HAMLIN, W.Va. — Entering Saturday’s matchup at Lincoln County, Class AA No. 7 Oak Glen had made a habit of winning in lopsided fashion this season.
The Golden Bears made the near five-hour trip south with a perfect 8-0 record, which included six wins by 20 or more points.
Oak Glen continued the trend with a dominant effort against the winless Panthers, scoring 40 points in the second quarter to notch a 59-8 victory that puts the Golden Bears one win away from an unbeaten regular season.
“It took a lot of faith and hard work to get to where we are by the kids especially,” Oak Glen head coach Ted Arneault said. “And also a lot of trust. The trust has been the biggest thing and it’s all come together this year. We’re starting to meet our potential that we always knew we had.”
Nick Chaney found Hunter Patterson for his first of four touchdown passes as the duo connected for a 46-yard play through the air to open the scoring at the 5:05 mark of the first quarter.
Once the Golden Bears (9-0) went in front, they never looked back. Chaney connected with Zach Taylor for an 8-yard TD pass on the second play of the second quarter to up the lead to 13-0.
“We were able to take care of the football and execute our pass plays when the opportunities arose,” Arneault said. “In our two-back sets, they were giving us a lot of space to do a little bit of play-action, so we were hitting those as well.”
Patterson reached the end zone on a 20-yard run 7:46 before halftime to stretch the lead to 19-0, before Brayden Mineard came up with his first of three interceptions in the opening half.
The turnover allowed the Golden Bears to start at the Panthers’ 26, and Chaney found Taylor to cover that distance on the first play of the series.
“Our game plan is to not take anybody lightly and go 1-0 each week,” Taylor said. “If we keep doing the little things, the big things will take care of themselves.”
Leading 25-0 just past the midway point of the second quarter, Mineard intercepted Nolan Shimp again, allowing the Golden Bears to take over at their 43 with 4:56 left in the opening half.
Oak Glen needed only four plays and 1:17 to score again, with Paxton Shuman plunging his way across the goal line on a 17-yard run. Shuman also ran in the 2-point try to up the Golden Bears’ lead to 33-0 at the 3:39 mark of the second.
Chaney tossed an 18-yard TD pass to Patterson with 49 seconds left in the half, and Mineard returned his third pick 53 yards for a score just 30 seconds before halftime to make it 47-0 at the break.
“The defense has played great. They got turnovers and had the pick six,” Arneault said. “Every week, they take care of business and give our offense a chance to shine.”
The Golden Bears’ Preston Brown opened the second-half scoring with a 4-yard TD run and Oak Glen’s last touchdown came on Kholton Goodlin’s 17-yard run with 5:48 to play in the third quarter.
Isaiah Smith’s 4-yard run with 1:20 left in the third quarter allowed Lincoln County (0-9) to get on the board.
Oak Glen looks to secure its unbeaten regular season Friday at Grafton before playing in the postseason for the first time since 2011.