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St. Marys comes up empty vs. Oak Glen, 24-0

By Jay W. Bennett 5 min read

ST. MARYS -- Jacob Everett's 72-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter here Friday night at Bill Hanlin Stadium put the icing on the cake as Oak Glen first-year head coach Derrick Stickles' squad left town with a 24-0 victory.

Veteran St. Marys boss Jodi Mote was worried about the big play ability of the Golden Bears, but the Blue Devils defense held strong most of the evening and only trailed 10-0 at halftime.

Oak Glen quarterback Maddox Bowen, who hit 12 of 26 passes for 168 yards, was picked off by Jeremiah DeMoss on the opening possession of the game.

Although the Blue Devils, who dropped to 1-4 and welcome in Gilmer County next Friday for homecoming, used a 19-yard completion from DeMoss to Elijah Kimball to get a first down, the hosts were forced to punt and Greg Jemison's boot was partially blocked by Ben Chaney, which resulted in a net of 2 yards.

The visitors took the lead for good just four plays later. Bowen hooked up with Chase Hartung for completions of 10 and 11 yards before Hartung caught a quick hitter, made a spin move at the 25 and then darted into the end zone for a 33-yard score. Hartung booted the extra point for a 7-0 advantage with 20 ticks left on the clock.

"It feels very good," admitted Stickles, whose program held a 305-149 edge in total yards with Hartung (5-68) and Cameron Carter (5-70) leading the receiving corps. "The kids did well and prepared well throughout the week. I was pretty pleased with how they came out and practiced.

"I mean give credit to where credit is due. He (Mote) did a great job taking away the things we wanted to do offensively and I was really searching for the plays I thought would work, and I think our kids did a good job of making plays. I didn't do a great job of calling plays tonight."

The Blue Devils tried to respond after the six-pointer, but had to start at their own 20. DeMoss hit Isaac Kimball for a gain of 10 yards and then found Elijah Kimball open for a 14-yard gain as SMHS moved across midfield.

Coach Mote's team then used a 3-yard run by Ethan Pierce and a 7-yard tote by Elijah Kimball to pick up yet another first down. However, the drive stalled at the Oak Glen 32 when a fourth-and-4 pass attempt from DeMoss to Isaac Kimball in the end zone was just out of reach.

Despite forcing a punt, the Blue Devils fumbled the ball on the next series with Jaxon Deremer recovering.

Oak Glen opted to go for it on fourth down needing 2 yards at the SMHS 48, but Josh Maher was stopped for no gain by Lennie Hartshorn.

Disaster struck for the Blue Devils after going three-and-out when Jemison's punt was blocked by Cole McGillian, which allowed the visitors to take possession at the 28.

Although Bowen hit Hartung on the first play for a touchdown, it was called back for a hold.

Oak Glen made it a two-possession affair when Hartung converted a 35-yard field goal with 15 ticks left in the half.

Neither team could move the ball in the third quarter as both the Golden Bears and Blue Devils punted thrice apiece.

The Golden Bears' final series in the third went into the fourth, but they had to punt yet once again. After St. Marys was held to another three-and-out, a 19-yard punt return by Carter got the visitors set up at the SMHS 29. Four plays later Bowen found Ginier open in the end zone for an 18-yard scoring strike. Bowen's two-point conversion pass to Paxton Ware made it 18-0 with 8:15 remaining.

"We've been having a hard time establishing the run. We did it again tonight. It's just blocking up front," added Sickles, who got 90 ground yards on 10 totes from Everett, but the PAT was blocked after his score. "We got a lot of young guys playing right now and they just got to kind of find their groove.

"Once they do that I think we'll be a lot better in the run game. We're back to the drawing board this week. We're going to face East Liverpool coming up, who is a really good football team. They got a lot of athletes and a lot of big physical guys. We know what we're getting ourselves into, so now it's time to prepare for them."

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

At Bill Hanlin Stadium

Oak Glen 24, St. Marys 0

OGHS (3-3) 7 3 0 14 – 24

SMHS (1-4) 0 0 0 0 – 0

OG: Chase Hartung 33 pass from Maddox Bowen (Hartung kick) 0:20, 1st

OG: Hartung 35 field goal 0:15, 2nd

OG: Daniel Ginier 18 pass from Bowen (Paxton Ware pass from Bowen) 8:15, 4th

OG: Jacob Everett 72 run (kick blocked) 1:44, 4th

Team stats

OGHS: First downs: 10; Rushes-yards: 26-137; Passing yards: 168; Total yards: 305; Passing: 12-26-1; Punts-average: 6-24.5; Fumbles-lost: 0-0; Penalties-yards: 6-65

SMHS: First downs: 9; Rushes-yards: 37-106; Passing yards: 43; Total yards: 149; Passing: 4-16-0; Punts-average: 8-21.0; Fumbles-lost: 2-1; Penalties-yards: 3-25

Individual stats

OGHS: Rushing: Maddox Bowen 5-31, Daniel Ginier 4-0, Josh Maher 7-16, Jacob Everett 10-90; Passing: Bowen 12-26-1, 168 yards; Receiving: Ginier 2-30, Cameron Carter 5-70, Chase Hartung 5-68

SMHS: Rushing: Jeremiah DeMoss 8-(-2), Elijah Kimball 13-44, Dru Binegar 7-42, Ethan Pierce 9-22; Passing: Kimball 0-1-0, 0 yards; DeMoss 4-15-0, 43 yards; Receiving: E. Kimball 2-33, Isaac Kimball 2-10

Next games: Oak Glen at East Liverpool on Friday; Gilmer County at St. Marys on Friday for homecoming.

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