Oak Grove stuns DCS again with 23-20 victory

The Swamp – These two teams played the game of the year last year as district foes in a game that Oak Grove won in double OT. This one didn’t go into overtime, but Oak Grove scored on a 3-yard run by Quarterback Kameron Holloway with 42 seconds left to secure the 23-20 win over the Delhi Charter Gators in the season-opener for both teams.
As most opening games are in high school, both teams made a lot of mistakes and looked pretty ragged on offense at times, but the game was exciting from start to finish. Oak Grove took the early lead in the first quarter on Holloway’s first score on a 6-yard run. One weapon that could figure big for the Tigers this year is kicker Patrick Hagan who made all three extra points on the night which proved to be key. His first kick made it 7-0. The stingy Tiger defense kept the Gators on the wrong side of midfield most of the first half and led to an errant punt snap that went out of the back of the endzone and gave Oak Grove a 9-0 lead early in the second quarter. The short field after the DCS kickoff, led to the next score as Wyatt Rawls 1-yard run pushed the lead to 16-0 with four minutes left in the half.
“We just couldn’t get anything going on the ground early on and the field position really kept us pinned back most of the half,” Delhi Charter Head Coach Brett Raley said. “We finally got a play in the passing game and that turned the momentum.”
It’s funny sometimes how stats don’t tell the whole story as DCS had only 57 yards of offense in the first half, but scored on a seven-play 69-yard drive to cut the lead to 16-8 at the half. Senior Quarterback Mason Hale started the drive with a 40-yard pass to Desmond Longino and then capped the drive with a beautiful 13-yard corner pass to Longino as the horn sounded ending the quarter. Running back Chester McDaniel added an 18-yard run between the passes to aid the drive. Joshua Poland bulled across the goal line for the conversion run.
DCS deferred after winning the opening coin toss but much like the first drive of the night went nowhere and was forced to punt. Oak Grove’s Otis Moore muffed the punt and Michael Woods jumped on it for Delhi Charter. Hale threw his second TD of the night to Longino on a 5-yard toss in which Longino outjumped the defender. The conversion failed leaving the score 16-14. On the next possession, the Tigers fumbled again and Burt Hale recovered and the Gators appeared to seize control. However, once again the offense stalled and the defenses took over until early in the fourth quarter.
Hale completed his fourth pass of the night to Longino, this one for a 37-yard TD with 9:42 left in the game. Unfortunately, Poland was again stopped short on the conversion run and those conversions would prove to be critical. Hale finished the night 5-11-112 yards and Longino had four catches for 95 and the three TDs. Defensively, the Gators held the Tigers to only 34 yards of offense in the second half mainly due to costly turnovers.
The Gators had a chance to close the game out after the defense forced a punt at the 4:47 mark, but the offense didn’t gain a yard on three plays and was forced to punt. Oak Grove took over on the 37 and marched 67-yards in eight plays to claim the victory.
“The first game of the year is always interesting as you never know how these things will play out,” Raley added. “We did some good things but we made a lot of mistakes. We just have to keep working and close the game out when we get the chance.”
Delhi Charter will travel down I-20 next week to Tallulah to take on the Class 3A Madison Jaguars. The Jags lost to Bossier 42-28. Oak Grove will return home to take on the 3A Wossman Wildcats. Kickoff for both contests is slated for 7 p.m.