Oak Hill wears down decimated East

Oct. 04--For the sixth year in a row, the Oak Hill Oaks defeated the East Tartans. However, this one didn't come quite so easy.

The Oaks' (4-2, 1-0 SOC I) 35-6 win over East (3-3, 0-1 SOC I) may have looked lopsided on the scoreboard, but the Tartans gave everything they had and hung around for much of the second half. What's remarkable is that East was able to play with Oak Hill despite missing its two best lineman, Tyler Gerald and Nick Basham. Gerald, an Ohio State commit, was suffering from the flu, while Basham was suffering from staph infection.

"I'm so proud of those guys," East coach Todd Gilliland said. "I can't question their effort. They came out and they played as hard as they could for four quarters."

Oak Hill took control of the game right away in the first quarter, taking the opening kickoff and turning it into a 7-play, 69-yard drive that was capped off by a 15-yard Clayton Christensen pass to Elijah Starr. The Oaks converted on two big third downs during the drive, including a third-and-seven that turned into an 18-yard completion to Chase Burdine.

After forcing the Tartans to go three-and-out, the Oaks found themselves with a fourth-and-one from midfield. Oak Hill coach Nathan Dugan rolled the dice, which proved to be a wise decision. The Oaks would get a first down on a five-yard Matt Gilliland run, and fond the end zone on the very next play on a 40-yard Christensen to Jonathan Harrison bomb. The Oaks found themselves with a 14-0 lead just eight minutes into the game.

"I thought our guys started out really well," Dugan said. "I thought some things were really clicking for us in the passing game in the first half."

But the tide would soon turn in East's favor. After another Tartan three-and-out, the Oaks again found themselves deep in East territory with a chance to score what would have been a back-breaking touchdown. On second-and-four from the Tartan 17, Christensen found Harrison in the flat for a 7-yard gain. But East cornerback Akia Brown ripped the ball out of the hands of Harrison to prevent the Oaks from piling on to their lead.

After the teams traded punts, the Tartans would finally get on the scoreboard. On a second-and-eight near midfield, Brown would take a handoff up the middle, stop on a dime when he couldn't find a hole, retreat, change direction and break multiple tackles en route to a wild 33-yard gain down into the red zone. He would finish the drive off a few plays later with an eight-yard touchdown. He would finish the drive off three plays later with an eight-yard touchdown run.

Suddenly, East was within a touchdown with halftime on the horizon.

"We really had the momentum going," Gilliland said. "Akia made some great plays tonight on the offensive and defensive side of the ball."

But Oak Hill would answer right back. On the Oaks' first play from scrimmage, Christensen would find Harrison for a 63-yard completion down the left sideline. Two plays later, Christensen would toss his third touchdown of the half, this time to Willy Harris. Christensen would finish the night with 11-of-20 for 216 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.

"We answered right back," Dugan said. "I thought that was important for us to have a little bit of momentum coming into halftime."

The Tartans found themselves with a perfect chance to swing the momentum back in their direction late in the third quarter. After Deshaun Martin intercepted Christensen deep in Oak Hill territory, East found themselves with a fourth-and-one from the 16-yard line. Brown took the carry, but wasn't able to shake any Oak defenders and was brought down behind the line of scrimmage.

That play proved to be the backbreaker, as Oak Hill would string together a 10-play, 84-yard drive on the back of running back Matt Gilliland.The fullback would pound the rock seven times on the drive for 42 yards.

"We needed a way to get their defensive line a little more predictable," Dugan said. "We were off-setting Matt Gilliland in the backfield, giving him a little bit easier path to hit the 6-hole or the 7-hole off straight dives. Matt ran the ball hard and carried us down the field."

East's makeshift defensive line was completely gassed.

"They did kind of wear us down a little bit in the second half," Todd Gilliland said. "We were playing against a team with probably double the amount of players we do. They were able to rotate guys in and out a little more and keep guys fresh."

Thomas Kerns would punch in the touchdown to make it 28-6. Cody Swann would return an East fumble 80 yards for an insurance score later in the quarter, but it was already all but over.

"They got frustrated a lot, and were able to overcome it," Dugan said. "That's one of the things you hope to get out of football, is you hope to build some character in kids. Our kids showed a lot of character."

The win puts Oak Hill on the fast track to win its fourth straight SOC I title and fifth in the past six years. As for East, they plan on getting Basham and Gerald back next week when they take on Symmes Valley.

"We hope to have them back next week, they have to get cleared by the doctors," Gilliland said. "If everything goes right, we'll have them back."

Box Score

1 2 3 4 Final

Oak Hill 14 7 0 14 35

East 0 6 0 0 6

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Quarter

OH -- E. Starr 15 yd pass from C. Christensen (PAT no good) (9:00, 6-0)

OH -- J. Harrison 40 yd pass from C. Christensen (C. Christensen to C. Swann, 2 pt. conv.) (4:34, 14-0)

2nd Quarter

E -- A. Brown 8 yd rush (2 pt. conv. no good) (4:28, 14-6)

OH -- W. Harris 15 yd pass from C. Christensen (C. Christensen PAT) (0:52, 21-6)

3rd Quarter

No scoring

4th Quarter

OH -- T. Kerns 5 yd rush (C. Burdine PAT) (8:23, 28-6)

OH -- C. Swann 80 yd fumble return (C. Christensen PAT) (5:36, 35-6)

TEAM STATISTICS

Oak Hill East

First Downs 16 11

Rush Att-Yds 27-122 52-151

Pass Comp-Att-Int 11-20-1 1-5-0

Pass Yards 216 1

Totals Yards 338 152

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 8-1

Turnovers 2 1

Penalties-Yards 6-54 4-52

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing -- Oak Hill: M. Gilliland 14-79, W. Harris 9-23, T. Kerns 9-23, J. Harrison 2-9; East: A. Brown 18-80, M. Stiltner 16-47, R. Barkley 9-31, J.D. Hatcher 2-0, E. Gifford 6-(-1), D. Martin 1-(-6)

Passing -- Oak Hill: C. Christensen 11-20-216; East: E. Gifford 1-4-1, M. Stiltner 0-1-0

Receiving -- Oak Hill: J. Harrison 4-137, C. Burdine 3-33, W. Harris 2-28, E. Starr 1-15, C. Swann 1-3; East: M. Stiltner 1-1

Records

Oak Hill 4-2 (1-0); East 3-3 (0-1).

Reach Alex Hider at 740-353-3101 ext. 1931 or on Twitter @PDTSportsWriter

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