— Story by Ethan Collins
NEW CUMBERLAND, W.Va. — In an offensive shootout with both teams combining for over a thousand yards, Oak Glen knocked off Class AAA opponent John Marshall 55-46.
Oak Glen (3-0) dominated the game for three quarters and led the game 48-21 going into the fourth. Turnovers and the injury bug really hurt the Golden Bears in the 12 minutes as the Monarchs scored 19 unanswered points after Oak Glen fumbled on four straight possessions. This brought the game to 48-40 with just under seven minutes left to go in the game.
Oak Glen marched down only taking a minute off the clock ended by an 8-yard touchdown run by Gage Patterson giving the Golden Bears a 55-40 lead. A touchdown scored by John Marshall (2-1) in the final minutes only put them within nine after a failed 2-point-conversion with just under two minutes remaining.
Oak Glen’s head coach Ted Arneault talked about the win saying “I thought we did better in the second half with our penalties. But controlling the ball in the fourth quarter is something we definitely need to do.”
Arneault also gave a lot of credit to John Marshall’s fight saying, “They were the first team to take us into the fourth quarter. They were able to make plays in key situations.”
Oak Glen dominated on the ground game combining for 422 yards rushing and five touchdowns. Leading the way on the rushing attack was Hunter Patterson who had 213 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns. Power back Paxton Shuman had 13 carries for 82 yards and another two touchdowns.
Gage Patterson was the biggest weapon on offense, contributing in rushing and receiving. Patterson got 125 yards and a touchdown rushing, but also caught just 3 passes for 92 yards and another touchdown.
Quarterback Nicholas Chaney made some decent plays in the passing game completing 4-of-7 for 116 yards and two touchdowns.
On the other side in John Marshall passing was the way of moving the ball for the Monarchs. Senior quarterback Derick Derrow got off to a rough first half throwing 3 interceptions. However, in the second half Derrow kicked into a different gear 14-of-23 for 228 yards and five touchdowns, bringing his total on the game to 18-of-34 for 281 yards five touchdowns and three interceptions. Sophomore running back Alex Burton led the way in rushing with 12 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown.