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OAKLAND — Some players collapsed in exhaustion. Others collapsed in despair. And those from the Oakland High football team who had any semblance of energy remaining used it to celebrate the Oakers’ finish in one of the wildest high school football games in recent memory.
And when the initial celebration was all over for the Oakers, they still found enough energy to hoist first-year coach Dallas Amer on their shoulders to celebrate their first league title since 1997.
Dakota Mathis’ 10-yard touchdown reception from Nate Adams sparked that wild celebration for the second-ranked Oakers, who capped an unbeaten regular season with a 54-48 quadruple-overtime victory over No. 5 Oakridge in front of a standing-room only crowd at Eddy Field.
“I’m definitely ready to pass out,” said an ecstatic wide receiver/cornerback Andrew Young, who picked off three Jake Boyd passes and blocked a potential game-winning extra point in the first overtime. “My legs are cramping with every step I take.
“That’s traditional Oaker fashion, I guess,” Young continued. “We let them back in it and made it exciting for the fans, I guess. Wow. What a game.”
No kidding.
The game, which gave Oakland the outright Mountain View Conference championship, resembled the first Rocky movie where, blow for blow, neither competitor wanted to go down. But it was Oakland (9-0 overall, 7-0 MVC) which prevailed in the end despite a furious rally attempt by the Warriors (7-2, 6-1), who trailed 26-6 with 6:41 remaining but had tied it all up with just over two minutes remaining.
“These kids just have to do it the hard way,” Amer said, laughing. “What a great opportunity to prepare ourselves for the playoffs and the first opportunity this school has had in the playoffs in 10 years. These kids proved that they’ve got heart.”
Nic Dodson rushed for 116 yards and Adams ran for 131 for the Oakers, who finished with 424 yards of total offense. The effort helped Oakland wrap up the conference’s No. 1 seed in the Class 2A state playoffs and a home game against Pilot Rock (7-2 overall), the No. 3 seed from the Blue Mountain Conference. Game time is tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday.
Oakridge, meanwhile, will be the MVC’s second seed and will host Kennedy (5-4) in the first round of the playoffs. And the Warriors stayed in the game thanks in large part to their quarterback Boyd, who rushed for 114 yards and four touchdowns and was 9-for-20 passing for 149 yards and two scores. Oakland, however, intercepted four of his passes.
“Great football game,” Oakridge coach Tony Hammock said. “They feel horrible right now, but four overtimes? You can’t ask for anything more from them. We’ll just heal up and get after it this week in practice. We’ve got a playoff game to prepare for.”
Oakland seemingly put the game away in regulation, though.
The Oakers converted on consecutive fourth-and-short situations, the last on a 3-yard run by Solomon Sturgill that gave Oakland a first down at its own 45. On the next play, Adams hit Young for a 55-yard touchdown pass that put the Oakers up 26-6 with 6:41 remaining.
But Oakridge wasn’t done.
Boyd nearly duplicated that big play on his own, running for a 54-yard TD off an option play to cut the deficit to 26-12. Sam Hahn recovered the ensuing onside kick, and Boyd hit Hahn for a 21-yard strike to cut Oakridge’s deficit to seven after Boyd’s point-after kick.
Oakland recovered another onside kick by Oakridge, but Zac Chamberlain intercepted a pass from Adams on Oakland’s first play from scrimmage and returned it to the Oakland 7. Aaron Miller rumbled into the endzone on the next play, and the score was tied at 26-26 with 2:15 left.
Both teams traded turnovers on their next two possessions to force overtime. Oakland struck first on a 19-yard jaunt, but failed on the two-point conversion try to go up 32-26.
And when the initial celebration was all over for the Oakers, they still found enough energy to hoist first-year coach Dallas Amer on their shoulders to celebrate their first league title since 1997.
Dakota Mathis’ 10-yard touchdown reception from Nate Adams sparked that wild celebration for the second-ranked Oakers, who capped an unbeaten regular season with a 54-48 quadruple-overtime victory over No. 5 Oakridge in front of a standing-room only crowd at Eddy Field.
“I’m definitely ready to pass out,” said an ecstatic wide receiver/cornerback Andrew Young, who picked off three Jake Boyd passes and blocked a potential game-winning extra point in the first overtime. “My legs are cramping with every step I take.
“That’s traditional Oaker fashion, I guess,” Young continued. “We let them back in it and made it exciting for the fans, I guess. Wow. What a game.”
No kidding.
The game, which gave Oakland the outright Mountain View Conference championship, resembled the first Rocky movie where, blow for blow, neither competitor wanted to go down. But it was Oakland (9-0 overall, 7-0 MVC) which prevailed in the end despite a furious rally attempt by the Warriors (7-2, 6-1), who trailed 26-6 with 6:41 remaining but had tied it all up with just over two minutes remaining.
“These kids just have to do it the hard way,” Amer said, laughing. “What a great opportunity to prepare ourselves for the playoffs and the first opportunity this school has had in the playoffs in 10 years. These kids proved that they’ve got heart.”
Nic Dodson rushed for 116 yards and Adams ran for 131 for the Oakers, who finished with 424 yards of total offense. The effort helped Oakland wrap up the conference’s No. 1 seed in the Class 2A state playoffs and a home game against Pilot Rock (7-2 overall), the No. 3 seed from the Blue Mountain Conference. Game time is tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday.
Oakridge, meanwhile, will be the MVC’s second seed and will host Kennedy (5-4) in the first round of the playoffs. And the Warriors stayed in the game thanks in large part to their quarterback Boyd, who rushed for 114 yards and four touchdowns and was 9-for-20 passing for 149 yards and two scores. Oakland, however, intercepted four of his passes.
“Great football game,” Oakridge coach Tony Hammock said. “They feel horrible right now, but four overtimes? You can’t ask for anything more from them. We’ll just heal up and get after it this week in practice. We’ve got a playoff game to prepare for.”
Oakland seemingly put the game away in regulation, though.
The Oakers converted on consecutive fourth-and-short situations, the last on a 3-yard run by Solomon Sturgill that gave Oakland a first down at its own 45. On the next play, Adams hit Young for a 55-yard touchdown pass that put the Oakers up 26-6 with 6:41 remaining.
But Oakridge wasn’t done.
Boyd nearly duplicated that big play on his own, running for a 54-yard TD off an option play to cut the deficit to 26-12. Sam Hahn recovered the ensuing onside kick, and Boyd hit Hahn for a 21-yard strike to cut Oakridge’s deficit to seven after Boyd’s point-after kick.
Oakland recovered another onside kick by Oakridge, but Zac Chamberlain intercepted a pass from Adams on Oakland’s first play from scrimmage and returned it to the Oakland 7. Aaron Miller rumbled into the endzone on the next play, and the score was tied at 26-26 with 2:15 left.
Both teams traded turnovers on their next two possessions to force overtime. Oakland struck first on a 19-yard jaunt, but failed on the two-point conversion try to go up 32-26.
Boyd and Oakridge answered with the QB’s 5-yard scoring run and nearly won it on the point-after kick by Boyd, but Oakland and Amer called a timeout right before the snap. When play resumed, Young blocked Boyd’s point-after try to force a second overtime.
“We wanted to call a timeout to ice the kicker,” Amer said. “And then when he didn’t call it, we’re like, ‘Oh, we’re not going to get it.’ And then as the kid is kicking the ball, they call the timeout.
“It was the road we wanted to go down,” the coach continued. “We just took the long way to get there.”
Boyd scored on a 2-yard and punched in the two-point conversion on a run to start the second overtime, but Oakland answered on Dodson’s 1-yard run and Adams’ conversion run, when he reached for the endzone line to score.
The ball was moved from the 25 to the 10 to start the third overtime. Oakland scored on a 6-yard run by Adams and a conversion run over the left pylon by Dodson, but Oakridge knotted the score at 48-all on a 2-yard run and conversion run by Boyd.
Oakridge started the fourth OT with the ball and, on the Warriors’ first play from scrimmage, Young hauled in his third interception to give the Oakers a chance to win it.
On the Oakers’ first play from the 10, Adams dropped back and sprinted forward as if he were going to run. Instead, he threw the ball to a wide-open Mathis, who sprinted and dove across the goal line to send the loud and vocal Oakland fans rushing onto the field to celebrate while Oakridge’s players stood and sat on the field in shock.
“I saw a lot of confidence in our guys when I came in the huddle,” Adams said. “It looked like they knew we had the game. It was just a great team effort. I’m still shocked.”
It’ll be the first state playoff game since 1997 for Oakland. The last time the Oakers won in the postseason was in 1964, when their 7-0 victory over Umatilla won the school’s only state football championship.
“When we started the season, it was all about these kids enjoying football at Oakland,” Amer said. “We had no idea that we would be where we are today. We’re tickled to be here and we’re proud to represent the MVC in the seat that we’re in.”
Oakridge 0 6 0 20 6 8 8 0 — 48
Oakland 6 8 6 6 6 8 8 6 — 54
1st: Oakl — Young 4 pass from Adams (pass failed), :56. 2nd: Oakl — Adams 1 run (Adams run), 5:06; Oakr — Evangelista 15 pass from Boyd (kick failed), 3:24. 3rd: Oakl — Adams 46 run (pass failed), 1:45. 4th: Oakl — Young 55 pass from Adams (pass failed), 6:41; Oakr — Boyd 54 run (pass failed), 4:42; Oakr — Hahn 21 pass from Boyd (Boyd kick), 2:35; Oakr — Miller 7 run (Boyd kick), 2:15. OT: Oakl — Dodson 19 run (run failed); Boyd 5 run (kick blocked). 2 OT: Oakr — Boyd 2 run (Boyd run); Oakl — Dodson 1 run (Adams run). 3 OT: Oakl — Adams 6 run (Dodson run); Oakr — Boyd 2 run (Boyd run). 4 OT: Oakl — Mathis 10 pass from Adams (no attempt).
Oakr. Oakl.
First Downs 18 16
Total Net Yards 354 424
Rushes-Yards 44-205 39-274
Passing Yards 149 150
Comp-Att-Int 9-20-4 14-27-4
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 0-0
Punts-Avg. 5-30.2 2-32
Penalties-Yards 7-35 10-71
“We wanted to call a timeout to ice the kicker,” Amer said. “And then when he didn’t call it, we’re like, ‘Oh, we’re not going to get it.’ And then as the kid is kicking the ball, they call the timeout.
“It was the road we wanted to go down,” the coach continued. “We just took the long way to get there.”
Boyd scored on a 2-yard and punched in the two-point conversion on a run to start the second overtime, but Oakland answered on Dodson’s 1-yard run and Adams’ conversion run, when he reached for the endzone line to score.
The ball was moved from the 25 to the 10 to start the third overtime. Oakland scored on a 6-yard run by Adams and a conversion run over the left pylon by Dodson, but Oakridge knotted the score at 48-all on a 2-yard run and conversion run by Boyd.
Oakridge started the fourth OT with the ball and, on the Warriors’ first play from scrimmage, Young hauled in his third interception to give the Oakers a chance to win it.
On the Oakers’ first play from the 10, Adams dropped back and sprinted forward as if he were going to run. Instead, he threw the ball to a wide-open Mathis, who sprinted and dove across the goal line to send the loud and vocal Oakland fans rushing onto the field to celebrate while Oakridge’s players stood and sat on the field in shock.
“I saw a lot of confidence in our guys when I came in the huddle,” Adams said. “It looked like they knew we had the game. It was just a great team effort. I’m still shocked.”
It’ll be the first state playoff game since 1997 for Oakland. The last time the Oakers won in the postseason was in 1964, when their 7-0 victory over Umatilla won the school’s only state football championship.
“When we started the season, it was all about these kids enjoying football at Oakland,” Amer said. “We had no idea that we would be where we are today. We’re tickled to be here and we’re proud to represent the MVC in the seat that we’re in.”
Oakridge 0 6 0 20 6 8 8 0 — 48
Oakland 6 8 6 6 6 8 8 6 — 54
1st: Oakl — Young 4 pass from Adams (pass failed), :56. 2nd: Oakl — Adams 1 run (Adams run), 5:06; Oakr — Evangelista 15 pass from Boyd (kick failed), 3:24. 3rd: Oakl — Adams 46 run (pass failed), 1:45. 4th: Oakl — Young 55 pass from Adams (pass failed), 6:41; Oakr — Boyd 54 run (pass failed), 4:42; Oakr — Hahn 21 pass from Boyd (Boyd kick), 2:35; Oakr — Miller 7 run (Boyd kick), 2:15. OT: Oakl — Dodson 19 run (run failed); Boyd 5 run (kick blocked). 2 OT: Oakr — Boyd 2 run (Boyd run); Oakl — Dodson 1 run (Adams run). 3 OT: Oakl — Adams 6 run (Dodson run); Oakr — Boyd 2 run (Boyd run). 4 OT: Oakl — Mathis 10 pass from Adams (no attempt).
Oakr. Oakl.
First Downs 18 16
Total Net Yards 354 424
Rushes-Yards 44-205 39-274
Passing Yards 149 150
Comp-Att-Int 9-20-4 14-27-4
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 0-0
Punts-Avg. 5-30.2 2-32
Penalties-Yards 7-35 10-71
