OCS holds off Delhi Charter, 24-20

The Swamp – Delhi Charter’s special teams haven’t been special in a good way so far this year and that was definitely the case Friday night as the Gators spotted the Ouachita Christian Eagles 24 points in the first quarter but fell short on a comeback attempt losing 24-20.
In another troubling trend, the Gator defense seems to have a problem getting up to speed early in games but then gets better as the game progresses. DCS gave up a quick touchdown on the opening drive as OCS’ Mr. Everything Will Fitzhugh scored on a 2-yard run. The conversion run failed, which is another theme for the night, leaving the score 6-0. On DCS’ first drive, Fitzhugh intercepted his first of two in the game and then scored on a 47 pass from Quarterback Tanner Carr to give the visitors a 12-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
DCS’ special teams took over from there with the turnovers as they failed to cover the next two onside kicks. The Eagles turned both into quick touchdowns as Carr connected with Bryce Wallace on a 35-yard pass and with Fitzhugh again on a 41-yarder. It looked like the beat-down was on as OCS is a perfect 7-0 against Delhi Charter in the history of this short series. So with still three minutes left in the opening quarter, the score was already 24-0.
After finally securing a kickoff, DCS Quarterback Mason Hale lofted a perfect pass over a pair of OCS defenders to Trayveon Houston and he scampered 37-yards for the score with 28 ticks left in the quarter. Of course, the conversion run failed, leaving the score 24-6 after the first 12 minutes.
“We just have to find a way to win,” DCS Head Coach Brett Raley said. “We’re young in places and it seems to just take us a while to get up to game speed on Friday nights. Special teams’ turnovers will kill you in a game because it puts you on a short field usually. We’ve just got to get these issues corrected and eliminate the turnovers to find a way to win.”
On DCS’ first drive in the second quarter, Joshua Poland broke a 64-yard TD run to inch closer and the Gators had another scoring chance late but ran out of time leaving the score 24-12 at the half. However, DCS was supposed to get the kickoff in the second half.
Offensively, DCS did little on the first drive but the defense forced a rare OCS punt on its first possession as well. Hale capped the next drive with an 83-yard run that is probably one of the best ever by a DCS runner. Hale appeared to be stopped several times but continued pushing the pile and eventually broke free before rumbling the last 45 yards untouched. For the only time on the night someone made a conversion run or pass as fullback Trenton Jinks dove in to cut the Eagles lead to four, 24-20, with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter.
The rest of the way the teams traded possession but neither could find the endzone again and the four-point margin held up. Fitzhugh finished the night with three TDs, 15 carries for 82 yards, five catches for 118 yards and he had two of the three interceptions on defense. Hale lead the Gators’ rushing attack with 136 yards on 15 carries and had 71 passing yards with one passing TD and one rushing.
Delhi Charter will host the Mangham Dragons this Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in the Swamp due to the ongoing construction at Mangham’s stadium. The Dragons are undefeated after a 34-13 win over Pickering last Friday. OCS will travel to take on Sicily Island this week.