HS Football: High Scoring Season Opener Leaves Oak Ridge in the Dust

KLEIN, TX -- The Oak Ridge War Eagles (0-1) began their season with a 67-43 road loss to high-flying the Klein Bearkats (1-0) on Thursday.

The season's first play was far from ideal for the War Eagles, as a run up the gut resulted in Oak Ridge fumbling the ball. The calamity at the line resulted in Klein getting possession on Oak Ridge’s 33-yard line.

Fortunately for the War Eagles, their stringent defense did not buckle under the quick pressure and forced the Bearkats to settle for a field goal on their opening drive.

Offensive stagnation hurt the War Eagles on their second drive, as the team was forced to punt into shallow opposing territory. But the Oak Ridge defense threw their team a bone for the second time in the first quarter when Christopher Salem intercepted an errant Klein pass.

With their offense needing some momentum, Drayton Urbay threw a lob down the middle of the field into the waiting arms of Phoenix Aguilar. The drive was then capped off by an 11-yard rushing score for Justin Hayes to put the War Eagles up 7-3.

The lead was short-lived for Oak Ridge due to a Bearkat kick return into the War Eagles’ territory. Two plays later, a 41-yard pass into the corner of the endzone pushed Klien and their quick offense back in front, 10-7.

In an exclusive interview with The Woodlands Online Sports, Oak Ridge Head Coach Mark Schmid gave his thoughts on how Klein’s pace dictated the flow of the game.

“We saw that last week in our scrimmage against College Station,” said Schmid. “We’d seen it before but we didn’t see it for this length of time.”

The gradual grinding of Oak Ridge’s offense would be a key factor in the game’s outcome. Little time to rest or adjust played into Klein’s hand throughout the offense-heavy affair.

Explosive plays continued as the first quarter reached its two-minute mark. Urbay’s dual-threat ability was displayed when he sprinted down the far sideline for a 36-yard gain to put his team inside the red zone. Justin Hayes was called on again to complete the drive by lowering his shoulders and bulldozing into the endzone for his second touchdown.

Sloppy plays brought on by the previously rainy weather would plague both teams before the end of the first quarter.

A fumble from Klein’s following kick-return squad looked to spell disaster for the Bearkats by surrendering excellent field position to the War Eagle defense. But a lobbed throw from Urbay into Klein’s secondary hung in the air too long, ending in an interception and Oak Ridge’s second offensive turnover.

But with the War Eagle defense adjusting to the Bearkats’ pace, the offense was given another chance to flex their running game. Urbay set up another scoring opportunity that was cashed in for Justin Hayes’ third rushing score.

Now down 10, the Bearkats made amends for their sloppy return game by reading gaps in the Oak Ridge coverage unit. Klein’s Edward Kelly found the gaps needed and weaved his way through the War Eagles on his way to an 84-yard kick return to put the game at 20-17 with Oak Ridge still in front.

The Oak Ridge lead lasted just one more offensive drive before Klein would reclaim it on another explosive play. Stellar blocking and blistering speed allowed Jayce Hayes to breach into the secondary where he could not be caught. The Bearkat running back flew past all opposition on his way to a 63-yard score to put Klein back in front, 24-20.

Momentum swung further to Klein’s side due to Oak Ridge’s second interception giving the Bearkats excellent field position.

“We have to clean things up, especially the turnovers,” said Schmid. “When both teams are scoring and you turn the ball over, that’s an opportunity that you couldn’t score, and it puts us behind.”

A burst of speed and some broken tackles saw Kelly extend the Bearkat lead to 31-20 with seven minutes left in the first half.

Turnovers would also harm the Bearkats before the end of the first half. With the ball on their 24-yard line, Klein decided to push their luck by going for a 4th down conversion. The snap slipped through the quarterback’s hands, setting the War Eagles up with a chance for an easy score.

For the fourth time in the first half, Justin Hayes followed his blockers for a rushing touchdown to bring the score to 31-27 with Klein still in the driver’s seat.

“We ran the ball really well early on,” said Schmid. “But it became unsustainable. Justin [Hayes] started cramping, and that’s why our running game started to fall off.”

Seeing their opponents inching closer to reclaiming the lead, the Bearkats mounted another scoring drive to distance themselves. A balanced and slower attack than their previous drives rewarded Klein with a lead-extending rush for Adrian Skipper. The 11-yard jaunt to the endzone left Oak Ridge with less than two minutes to reply with a fresh 38-27 deficit.

Precise passes and smart timeouts allowed the War Eagles to work the ball into the red zone, but the team ran out of time for a touchdown. Markus Estrad was called on for the field goal and brought the score to 38-30, with the Bearkats leading at the half.

The halftime adjustments worked in Oak Ridge’s favor, as shown by a defensive stop on Klein’s first drive of the half. The War Eagles parlayed the success into an offensive strike that brought the team closer to a tie. Execution of sneaky play-action resulted in James Scott breaking free to the endzone for a 54-yard touchdown reception. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful, but a one-possession deficit was back in reach.

But like they did in the first half, the Bearkats regained their distance by riding long-distance plays to success. A missed tackle and some elusive moves led to Jayce Hayes gashing the Oak Ridge defense for a 53-yard rushing touchdown to make the score 45-36 in favor of Klein.

The teams continued to trade blows on offense for the remainder of the third quarter. With another score from Oak Ridge, the Bearkats would respond with ruthless efficiency to push the lead outside of one possession.

Oak Ridge tried to break the tradeoff by switching quarterbacks from Urbay to Travis Coleman and back, but Klein’s unmatchable efficiency meant the team was constantly playing catchup.

The task got taller for the War Eagles to start the fourth quarter. Down 43-25, the third interception of the game for Oak Ridge scuttled an offensive drive that reached inside the Klein 10-yard line.

With their team firing on all cylinders and the lead, the Bearkats began to chew the clock by slowing their time between snaps. A greater focus on running the ball also aided Klein in their progression toward ending the game.

A continued rushing attack throughout the rest of the fourth quarter led to Klein adding some insurance scores that further distanced the team from Oak Ridge on the scoreboard. Rushing touchdowns from Kelly and Jayce Hayes pushed the score to 60-43, with the War Eagles grasping for matching offensive production.

The prayers of a revamped offense went unanswered for the War Eagles. Their tall order of overcoming a three-possession deficit was too much to overcome, and the team fell in a 67-43 defeat.

Coach Schmid and the rest of the War Eagles will now take the time before next week’s matchup with Stratford to apply the lessons learned to ensure a better outing.

“There are a lot of things to clean up,” said Schmid postgame. “It’s in the books and we’re not going to change anything that happened tonight. But, we can change how we move forward in terms of using this as a learning tool and as a motivating factor in next week’s practices.”

Oak Ridge’s next matchup will be another Thursday game, this time against Stratford under the bright lights of Woodforest Bank Stadium.

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