The Oakville Tigers faced the Northwest Cedar Hill Lions for the second time this season on Oct. 27, and the result was nearly the same as the first meeting as Oakville defeated the Lions 56-14.
While Oakville defeated the Lions 48-7 on Sept. 29, it’s still never easy to face an opponent twice in a season. Oakville improved to 6-4 on the season with the win.
Oakville head football coach Mike Genge agreed, saying it is never easy to see a team more than once in a season. “I never like to face teams twice,” Genge said. “The first time we didn’t play the best so we knew we needed to take care of things early.”
Senior Ethan Venable had himself a big night on both sides of the ball. Venable finished with over 200 yards of offense for Oakville, rushing for 172 yards on 16 carries and one catch for 56 yards. On defense,Venable had five sacks and nine tackles, as he was all over the field. He had a 14-yard rushing touchdown to open the game, and a 53-yard receiving touchdown.
Genge said that Venable had to deal with some injuries earlier in the season, but he’s now healthy and been a force to be reckoned with over the last few weeks.
“Ethan has been clicking on all cylinders these last few weeks,” Genge said. “He has battled through a few injuries this season but is as healthy as ever currently. Having him healthy is going to be highly import-ant for us as we continue the push deeper into the playoffs.”
Edin Mulalic also had a nice game for Oakville, finishing with 78 yards on 11 carries.
Quarterback Max Bradley had a solid night throwing the ball, going 9 of 10 for 244 yards with a pair of touchdowns.
Because of the lopsided score, a lot of younger players got some time playing for Oakville, which is can be beneficial for the growth of a program.
“Anytime we can get younger guys onto the varsity field it is really important for their growth,” Genge said. “The last two weeks we have been able to keep them engaged and wanting to work hard all week. This past week we were able to try a few kids in new positions that they might be playing next year.”
Oakville finished with 464 total yards in the game, while holding the Lions to just 127.
With the win, Oakville will now travel to Seckman on Nov. 3 – after The Call went to press – once again facing an opponent for the second time this season. The Tigers lost to the undefeated Jaguars 28-7 on Oct. 13.
Despite the loss a few weeks back, Genge said his team will be ready and focused to try to take down the Jaguars.
“We have to take care of the football, avoid the big play and maintain our composure,” Genge said. “Defensively we gave up 14 points last time, but a couple of turnovers turned into defensive touch-downs for Seckman. We also had a costly penalty that continued one of their drives and turned into a TD (touchdown). For us it’s about doing what we know we can do.”