BY TYLER JACKSON
The Register-Herald
OAK HILL — Coming into Friday night, the scenarios for both Oak Hill and University were clear.
For Class AAA No. 13 Oak Hill, win and cement your spot in the playoffs. For No. 20 University, win and give yourself an outside shot of sliding in.
Unfortunately for the host Red Devils, they made need a little help to stay in the playoff picture.
Coming off a 69-15 thumping against Morgantown, the Hawks withstood an opening drive haymaker from Oak Hill, defeating the Red Devils 44-13 Friday night in Oak Hill.
In a game on track to be a shootout early — with both teams scoring two touchdowns each in the first quarter — the Hawks were the ones to find their way on defense.
“I told them in the locker room there’s a lot of highs and lows in football,” University head coach John Kelley said. “Last week was the lowest I’ve ever been, worst defeat I’ve ever suffered, most humiliating defeat we’ve ever suffered and we always worry about kids and if they can recover. That’s why I’m so proud of them. They recovered tonight and played well against a good football team.”
For the Hawks, it appeared Friday’s contest might derail early when the Red Devils took the opening kick and scored in under two minutes when senior running back Te-amo Shelton found paydirt from 37 yards out. But a steady dose of running back Eliki Barner resulted in a 5-yard score on the following drive, with University going up 8-6.
The next five minutes were uneventful, but afterward the Hawks turned defense into offense.
A 12-yard interception return to the Oak Hill 18 by Colin McBee set the Hawks up in the red zone with just over three minutes left in the first quarter. Filling in at quarterback due to injury, sophomore Jaeden Hammack made the Red Devils pay for the turnover, running in from seven yards out to extend the Hawks’ lead.
Oak Hill answered just 18 seconds later when Leonard Farrow sprinted 58 yards down the left sideline to cut the deficit, making it a 15-13 game. But the Red Devils’ offense went quiet, struggling to find holes in the University front.
“We had our backs against the wall,” Kelley said. “We had our starting quarterback out, two defensive linemen out and a running back playing with a separated shoulder. We gave a very small package for Jaeden to take over at quarterback and our running backs and offensive line dominated to keep drives going and eat clock.
“Our defensive line — we were humiliated by Morgantown last week with the wing-T. We spent a lot of time this week defending the wing-T. We knew how fast (Oak Hill) was and once they break it that’s where they get a lot of their yards, after the line of scrimmage. I thought we did a really good job of stopping them there and not letting them get deep.”
Two touchdowns in the second quarter gave the Hawks a 30-13 lead at the break and two more in the fourth quarter iced the game.
“They just outplayed us,” Oak Hill head coach Dave Moneypenny said. “They played extremely hard. They came down here and they were playing as hard on the last play as they did on the first play. They played with a lot of energy and that really showed.”
Both teams now await both the release of Saturday’s color map which will determine which teams are postseason eligible, as well as the ratings which determine who made the cut from the field of eligible teams.
“This is a strange season,” Moneypenny said. “I just told them to stay ready because you don’t know what’s going to happen.You just try to tell them the truth and let them know what the possibilities are. There aren’t any guarantees, but you just tell them to be ready. It’s just a strange season.”
“This is the only sport in the world where the last time you play is probably the last time you’re ever going to play,” Kelley said. “It’s not like basketball where you can play pickup. I didn’t want my seniors to have their careers end like the way last week happened. I wanted my seniors to have a shot at one more playoff game. I don’t know what’s going to happen.
“Some teams aren’t going to make it and I don’t think that’s right. I’m sticking to what I’ve said before. If all those that qualify can’t get in, I don’t think there should be a playoff. But I’ll do what I’m told and will get ready to play a playoff game if we get that chance.”
Email: tjackson@register-herald.com and follow on Twitter @TjackRH
UHS 15 15 0 14 — 44
OAK HILL 13 0 0 0 — 13
Scoring plays
OH: Shelton 37 rush (Kick fails), 10:21
U: Barner 6 rush (Barner rush succeeds), 8:53
U: Hammack 7 rush (Coleman kick), 2:42
OH: Farrow 58 rush (Vargo-Thomas kick), 2:26
U: Hammack 8 rush (Barner rush succeeds), 11:09
U: Cunningham 13 rush (Coleman kick), 6:38
Fourth quarter
U: Brooks 10-yard pass from Hammack (Coleman kick), 11:29
U: Cunningham 10 rush (Coleman kick), 2:31
Individual statistics
Rushing — U: Hammack 16-88, Barner 17-103, Cunningham 7-35, McBee 5-43; OH: Shelton 7-65, Lewis 6-13, Selvey 4-6, Farrow 6-95, Pagan 1-5, Vargo-Thomas 4-8, Hall 8-(minus-7), Colaiseno 2-(minus-11).
Passing — U: Hammack 9-20-93-1-1; OH: Hall 1-3-6-0-1, Colaiseno 0-2-0-0-1.
Receiving — U: Jackson 4-47, Brooks 4-37, Barner 1-9; OH: Selvey 1-6.
