FB 2014-09-12 Varsity at Ferndale

Senior Center Carl Meders (62) prepares to snap the ball to QB Clay Doughty (7) in the first quarter of last Friday's 42-23 win at Ferndale.

 
By David Svien

The Wildcats found their mojo.

Bouncing back from a rough, error-filled loss in week one, the Oak Harbor High School football squad drilled host Ferndale 42-23 Friday, Sept. 12 to even its season record at 1-1.

Playing a near-precision game this time out (no turnovers and just two penalties) the 'Cats used a second-half surge to turn a 16-14 halftime deficit into a romp.

Key to the turnaround was a change in attitude on defense.

After being blitzed for 142 yards on the ground by Ferndale's Marcus Nightingale in the opening half, Oak Harbor stiffened, holding the fullback to just 62 after halftime.

Even that number was deceptive, as 30 of the yards came on a breakaway run long after the game had been decided and the 'Cat first-string defense had retreated to the sideline.

Slowing down the run game, forcing Ferndale to repeatedly punt, Oak Harbor's defense set up things and the 'Cat offense answered the call.

After the first two punts of the night from the host team, the Wildcats drove for touchdowns, tearing up big chunks of yardage in relatively few plays. Oak Harbor went 64 yards on four plays, then piled up a 72-yard, five-play scoring drive to blow things open.

The one-two combo of Princeton Lollar (147 yards on 19 carries) and Dejon Devroe (16-116) powered the offense, while 'Cat quarterback Clay Doughty was 7 of 16 for 121 yards, hitting Dyllan Harris on 42 and 13-yard scoring strikes.

Devroe hit pay dirt on touchdown runs of 23 and 13 yards, Lollar punched in a 2-yard scoring run and Zach Jones busted out a 48-yard run to the end zone.

Oak Harbor rolled up 459 yards of total offense and its lone mistake on the night was a minor one.

The Wildcats gave up two points on a safety when its punter, backed up deep on his end of the field, had to snag a snap that went too high. As he did, his foot brushed the end line for just a moment, long enough for a ref to notice.

The team will have two weeks to work on things like that, as a possible non-conference game against a Canadian school fell through, leaving Oak Harbor with a bye week. The Wildcats face Everett Sept. 26.

Video highlights are posted HERE.

Photos are HERE.

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Boys Tennis 2014-09-11 vs Mt. Vernon

The Oak Harbor boys tennis team opened the varsity season at home last Thursday against 4A Mt. Vernon.  Even though the 'Cats lost 5-2, there were some noteworthy matches.

At first singles, Sophomore Jackson Wezeman lost the first set 5-7, won the second 6-2, and in a marathon 3rd set, pulled out a 10-7 victory.

Kyle Martin was at 4th singles and also had a gut-wrenching match.  He lost the first set 6-7 (6), won the second by the reverse 7-6(6) score, then won 10-3 in the third.

The 3rd doubles team of Jared Hunt and Alexander Smith lost the first 6-2, and the second set ended in a 7-7 tie after 6 tiebreakers.

Mt. Vernon did not field a JV team.

This coming week the varsity squad plays twice on the road, Monday at Glacier Peak and Thursday at Arlington.  They play Getchell at home on the 17th.

The JV squad will play at home on the days the varsity team is away, against the same teams.


Photos are posted HERE.



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FB 2014-09-10 Freshmen vs Monroe

The freshman team did not have a good opening game, falling 36-12 to visiting Monroe.  Oak Harbor didn't play badly, but Monroe was excellent at taking advantage of any small Wildcat mistake to secure the win.

The Freshman squad is on the road this week, playing Thursday at Ferndale. Their next home game is on 9/24 against Stanwood.

Photos are now posted.  Click HERE.

Video highlights are posted HERE.




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Volleyball 2014-09-11 vs Pilchuck

The 2014 OHHS volleyball squads opened their home season last Thursday with a set of matches against Marysville-Pilchuck

Earlier in the week the teams traveled to Ferndale, but only the JV squad was able to come away with a win, going 2-1.  The Freshman team fell 3-0 and the Varsity fell 3-1.

The evening at home started with the JV and Freshman matches.

Over in the dome, the Freshman squad crushed the visitors in the first game 25-15.  The second game was much closer, but OH pulled out a 25-22 in game to to secure a match win.  Having the guaranteed win, in the 3rd match the coach experimented a bit with his lineup and positioning, and the Freshman girls lost game 3 25-27.

The JV squad also won convincingly in game one, 25-15, and like the Freshman squad, game 2 was a close 25-23.  Again like the Freshman team, game 3 featured a number of changes, and MP won the final game 25-14.

In the varsity match, Oak Harbor struggled early against a strong Tomahawk attack, falling 25-14.  They recovered nicely, reeling off 25-22 and 25-21 wins in game 2 and 3 to lead the match 2-1.  Game 4 was another close affair, with MP eking out a 25-22 win to tie the match.  In the 15-point deciding match, the Wildcats just could not find a rhythm and lost the game 15-8 and the match 3-2.

Volleyball played last weekend in the SunDome tournament in Yakima.  In pool play, the girls went 3-3, losing twice to Lynden Christian, splitting with Grandview and beating Davis.

In bracket play, the 'Cats won the first round match against Hanford 26-24, 25-23.  In the semifinal round, they won the first game against Gonzaga Prep 25-13, lost the second 25-18, and the 3rd 13-15.  G. Prep went on to win the bracket by thumping Chiawana 25-9, 25-12.

The next home match for the girls is this Thursday, the 18th, against an 0-1 Lynnwood squad.

Freshman team action photos are posted HERE

JV photos are HERE

Click HERE for varsity pictures.


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Youth football 2014-09-06

All six OHFCL teams played on the island this past weekend, with four teams at home and two playing at South Whidbey HS.

On the road, the PeeWee team and Midget Purple smashed their Falcon opponents by a combined 93-12.  The PeeWees won 52-6 and Midget Purple 41-6.  Both teams are undefeated on the season.

At home, 3 of 4 teams won their games, and the sole team that didn't win lost by a mere 2 points.

Starting the day at 0900, the Midget Gold team took on Burlington.  The visitors got on the board first at the 5:03 mark in the first quarter, then increased the lead to 12-0 after a 47-yard TD run to start the 2nd quarter.  Oak Harbor got a score with 28 seconds left in the half.  Facing a 4th and 9 situation, the pass was completed and score made from 20 yards out.  The PAT kick was good, making the score 12-8 at halftime..  Burlington scored once more on a 1-yard plunge with 8:46 left in the game, but another key pass completion, this one from 34 yards out and a PAT kick closed the gap to 18-16.  Unfortunately, Burlington was able to run the clock out leaving the final score 18-16.  The Midget Gold team is now 0-2.

Video highlights from the game are posted HERE.

Just a few photos taken from the lift are HERE.

At 11am it was the senior team in a shootout against Lakewood. Oak Harbor scored first on an 87-yard run with 30 seconds left in the first quarter, then Lakewood tied the game with a 20-yard TD run.  A 46 yard run put OH up again, but Lakewood came back to tie 14-14 with 5:16 left in the half.  The ensuing kickoff was returned 75 yards to put OH up 22-14 at halftime. 

In the 2nd half, it appeared that the Seniors were taking control of the game, going up 30-14 on a 17-yard QB run, but with just 1:45 left in the 3rd, Lakewood scored from 3 out to make the score 30-22.

A muffed punt return by Lakewood gave Oak Harbor a chance to seal the game, and they went ahead 36-22 on a 27-yard pass play, but Lakewood was not going to give up. Back-to-back touchdowns by the Cougars tied the game at 36 with 1:13 left in the game.  A late scoring opportunity by Lakewood was thwarted by an OH interception at the Wildcat 30 with just 5 seconds left in the game.

In overtime, Oak Harbor went first.  The first 3 plays moved the team to the 5-yard line, then a fourth down pass play was good, along with the PAT kick, putting OH up 44-36. 

Lakewood scored on a 1-yard run, but the snap for the tying PAT kick was fumbled by the holder and the Wildcats left the field with a 44-42 victory. 

Senior team video highlights are HERE.

Photos are HERE.


The 3rd game of the day, which started over 30 minutes late due to the high scoring OT senior game, was between the Junior Purple team and Arlington.

OH scored first on a 5-yard pass play, then went up 12-0 late in the first quarter on a 25-yard run set up by an interception.  Arlington got on the board early in the 2nd quarter, making the score 12-6.

A pass play of 20 yards and a 2-yard run in the 2nd quarter put the Purple team up 26-6.

An apparent INT return for a touchdown midway through the 3rd quarter was nullified by a a flag, and the 'Cats wound up punting.  The score remained 26-6 until the last play of the game, when the receiver on a short pass play busted through the defense and raced 46 yards to pay dirt, making the final score 32-6 for Oak Harbor.

Click HERE for Purple Junior video clips

HERE are the photos.

The final game of the day, scheduled to start at 3pm, didn't start until nearly 5pm.  The game was the Junior Gold team vs Stanwood Red, and it was all Oak Harbor.  Scoring on pass plays of 38 and 6 yards put OH up 13-0, but a 68-yard kickoff returned with just 55 seconds left in the half closed the score to 13-6.  In the 3rd quarter, Oak Harbor scored on a 65-yard run, and 46-yard INT return and a 2-yard pass to go up 31-6.  Runs of 54 yards by both Stanwood and Oak Harbor made the score 37-13 at the end of the 3rd quarter. 

After OH scored on the final play of the 3rd quarter, it looked like Stanwood got a score on an 84-yard kickoff return, but a block in the back penalty brought the ball all the way back to the Stanwood 5-yard line, where a short pass was intercepted at the 3 and returned for a score by OH to make it 44-13.  Stanwood got back in the game, busting out a 78-yard run, but the Wildcats responded with a nice drive, capped by a 6-yard run up the middle.  Stanwood scored late, but the final score was Oak Harbor 50, Stanwood Red 25.

Junior Gold video highlights are HERE.

Photos are HERE.

The North Cascade Youth Football League standings will shake out a bit next week, with the undefeated PeeWee team at undefeated Burlington, getting a taste of the cornfield, and the 2-0 Junior Gold team also plays on the cornfield next weekend, facing Burlington White.  The Purple Juniors also face an undefeated team, traveling to 2-0 Stanwood White.

The 2-0 Purple Midgets travel to Concrete, where the Lions have not won a game nor even scored a point.  The 0-2 Gold Midgets are at 1-1 Stanwood White.

Traveling to 1-1 Arlington for a 5pm game are the 2-0 Seniors.


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