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Family, trust, love for the game

Late push lifts Oak Glen past Poca to advance in playoffs

GOING UP — Oak Glen’s Zach Taylor goes up for the ball along with Poca’s Caleb Murphy during a Class AA quarterfinal matchup on Saturday. -Andrew Grimm

POCA — It’s family, it’s trust, it’s love. Those are the words that an emotional Ted Arneault said has made the difference for Oak Glen late in games this season when it has had to dig deep.

The Golden Bears found themselves in such a situation Saturday afternoon at Poca High School in a Class AA quarterfinal battle of the unbeatens, entering the fourth quarter trailing by a point.

Hunter Patterson’s halfback pass to Zach Taylor, who hauled the pass in off a tip on third-and-goal with 11:51 to go in the game, proved to be the difference, as No. 6 seed Oak Glen pulled the upset of the third-seeded Dots, 25-20, inside a muddy O.O. White Stadium.

“To accomplish this on this field, two years ago we were getting beat up pretty good. So, for them to come down here and do this is special,” Arneault said. “It’s such a great group of kids. We love being together, and we’re excited to together another week. That is what it’s all about.

“It means everything. I’m so proud of these guys. I’m so proud of where they’ve came from and where they are now. It’s just such a great group of kids. I love them.”

The Patterson touchdown toss was set up by a Poca fumble, as the ball got away from star running back Ethan Payne deep in his own end. After the record-setter, who entered the game with over 2,600 yards and 51 total touchdowns, racked up 115 yards and a score in the first half, the Golden Bears’ defense limited him to just 24 yards on 10 carries in the second half.

“The main thing is we didn’t want him to come free,” Arneault said. “They had a counter play they were hurting us on. We wanted to make sure we were keeping that in check, and we were getting a hat on him every play. Poca is a great football team, and Ethan Payne is an outstanding athlete.

“To slow them down, let alone stop them, is a difficult task. I’m so proud of our defense for stepping up and getting it done.”

Poca got the ball at its own 45 following a short kick after the Oak Glen score, but the Golden Bears forced a three-and-out, and the Dots punted. Oak Glen got the ball at its own 13 with 9:32 to go.

The offense, thanks to a heavy dose of Paxton Shuman, made sure the defense didn’t see the field again, marching 18 plays deep into the Poca end of the field.

After Shuman converted a fourth-and-1, Poca head coach Seth Ramsey used his three timeouts, bringing up a third-and-9. Hunter Patterson converted on a direct-snap run, and with no way for Poca to stop the clock, the Golden Bears had to snap the ball just one more time and wait for the clock to hit zeros.

“We thought the rain might have hurt us, but maybe it helped us at the end to sustain that last drive,” Arneault said. “I’m just so proud of the kids for taking care of the ball, believing in what they had to do step-by-step that entire last drive to put the game away at the end.”

Shuman finished with 55 yards on 24 carries, a good chunk of which came on the final drive to keep the chains moving. Patterson rushed for 94 yards on 17 carries on top of completing a pair of passes for 30 yards.

“Paxton was huge,” Arneault said. “Paxton, our offensive line, our receivers that blocked were all huge. All 11 kids had their hat on a guy and were blocking their hearts out.”

After a mostly dry first half, a downpour started during the break and continued throughout the second half. Despite the Golden Bears playing most of its games on turf this season, Arneault felt they were prepared for the mud — and it showed with the second-half performance.

“We played East Liverpool in the mud and had another tight game against another great football team,” he said. “We knew we could play in the grass, and we practiced in the grass all week. We mudded it up this week and we tried to be mudders, and it paid off. Our kids played like the team that was the mud team.”

After Poca broke the scoreboard with a 14-yard Jay Cook to Toby Payne connection on the opening drive, Patterson returned the ensuing kick 75 yards to the end zone and evened the score at 6-6 (both teams extra points failed).

Ethan Payne put Poca on top with a 1-yard plunge to cap a seven-play drive early in the second quarter, making it 13-6 Dots.

With 3:52 to go in the half, Gage Patterson caught a pass from Nick Chaney in stride on a crossing pattern and went 21 yards to score, Matt Wright’s kick tying the game at 13-13. That would be the score at the half.

On the first possession of the second half, Oak Glen needed just three plays to take its first lead. Chaney, who finished 8 of 16 for 164 yards, two scores and two picks, hit Hunter Patterson for a 75-yard score to make it 19-13. The snap got lost in the mud on the kick try.

Poca answered with a tip-drill completion, as Toby Payne raced 60 yards to score after it appeared Oak Glen might have a chance at an interception. The ball instead went off the Golden Bears defender and into the arms of the waiting receiver for a score. Joseph Starcher’s kick made it 20-19 Dots.

“They are well coached, and they have a lot dudes over there that can play well,” Ramsey said. “It was a great football game.”

That would be it for the Poca offense, though, as it punted, fumbled and punted on its last three possessions. Then, Oak Glen’s run game took over.

“I think Oak Glen’s run game is better than what everyone thinks it is,” Ramsey said. “They did a really good job of getting off the ball, hitting the quick hitter and the inside traps. They could move the ball and we just couldn’t. We had some uncharacteristic mistakes and turnovers.”

The Golden Bears held Poca to just 84 yards of offense in the second half.

“I told everyone I talked to that (Oak Glen) flies to the football, and they do a great job up front,” Ramsey said. “Their front three do a great job of power-cleaning the offensive lineman and letting the backers run free. We knew they were going to be a good defense. We knew our chances were going to be limited.

“They made more plays than we did. They are moving on, and we are going home. I’m proud of our guys and super proud of the effort. They fought all the way to the end and didn’t give up.”

Oak Glen will face No. 2 seed Bridgeport, who defeated Mingo Central 28-8 in its playoff game on Saturday, in the Class AA semifinals. The date and time of that game will be announced today.

(Grimm can be reached at agrimm@heraldstaronline.com)

Oak Glen 25, Poca 20

Oak Glen 6-7-6-6 — 25

Poca 6-7-7-0 — 20

P: T. Payne 14 pass from Cook (run failed) 8:51

O: H. Patterson 75 kick return (kick failed0 8:37

P: E. Payne 1 run (Starcher kick) 10:24

O: G. Patterson 21 pass from Chaney (Wright kick) 3:52

O: H. Patterson 75 pass from Chaney (pass failed) 11:00

P: T. Payne 60 pass from Cook (Starcher kick) 8:41

O: Taylor 10 pass from H. Patterson (pass failed) 11:51

RUSHING: Oak Glen 43-149 (Shuman 25-55, H. Patterson 17-94, Chaney 2-0); Poca 37-147-TD (E. Payne 29-139-TD, Cook 4-7, Easter 2-7, Watson 1-(-3), May 1-(-3).

PASSING: Oak Glen 10-18-194-3TD-2INT (Chaney 8-16-164-2TD-2INT, H. Patterson 2-2-30-TD); Poca 11-18-194-2TD-INT (all by Cook).

RECEIVING: Oak Glen 10-194-3TD (H. Patterson 4-103-TD, G. Patterson 3-41-TD, Taylor 3-43-TD); Poca 11-194-2TD (T. Payne 5-106-2TD, E. Payne 2-34, Miller 2-19, Stone 1-23, Easter 1-12).

FIRST DOWNS: Oak Glen 16; Poca 14.

PENALTIES-YARDS: Oak Glen 10-65; Poca 2-30.

FUMBLES-LOST: Oak Glen 2-0; Poca 3-2.

PUNTS: Oak Glen 2-31.5; Poca 3-40.3.

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