After a 35-13 loss on Sept. 22 to Eureka High School, the Oakville Tigers were focused on “getting back” to the basics.
“This week our focus is getting back to the basics,” Oakville head coach Mike Genge said. We need to focus on doing what we can do.”
The loss dropped Oakville to 3-2 on the season.
The Tigers seemed like they were up for the challenge early on in the contest, as the teams traded punts, but Eureka eventually found the endzone late in the first quarter.
Blake Ashby caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Casey Hobelman to give Eureka the lead. Bryce Clark’s extra-point attempt was good, giving the Wildcats a 7-0 lead with 3:12 to go in the quarter.
Eureka added another touchdown in the final seconds of the quarter, as Hobelman found Allen Brown on a 13-yard touchdown pass. After the extra-point by Clark, Eureka led 14-0.
Oakville answered back in the second quarter, as Max Bradley connected with Josh Williams on a beautiful 46-yard touchdown pass. The extra-point from Anel Jakubovic made it a 14-7 contest, in favor of the Wildcats.
Just when it looked like Oakville was back in the game, the tides turned quickly. A 21-yard run by Trent Codak extended Eureka’s lead.
Down 21-7, Oakville turned the ball over, as Eureka picked off a Bradley pass. The Wildcats didn’t waste any time, as Brown scored on a 7-yard pass from Hobelman. The extra-point made it a 28-7 game, in favor of Eureka.
“We didn’t do ourselves any favors by having that turnover,” Genge said. “Again, as a staff, we have talked about how to handle those situations with our kids and make better decisions. We can’t give good football teams good field position and that has been a topic of discussion from the last two games. That will be a focal point moving forward.”
Eureka added another touchdown in the third quarter to move the score to 35-7. Oakville added a score in the fourth quarter, as Joey Romano hit the endzone on a 2-yard run.
Genge said he takes full blame for the loss on Friday.
“We made some poor coaching decisions Friday versus Eureka that hurt our team field position wise,” he said. “That falls on me as the head coach. We are a young team starting many sophomores and juniors, so we will just continue to build each week and work on small improvements.”
Focusing on those basics seemed to help Oakville the following week when the team defeated the winless Northwest Cedar Hill Lions 48-7.
Oakville was set to face Rockwood Summit Oct. 6, after The Call’s press time.