NEW MANCHESTER — The mental aspect of the game can be just as important as the physical.

Oak Glen head coach TJ Miller stresses the mental aspect to his team, and a sign of a good team has how it handles adversity. Catholic Central made the first big play of the game, however, the Golden Bears did not get down. In fact, the Golden Bears countered with two touchdowns in the first quarter en route to shutting out the Crusaders, 28-0, Friday night on homecoming up at the Bears Den.

“We have been preaching since the summer to have that mental focus,” Miller — Oak Glen’s first-year head coach — said about being mentally tough and having the ability to handle adversity. “I am proud of the kids for that. We were screaming about the kickoff. We just have to make a play. Our kids responded on defense, and then we were OK. We came back ready to go. We handled that situation very well. I am super proud of how they handled that.”

With the win, the Golden Bears are now 5-1 on the season.

Catholic Central (4-3) kicked off to open the game, and a fortuitous bounce enabled the Crusaders to recover the kick at the Oak Glen 42. A nice run by quarterback Matthew Sprochi was wiped out due to a holding penalty, and the visitors were forced to punt.

Oak Glen’s Cameron Carter returned the punt more than 20 yards to set his team up at its own 33. A 15-yard run by Logan Murray moved the ball to the Catholic Central 44, and a 14-yard reception by Josh Maher moved to the 30. Then, quarterback Maddox Bowen found Chase Hartung open in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown. The Crusaders blocked the extra point to keep the score at 6-0 with 6:11 left to play in the first quarter.

“We had issues moving the ball on offense in the first half,” Catholic Central head coach Eric Meek said. “I thought defensive we did a good job. We were right there on some plays, but we just didn’t make the tackle. They scored right before the half to make it 20-0.

“I thought we played better in the second half. We played harder on defense. Give them credit. They are a good football team. They play hard.

“We played well for two quarters, but we have to do that for all four quarters every week. Give them credit. They are a good football team. They are a veteran team. They are still going to win some games. They are going to have a nice season.”

The Golden Bears forced the Crusaders to punt on their second possession, and the hosts took over at their own 32. Oak Glen marched down to the Catholic Central 42 when Bowen hooked up with Ben Chaney on a 38-yard completion down to the Crusaders’ 4. Murray took care of the rest, as he ran it for a 4-yard score, and Hartung split the uprights on the PAT to give Oak Glen a 13-0 lead with 32 seconds remaining in the quarter.

The Crusaders were forced to punt on their next drive, however, Catholic Central was able to get the ball back following a fumble recovery at the Oak Glen 45.

Facing fourth down, the Crusaders elected to go for it, however, Cameron intercepted the pass at his team’s 15 to kill the drive.

The victors were unable to take advantage of the turnover was they were forced to punt for the first time, and they got the ball back following Catholic Central’s fourth punt of the night.

This time, the Golden Bears drove 65 yards for their third touchdown of the night to make it a three-score game. The drive was aided by two big penalties by the Crusaders.

Maher got things rolling with a reception, and a 15-yard penalty moved the ball down to the Catholic Central 39. After a holding penalty wiped away a long completion, the Golden Bears had the ball at the Crusaders’ 49. A screen pass from Bowen netted 30 yards down to the 19, and another penalty on Catholic Central advanced the ball down the 9 setting Oak Glen up in a 1st-and-goal situation.

Murray capped the march off with a 9-yard run to the outside, and Hartung kicked the extra point to increase Oak Glen’s advantage to 20-0 with 53 seconds left to play before halftime.

“I thought our line did a great job tonight on both sides,” Miller said. “We did a great job in the trenches. The kids were hyped, and they were ready to go. Our line takes a lot of pride in what they do. They did a great job. They got a good push all night. I am super proud of their effort. It was awesome. It was an awesome night. It was great to get a win on Homecoming night.”

Catholic Central took over on its next drive at its own 21, however, Carter came up with his second interception on the last play of the first half to send to the two team’s into their respective locker rooms.

“We had a couple of guys get dinged up, but it was nothing too serious,” Miller said. “We were just being very cautious. The guys who get dinged up our going to be OK. We were cautious, especially late in the game.

“We’re going to take it easy this weekend. We are going to come in and watch a lot of film. We are going to go back to the drawing board. Our goal every week is to go 1-0. I told the boys to celebrate this win tonight, and have a great time with Homecoming and everything, and then we will start to get ready for Bridgeport. We are looking to go 1-0 next week.”

Catholic Central had a golden opportunity to score its first points of the night on the opening drive of the second half. A big reception by Matthew Jones moved the ball down to the Oak Glen 28. An 11-yard run by Daveon Thorn gave the Crusaders a first down at the 17. Catholic Central was in the red zone, however, a running pay on 4th-and-1 resulted in a loss, and Oak Glen took over on downs at its own 9.

“We had some flags that were uncharacteristic,” Miller said. “That put us in some tough spots, but our guys were able to bear down and dig deep. We were in a tough spot, but we made a play. They have some weapons on offense.”

The fourth down stop proved to be a difference maker in the game.

The Golden Bears attempted to drive down the field for another score, however, Sprochi intercepted a pass at the Crusaders’ 37 to bring the drive to a screeching halt.

Catholic Central looked to take advantage of the miscue, however, the Oak Glen defense rose to the occasion once again and forced another punt.

Following the punt, the Golden Bears were backed up at their own 13. The Crusaders were hoping to get a stop and get the ball back in good field position, however, things did not work out that way as Oak Glen marched down the field fourth their fourth touchdown of the night to put the game out of reach.

Catholic Central caught a break early in the drive as Murray broke loose for an 87-yard touchdown run down the sideline, however, the play was called back due to a holding penalty on the home team. The ball was moved back to the 7, but the Golden Bears were undeterred as they methodically moved the ball down the field for a touchdown.

Maher got things rolling with a reception out to the 28, and a 19-yard run by Carter gave Oak Glen another first down out at the 47. Later, a 15-yard run by Murray moved the ball from the Crusaders’ 39 down to the 24. Finally, Bowen hooked up with Carter on an 11-yard touchdown to extended Oak Glen’s advantage to 26-0. A bobbled snap resulted in Bowen having to attempt a pass for the 2-point conversion, and after running around eluding Catholic Central defenders, Bowen lofted a pass to Chaney in the end zone to make the score, 28-0.

The two teams then traded punts before the Golden Bears came up with another fourth down stop to give the ball back to their offense. The boys in the blue jerseys then took a knee and ran out the clock.

“I could not be more proud of these kids and the coaching staff,” Miller said. “They did a great job. We picked up a great win tonight. Tonight was personal for the boys. They really wanted it, and they came out ready to play.”

Oak Glen is scheduled to play Bridgeport at 1 p.m. Saturday on the road.

Catholic Central is slated to play Fairport Harding at 7 p.m. Saturday night on the road.

Oak Glen 28, Catholic Central 0

Catholic Central 0 0 0 0 – 0

Oak Glen 13 7 0 8 – 28

Scoring

First Quarter

OG: Hartung 20 pass from Bowen (kick blocked)

OG: Murray 4 run (Hartung kick)

Second Quarter

OG: Murray 9 run (Hartung kick)

Third Quarter

None

Fourth Quarter

OG: Carter 11 pass from Bowen (Chaney from Bowen)