Lindbergh High School edged Oakville 24-21 on the Tigers’ home turf in a thrilling season opener on Aug. 30, giving local high school football fans an exciting start to the year. The win moved the Flyers to 1-0 on the season, while Oakville fell to 0-1.
Flyers head coach Nathan Norman complimented the Tigers on a hard-fought game.
“As we expected, Oakville was very well coached and played extremely hard for four quarters of football,” Norman said. “It’s always nice to open up with a W.”
The teams traded possessions in the first quarter with neither able to get on the scoreboard. However, in the second quarter, Lindbergh broke the scoreless tie. Connor Lanham put the Flyers up with a 1-yard run. Jackson Bailey’s extra-point attempt was good, putting the Flyers up 7-0.
On Lindbergh’s next possession, quarterback Noah Norman got loose for a 62-yard touchdown run, putting the Flyers up two scores, 14-0.
However, Oakville hit pay dirt on its next possession when quarterback Max Bradley connected with receiver Josh Williams for a 79-yard touchdown pass, cutting into Lindbergh’s lead. The Flyers led 14-7 at the half.
In the third quarter, Lindbergh extended its lead to 17-7 on a 37-yard field goal by Bailey.
While the teams combined for 24 points through three quarters, the fourth quarter had plenty of fireworks, as the teams scored 21 points in the final quarter.
Oakville stormed back with two touchdown plays. Bradley connected with Williams two more times, the first on a 41-yard pass and the second on an 80-yard toss. After the second touchdown in the quarter for the duo, the Tigers were up 21-17.
Lindbergh seemed unfazed as the young quarterback, Norman, led his team on a nine-play, 65-yard drive that was capped with a 4-yard run by Norman, putting the Flyers back up, 24-21.
Oakville had one more possession, moving the ball up the field, but with 4 seconds left, Flyers sophomore Carter Holmes picked off Bradley, ending the game and securing the Flyers’ first win of the season.
Lindbergh racked up 330 yards on the ground in the victory. The Flyers featured a rushing attack with six different players getting carries.
“We have two rookie quarterbacks and a veteran offensive line. We felt like establishing the run was our best option for week one,” Norman said. “We need more reps with our quarterbacks and wide receivers. We will improve weekly.”
As for the Tigers, coach Mike Genge said he can’t fault his team’s effort, but they will have to grow up quickly with several tough opponents ahead.
“I feel like we still have some growing to do as a team,” Genge said. “Our effort was tremendous, and our kids fought really hard. We just have to learn how to finish. Looking at our schedule, nothing gets easier for us, I do think we have the players to have a great season and get back on track moving forward.”
A bright spot for the Tigers was the play of Bradley and Williams. The quarterback/receiver duo connected four times for three touchdowns and 226 yards.
“Max and Josh were definitely in tune Friday night,” Genge said. “Both of these young men have worked really hard this off-season and bought into our new passing concepts. Josh has tremendous speed which will give many teams fits. The good thing is we have several other wide receivers that are going to play a vital part of our success this season and will make us hard to defend.”
Genge added that his team learned a lot from the loss to Lindbergh.
“I simply told them that I felt we learned so much more in losing to Lindbergh than we had beating Perryville the previous two years,” he said. “That is not a knock against Perryville, but when you play a district opponent in week one and come up short, you are able to take stock in where you are and where you are going. False confidence sometimes comes back to bite you, and we have seen that some in the previous two years. We know we can play in tough games, and we know what it takes to win those tough games. It is time for us to take that next step to get the job done. That falls on me as the head coach to get us to the next level.”
Up next for the Flyers on Sept. 6 was Rockwood Summit, after The Call went to press. Summit opened their season with a 41-40 overtime loss to Moline. Norman said his defense will have to be on point when facing Summit.
“We will need to make sure we are crystal clear on our alignments and assignments defensively,” he said. “And, as always, run to the ball and tackle well.”
Meanwhile, Oakville was set to face an undefeated Parkway South at home.