The Oakville Senior High School varsity football team spoiled a homecoming victory for the 2-4 Fox Warriors in dramatic fashion when Oakville’s Cartier Robinson held on to a 12-touchdown yard pass from quarterback Andy Oliver with no time left on the clock for the win.

The 3-3 Tigers were trailing 19-18 with just about 2 minutes left to play when they started their final drive.

Things were looking grim for Tiger fans before and during that final drive until Oakville completed a third-down conversion to keep moving the ball down field. Under pressure from the clock, the Fox defense and a rowdy home crowd, Oliver told the Call that he just kept taking what he could get as he led his team down the field.

“They were giving us short, so we kept taking it, taking it, taking it so we could move down the field and then last play we took our shot. We had to take our chance and it worked out,” Oliver said.

Oakville head coach Arlee Conners said Robinson was due for the big play.

“He dropped a couple of them earlier,” Conners said. “So it was one of those things where it was like, we’re coming your way again guys, we’re looking for you, and he made a big play for us.”

The win was an important one for the Tigers, lifting their record to .500. The victory also was a much-needed one for the confidence and momentum of the squad, according to Oliver.

“It’s huge. We were just coming off a two-game losing streak,” Oliver said. “So this kind of turned us around because it’s the midpoint and we knew this was going to be a big game for us and if we could win it, we could get our season rolling as we go to the playoffs.”

Conners said that Fox was a tough opponent and despite some mistakes by his players he was happy to get the win.

“Fox always plays us real tough,” he said. “It’s always a good game when we play those guys. We had some opportunities out there and we didn’t take advantage of them.

“And to their credit, they took advantage on the things they did, but I think we found away to make a play at the end and that’s what we did. We made one more play and that’s what counted.”

Oakville picking up the win was also a big help as it gives the Tigers some momentum while they are going through a bit of a transition, one that they hope to put behind them before the playoffs arrive.

“It’s the midpoint of the season. We are coming off of two straight losses, So winning was something we really needed for our confidence because we’ve been playing some good football truthfully,” Conners said. “We just got some guys out on out offensive line and we are still trying to get that thing fixed up, but it will get better … I think the big thing is, our kids’ effort hasn’t changed.

“We couldn’t get our running game going like we wanted … We’ve got some guys hurt and hopefully we’ll get those guys back next week. But you have to find away to make it happen, find a way to get in the end zone and we did. You know, we got some new guys in there and we have to limit our playbook with those new guys, but the plays we ran with them we were able to make them work …”

The Tigers will host their biggest and closest rival at 7 p.m. Friday, the Mehville Senior High School Panthers. With Oakville hungry for its second win in a row and Mehlville coming off a three-game winning streak, Friday’s game promises to offer some fierce competition.