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NEW MANCHESTER -- The Oak Glen football team picked up a big win against Tyler Consolidated, 28-20, last Friday night up at the Bears' Den enabling the Golden Bears to get back to .500 on the season.
"Our kids are resilient," first-year Oak Glen (4-4) head coach Derrick Stickles said. "Our kids have shown a lot of resiliency all year. We had a two-possession lead, and they got momentum on their side. They were able to get some things going, and they were able to tie the score late in the fourth. Our kids didn't get down. They stayed calm. They did not panic. They played each play one at a time. We were fortunate to come out with a victory. Our kids never panicked. They came out and were able to get the job done."
The victory against the Silver Knight came on Homecoming.
"We tell our kids the most important thing is the football game," Stickles said. "There's no Homecoming without football. We tell the kids that, but it is difficult. These are high school kids. They did a good job. We told them what is important is the game Friday night. They took part in all of the different things during the week. They did a great job. They did all of that stuff, but when they came to practice every day it was time to get work. Every win is special, but getting a win on Friday night made Homecoming so much better."
This week, the Golden Bears are looking to continue their winning ways and get back over .500 for the first time since defeating Hancock County rival weir, 35-0, in the season opener. To do so, the Golden Bears will have to beat somewhat of an unknown opponent as Southern Garrett makes the 150-plus mile trek from Oakland, MD, to New Manchester to take on Oak Glen at 7 p.m. Friday night on the road.
"I believe Southern Garrett is their name," Stickles said. "They are a Maryland team. They have a three-hour commute. We have emphasized to the kids about starting out strong and starting fast. It is difficult when you have to travel for three hours. We have the advantage.
"We have been able to break down film. They have played Madonna. They have played a local team. They have played a few teams from West Virginia, and they have scrimmaged a few teams from West Virginia. It is tough having to make that commute.
"They want to run the football. They do a pretty-good job of that. They run the Wing-T. They run a 4-3 defense. Teams run that defense against teams that run the spread. They are athletic.
"They are well coached. I had the opportunity to talk to their coach. I think he has been around for a while. He knows what he is doing."
The Rams (2-5) are facing their second team from Hancock County this season as Southern shut out Madonna, 54-0, in its second game of the season Sept. 11 at home.
"You don't really see a lot of teams run the Wing-T anymore," Stickles said. "When you see teams running the Wing-T, usually their coach has been there for a long time. Running the Wing-T takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of reps. Usually you have older coaches who run the Wing-T. That seems to be the case with them.
"Everyone has fallen in love with the flashy spread."
The visitors enters this week riding a three-game losing streak following last week's 20-6 loss to Tucker County on the road. Southern Garrett's losing skid started with a 21-11 loss at Berkeley Springs before falling the next week to Allegany, 55-17, at home.
"They want to try and run the ball down your throat," Stickles said.
Southern Garrett's other win this season came against Clear Spring (41-6) at home, while its other losses came against Mountain Ridge (58-9) and Fort Hill (75-0). Both of those games were on the road.
"Size-wise, I would say we are pretty similar," Stickles said. "Defensively, we are going to show them some different looks to try and disrupt their blocking scheme.
"Defensively, I have been impressed with our team. We have thrown a lot of things at them, and they have handled it really well. We have challenged our defense, and they have done really well. Since the River and South Harrison games, we have challenged our kids to get the ballcarriers on the ground and to tackle, and they have done a great job with that."
The hosts know what it is going to take to walk off their home field with their second-straight win.
"We have to protect the football," Stickles said.
"We have to eliminate turnovers. Defensively, we are going to have to stay in our gaps, and let our linebackers run free. Special teams is going to be big in a game like this. We have to be effective when it comes to special teams. We want to put them in bad field position. We don't want to do anything o put ourselves in bad field position."