OAK HILL (WVDN) – For the third consecutive season, the Oak Hill Red Devils have proved to be a thorn in the Greenbrier East Spartans side.
After a tightly contested contest through much of the first half, the Spartans suffered a 26-13 defeat at John P. Duda Stadium in Oak Hill on Friday, Oct. 7.
Playoff implications were on the line, and now the Spartans will need to figure out how to string together some wins over the next four weeks.
Oak Hill began the game with a 13-play drive, but the East defense forced them into a turnover on downs
East (2-4) drove the field on a long drive of their own fueled by a 42-yard run by CW Sturgell. However, after an incomplete pass brought up fourth down, Noah Dotson missed a 34-yard field goal and the game remained scoreless.
Malachi Lewis began the Red Devils (4-3) next possession with a 16-yard run and later in the drive, Alex Baxter converted a fourth-and-one with a 6-yard run. The Spartans then committed a pass interference penalty that put Oak Hill in the red zone. Four plays later, J.D. Mauritz found the end zone from five yards away, and the Red Devils took a 7-0 lead with 8:21 left in the second quarter.
After a quick three-and-out by East, they got the ball back when Ian Cline recovered a Baxter fumble, then the Spartans finally capitalized.
Gavin Bennett checked in for East at quarterback and started the ensuing series with a 10-yard strike to Lucas McCallister. A couple plays later, he hit McCallister again for 12 more. Those plays opened up the running game as Cline went for 40 yards over his next three carries. The 9-play, 76-yard drive was capped by Bennett’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Monquelle Davis, and East tied the contest at 7-all.
Soon after that sequence, the tide turned against the Spartans.
Oak-Hill’s Ethan Vargo-Thomas shanked a 12-yard punt and gave East the ball at the Red Devils 20-yard line with just over a minute to play in the half. But Bennett faced intense pressure and tried to get rid of the ball, and JJ Jackson picked it off and returned it near midfield. Vargo-Thomas then hauled in a 19-yard pass and the Spartans were called for roughing the passer. On the next play, Vargo-Thomas took a pitch and threw to Jackson for a 19-yard score and gave Oak Hill all the momentum and a 13-7 halftime lead on top of it.
That momentum carried over into the second half as well as the Spartans never seemed to recover from the opportunity they let pass them by.
A quick three-and-out by East set Oak Hill up nicely early in the third as Vargo-Thomas scampered to pay dirt for a 9-yard score and a 19-7 Red Devils lead with 6:59 left in the quarter.
An Elijah Gray interception set up a 10-yard rushing touchdown for Mauritz just before the end of the third and Oak Hill went up 26-7.
The Spartans got their final score of the night late in the game when Bennett found Cline on an 8-yard pass.
Oak Hill rushed the ball 61 times for 292 yards.
Vargo-Thomas, a major headache to the Spartans over the last few years, ran for 88 yards and a score. He also threw for 37 yards and a touchdown as well.
M. Lewis ran for 61 yards. Mauritz ran for 59 and two TDs.
For the Spartans, Bennett was named McDonald’s player of the game after throwing for 77 yards and two touchdowns. Cline ran for 99 yards and Sturgell had 46 on just two carries.
East totaled 218 yards in the game.
The Spartans return home for a homecoming matchup with the Ripley Vikings this Friday, Oct.14. For comparison, the Vikings lost to Oak Hill 54-14 a few weeks ago.
Stats courtesy of 103.1, WRON.
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