first series ended with a punt from the Stanwood 48, but instead of run, run, run, the drive, lasting 8 plays before the punt, had 3 passes (2 completed - 1 to Higbee, the other to Rashaad Smith), and 5 runs, 3 by Jordan.

Stanwood took the punt at the 20 and brought it out to the 27, and using the remaining 4:02 of the first quarter, marched 73 yards to the Oak Harbor end zone, scoring on a 37-yard pass reception as time ran out. The kick failed, so the 1st quarter score was 6-0 for Stanwood.

Starting the 2nd quarter, the Wildcats went 3-and-out, punting on a 4th & 10 from the OH 33, Stephen Lewis got off a good kick and got a good bounce, and the Wildcats downed it at the Stanwood 15. Stanwood could only get it out to the 39 before the Wildcat defense forced a punt, but so did the Stanwood "D" after only 6 yards were gained by OH. Derrick Clarit got downfield quickly and tackled the Spartan returner after only 2 yards were gained. Stanwood punted back to Oak Harbor.

Taking over on the OH 37 with 4:16 left in the half, Jordan ran the ball twice, but only got the ball to the OH 39. With a 3rd & 8, Jordan threw the ball to Rashaad Smith who caught it around the Stanwood 42 and ran it down to the 27. A reception by Hunt brought the ball to the Stanwood 12. Jordan was sacked for a 10-yard loss on the next play, and OH could only move back to the Stanwood 17. Facing a 4th & 15 on the 17, Kevin Flavin kicked a 34-yard field goal, putting OH on the board with 45 seconds left in the half. After the kickoff, Stanwood only ran 2 plays before halftime, leaving the score at 6-3 in favor of the Spartans.

Receiving the kick to start the 2nd half, Oak Harbor moved the ball downfield quickly, using exactly one minute to score. The drive only lasted 4 plays. The first was a 12-yard pass reception by Stephen Lewis, followed by a Jordan run after a poor snap. This play was marred by a holding call downfield against the 'Cats, but the play still resulted in a first down in Stanwood territory. Jordan then threw an incompletion to Smith, but then connected with Josh Higbee right at the goal line for the score. Flavin's kick was good, putting OH in the lead 10-6.

Stanwood's next possession ended in a wild play. The Spartan runner, from the Oak Harbor 47, ran down to around the 10. He was slowed by, it looked like, Derrick Clarit, then a so-far unidentified player came up from behind and knocked the ball loose. It popped about 10 feet up in the air, was caught by a Wildcat who retreated near the goal line, and got out to the 5 before HE was hit hard, and the ball popped high in the air again, but was finally recovered by Oak Harbor at their own 5 yard line.

Stanwood's defense turned up the pressure on Jordan, and on a 3rd down play with less than a yard to go, the Spartan defense forced Jordan back, and were able to sack him in the end zone for a safety. Now, with 6:36 in the 3rd, Stanwood had closed the gap to 2, 10-8.

Oak Harbor kicked the ball from the 20 after the safety, and in a time-consuming drive, used 11 consecutive run plays to score from the OH 1 yard line. The kick was good, putting Stanwood in the lead for good, 15-10 with less than a minute left in the 3rd.

Oak Harbor ended the quarter with a nice Higbee reception for a first down, but a series of 3 flags on three plays in a row found Oak Harbor with a 4th down on their own 45, and punted back to Stanwood.

The first Spartan play went backwards 4 yards. Greg Goebel got in a hit on the runner, enough to slow him down and let Chris Neumiller come in to complete the tackle for loss. It was the only high point for OH during the drive, as 6 plays later Stanwood ran the ball in from the OH 40, converted the kick, and led 22-10 with 7:10 left.

Oak Harbor punted after a 3-and-out effort, and Stanwood used 7 running plays to knock 5 minutes off the clock before turning the ball over to OH on downs at the OH 7 with 1:53 remaining. OH got the ball out to the 27, but a long Jordan pass was intercepted at the 45 with 9 seconds left, then Stanwood took a knee as the clock ran out.

Images from the pre-game warmup have been posted HERE.