BROOKSIDE – In an early deficit served as a wake-up for the Oak Glen football team in an early Saturday afternoon game against Bridgeport.

The Bulldogs kicked a field goal following a turnover, however, the Golden Bears controlled the rest of the game as Oak Glen rolled to a 56-3 victory via mercy rule on Perkins Field inside Bill Jobko Stadium.

“We got off to a slow start, but that’s on me as the head coach,” first-year Oak Glen (6-1) head coach TJ Miller said. “I made some adjustments. We had to face some adversity, and our kids handled it very well. We played a great game in all three phases – offense, defense and special teams. It was a great win.”

Bridgeport was forced to punt on the opening drive of the game, but the Bulldogs were able to get back following an Oak Glen fumble on its side of the field. The Bulldogs drove the ball into the red zone, but the hosts drive stalled and Bridgeport had to settle for a field goal to take a 3-0.

The Golden Bears responded with a score on their next drive as drove 50 yards to take the lead. Logan Murray capped the drive with a 9-yard run, and after a Bridgeport (3-5) penalty, Oak Glen opted to go for 2, and Jacob Everett ran for the conversion to give the visitors an 8-3 lead with 4:02 left in the first.

The Golden Bears got the ball back when Cam Carter intercepted a Jaki Threet pass and returned for 17 yards. A pass interference penalty moved the ball down to the Bridgeport 18, and Murray capped the march with a 1-yard score, and Chase Hartung kicked the extra point to give the boys from Hancock County a 15-3 lead with 1:25 remaining in the quarter.

The Oak Glen defense forced another Bridgeport punt, and the Golden Bears struck for their third time on the afternoon as quarterback Maddox Bowen hooked up with Murray for a 72-yard touchdown, and Hartung split the uprights on the extra point to give the visitors a 22-3 advantage with 10:57 left to play in the second.

The victors tacked on another score on an 80-yard punt return by Carter, and Hartung kicked his third extra point of the game as Oak Glen increased its advantage to 29-3 with 6:37 remaining to be played in the first half.

“Logan Murray and Jacob Everett did a good job running the football,” Miller said. “Maddox has a good game as well. We had the nice return by Cam Carter. It was a great team win. Our offensive line did a great job. We were able to run the ball. I am super proud of the guys. It was a great team win.”

The Golden Bears forced another Bulldogs punt, and Oak Glen took over in good field possession following the short kick. As they had on their previous four possessions, the locals punched the ball in for their fifth score of the half on a 7-yard run by Bode Konchar, and Hartung’s PAT gave Oak Glen a 36-3 lead with 3:10 remaining before halftime.

Another big play by the Oak Glen defense gave the ball back to its offense, and Everett rumbled through the Bridgeport defense for a 52-yard run, and Hartung’s extra point gave the boys in the white jerseys a 42-3 lead.

Threet hooked up with Braylon Lewis on a 35-yard pass down to the Oak Glen 16 to put the Bulldogs in scoring position, however, James Rohbeck intercepted a Threet pass in the end zone to bring the drive to a screeching halt.

Oak Glen took a knee to run out the clock bringing the first half to an end.

“It was a great team win,” Miller said. “We got big contributions from a lot of guys. Bode Konchar got in there, and he scored a touchdown. He’s another guy to add to the list I mentioned early. Christian Chappell had a nice touchdown for us. The girls were very excited about that. I’m just super proud of them.”

The second half was played under a running clock with the quarters being just 8 minutes long instead of the usual 12.

The Golden Bears took the kickoff, and marched right down the field for their seventh touchdown of the game. This time, Seth Witherow scored on a run, and Hartung tacked on the PAT to give the victors a 50-3 lead.

Oak Glen kicked off following the touchdown, however, Bridgeport failed to field the kick, and the Golden Bears recovered the ball at the Bulldogs’ 18 to get the ball back. This time, three runs by Chappell – the last covering 3 yards – resulted in Oak Glen’s ninth touchdown to make it, 56-3. The Golden Bears took a knee on the extra point.

Neither team scored in the fourth quarter as Oak Glen’s Clayton Heizler intercepted an Ashton Smith pass on the last play of the game.

“We played our younger guys in the second half,” Miller said. “They got some playing time. That was awesome to see. They did a good job. There was a lot of excitement out there. It was a well-played game.”

Bridgeport is scheduled to play county rival Shadyside at 7 p.m. Friday night at home.

Oak Glen is slated to play Tyler Consolidated at 7:30 p.m. Friday night on the road.

“I am super proud of the kids and the coaching staff,” Miller said. “They did an excellent job today. We just want to keep going. Our goal every week is to go 1-0. we were able to do that this week. Now, it is on to Tyler. We’re going to get back to work Monday. We’re going be looking to go 1-0 next week.”