O'Hara won its Homecoming game 14-13 over St. James Academy. The difference in the game was a blocked extra point following St. James second touchdown. Besides the Homecoming activities, the game was also notable because O'Hara retired #21 in honor of the four Brown brothers who wore it from 1978 -1992 , and the death this week of long time O'Hara football fixture Al DeMarea.
The football game was tight from start to finish. O'Hara received the opening kickoff, but turned the ball over on a fumble due to an errant snap from center. St. James converted the turnover into points, taking a quick 7-0 lead. The Celtics answered immediately, marching 80 yards in 5 plays to tie the game less than 2 minutes later. The key plays on the drive were a 31 yard sweep by Donnie Criswell, and a 33 yard pass reception from T. J. White to Joe Pepple. Criswell scored the touchdown on a 12 yard counter.
Things got sloppy in the 2nd quarter as O'Hara continued to move the ball well, but was stopped from scoring by self-inflicted mistakes. Illegal motion penalties wiped out a scoring pass to Pepple, and an acrobatic, diving catch by Aaron Stubblefield that would have given O'Hara the ball at the St. James 7 yard line. The halftime score was 7-7.
Things looked good starting the 2nd half when St. James fumbled on their 3rd play, but the momentum was short lived as St. James cornerback Ben Reynoldson stepped in front of a 3rd down pass and returned it to the O'Hara 17 yard line. Reynoldson scored two plays later on a 9 yard run. O'Hara blocked the PAT, which would prove crucial. O'Hara once again responded immediatley, as White raced 59 yards on the 2nd play of the ensuing drive for a score, on a perfectly executed veer option play. Half the St. James defense tackled fullback Chuck Preston, who carried out a beautiful fake, and White ran untouched down the right sideline. Bryce Scovill's PAT provided O'Hara with its one point margin of victory, 14-13.
The O'Hara defense had a good night, keeping St. James scoreless the rest of the night. Leading tacklers included Joe Melchior, Preston, Aaron Mitchell, and Pepple. Jake Robinson and Alex Rogers recovered fumbles, and Danny Hernandez had a nice interception and 27 yard return.
In a halftime ceremony O'Hara retired jersey #21, which was worn by brothers Mike (class of '81), J. R. ('83), Mark ('87), and Jeff ('93) Brown. All four played halfback, and featured the same slashing, cut back style of running. The Brown brothers are prominently featured in the all-time O'Hara rushing records, owning 4 of the top 10 best rushing seasons, and 3 of the top 5 career rushers in school history. More important than their individual accomplishments, though, was the impact their toughness and competitiveness had on their teams. O'Hara made the playoffs nearly every year a Brown was starting at runningback, including a State Championship in 1980, and a 2nd place finish in 1982. The Browns are the sons of Bob and Rose Brown, whose house borders the O'Hara practice field.
Al DeMarea's passing Wednesday was also noted at the game with a pre-game moment of silence. His initials were painted on the field, and the players wore stickers with his initials on their helmets. Al was the father of head coach Jim DeMarea and assistant coach Mike DeMarea. He has been affiliated with O'Hara football since his three sons played here from '67-'72. He filmed O'Hara football games from 1983 - 2007. He will be greatly missed by the O'Hara football program.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Week 4 : Smith Cotton 38 O'Hara 29
O'Hara traveled to Sedalia for our first road game of the year, and was defeated by Smith Cotton 38-29. Sedalia running back Solomon Watkins and quarterback Bryce Johnson were each starting their 4th varsity game against O'Hara, and their experience showed as they accounted for all 5 of Smith Cotton's touchdowns. Watkins had his 3 touchdowns in the first half, and Johnson added his 2 in the second half.
After a good opening drive for O'Hara stalled, Watkins raced 82 yards for a score on Sedalia's first offensive play. That lead did not last long as D. J. Jackson returned the ensuing kickoff for an O'Hara touchdown to tie the game. He found an opening up the middle and sprinted 95 yards for the score.
After two more Watkins' touchdowns put Smith Cotton ahead 21-7, the O'Hara offense finally got moving and drove 81 yards for a touchdown just before half. The drive featured several nice sweep runs by James Tillman and Donnie Criswell. Key pass receptions were made by Joe Pepple and Danny Hernandez to keep the drive going. Criswell capped the drive with a two yard touchdown run. A mishandled snap on the extra point led to a bonus point for O'Hara as Pepple found Raphael Spencer for a two point conversion reception, making the score 21-15. O'Hara's momentum was short lived, as a good Smith Cotton return, a pass interference call, and a split end screen pass led to a field goal to end the half, putting Sedalia up 24-15.
Sedalia played ball control in the third quarter, as O'Hara only had 3 offensive plays. The first Sedalia drive ended in a Johnson touchdown run, and the second ended up at the O'Hara 19, but took a lot of time off the clock. Smith Cotton looked like they were going to convert their 4th down pass to their tight end, but a well timed Alex Rogers' hit caused him to drop the ball. O'Hara got moving again, and put together their 2nd 81 yard scoring drive of the game. The drive featured a key pass from T. J. White to Pepple and an acrobatic, one handed catch by Aaron Stubblefield for 38 yards when the Sedalia cornerback was called for interference. Chuck Preston scored on a 7 yard run on the next play. A two point conversion pass to Pepple got O'Hara within one score, 31-23, with about 6 minutes remaining.
Hopes for an O'Hara comeback and possible overtime were ended by Johnson's 2nd touchdown of the game, which put Smith Cotton up 38-23 with 2:28 left in the game. O'Hara was able to score once more on a 76 yard drive that featured White's scrambling, and passes to Tillman and Joe Melchior. Melchior's 32 yard pass reception gave O'Hara the ball at the Sedalia 4 yard line, and Criswell swept around right end, diving in for his 2nd touchdown of the game.
O'Hara had a balanced night offensively, rushing for 169 yards and passing for 167 yards. Five different runners and six different receivers contibuted to the totals.
Defensively, Joey Tucker led the Celtics with 12 tackles, including 7 unassisted. Other leading tacklers were Preston, Jake Robinson, and Louis Golden.
Larry Liggett boomed 3 high punts, averaging 38 yards a punt. Logan Naudet continued to deep snap well on specialty teams.
The win moves Smith Cotton into the driver's seat for the West Central Conference title. They are now 4-0 overall, and 3-0 in conference. O'Hara falls to 2-2 overall, and 2-1 in conference.
Next week is the Homecoming game for O'Hara against St. James Academy. The two schools have never played. St. James is a new Catholic school in Kansas, in their 4th year of existence. This is their 2nd year competing on the varsity level. Their record is 2-1.
After a good opening drive for O'Hara stalled, Watkins raced 82 yards for a score on Sedalia's first offensive play. That lead did not last long as D. J. Jackson returned the ensuing kickoff for an O'Hara touchdown to tie the game. He found an opening up the middle and sprinted 95 yards for the score.
After two more Watkins' touchdowns put Smith Cotton ahead 21-7, the O'Hara offense finally got moving and drove 81 yards for a touchdown just before half. The drive featured several nice sweep runs by James Tillman and Donnie Criswell. Key pass receptions were made by Joe Pepple and Danny Hernandez to keep the drive going. Criswell capped the drive with a two yard touchdown run. A mishandled snap on the extra point led to a bonus point for O'Hara as Pepple found Raphael Spencer for a two point conversion reception, making the score 21-15. O'Hara's momentum was short lived, as a good Smith Cotton return, a pass interference call, and a split end screen pass led to a field goal to end the half, putting Sedalia up 24-15.
Sedalia played ball control in the third quarter, as O'Hara only had 3 offensive plays. The first Sedalia drive ended in a Johnson touchdown run, and the second ended up at the O'Hara 19, but took a lot of time off the clock. Smith Cotton looked like they were going to convert their 4th down pass to their tight end, but a well timed Alex Rogers' hit caused him to drop the ball. O'Hara got moving again, and put together their 2nd 81 yard scoring drive of the game. The drive featured a key pass from T. J. White to Pepple and an acrobatic, one handed catch by Aaron Stubblefield for 38 yards when the Sedalia cornerback was called for interference. Chuck Preston scored on a 7 yard run on the next play. A two point conversion pass to Pepple got O'Hara within one score, 31-23, with about 6 minutes remaining.
Hopes for an O'Hara comeback and possible overtime were ended by Johnson's 2nd touchdown of the game, which put Smith Cotton up 38-23 with 2:28 left in the game. O'Hara was able to score once more on a 76 yard drive that featured White's scrambling, and passes to Tillman and Joe Melchior. Melchior's 32 yard pass reception gave O'Hara the ball at the Sedalia 4 yard line, and Criswell swept around right end, diving in for his 2nd touchdown of the game.
O'Hara had a balanced night offensively, rushing for 169 yards and passing for 167 yards. Five different runners and six different receivers contibuted to the totals.
Defensively, Joey Tucker led the Celtics with 12 tackles, including 7 unassisted. Other leading tacklers were Preston, Jake Robinson, and Louis Golden.
Larry Liggett boomed 3 high punts, averaging 38 yards a punt. Logan Naudet continued to deep snap well on specialty teams.
The win moves Smith Cotton into the driver's seat for the West Central Conference title. They are now 4-0 overall, and 3-0 in conference. O'Hara falls to 2-2 overall, and 2-1 in conference.
Next week is the Homecoming game for O'Hara against St. James Academy. The two schools have never played. St. James is a new Catholic school in Kansas, in their 4th year of existence. This is their 2nd year competing on the varsity level. Their record is 2-1.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Week 3 : O'Hara 31 Warrensburg 13
In a game notable for the weather, O'Hara defeated Warrensburg 31-13. A couple days of constant rain had left the game field soaked, and tornados and lightning had led to several area games being postponed, but our well crowned field drained well, the bermuda turf held up beautifully, and we were able to get the game in as scheduled.
The first quarter was played in a driving rain storm. Warrensburg nearly ran the opening kickoff back, but kicker Bryce Scovill made the first of his two touchdown saving tackles. James Tillman caused a Warrensburg fumble on the their first play from scrimmage, and it was recovered by Chuck Preston. O'Hara methodically worked the ball down the field with a mix of runs and passes, even overcoming a loss of several yards due to a mishandled shot gun snap. Tillman culminated the drive with a 1 yard plunge.
Warrensburg pulled even later in the quarter after blocking a punt deep in O'Hara territory.
In the second quarter the rain let up, and O'Hara regained the lead on a 4 yard run by Tillman. The halftime score was 14-7.
The ball became too slick to throw effectively, so O'Hara primarily ran the ball in the second half. Tillman, Preston, T.J. White, and Raphael Spencer all contributed several nice runs to the ground attack. After a scoreless 3rd quarter the Celtics broke the game open with 17 4th quarter points. Tillman scored his 3rd touchdown of the game on a 32 sweep around the right end. Preston started the next drive by recovering a fumble that was caused by Alex Rogers, and capped it with a 1 yard run. After a quick Warrensburg score cut the O'Hara lead to 28-13, the Celtics responded with a scoring drive that featured a couple nice runs by Spencer. After the drive bogged down at the Warrensburg 12, Scovill booted his first field goal fo the year, a 29 yarder. He also remained perfect for the year by making all 4 of the extra points.
The defense was led in tackles by Louis Golden, Preston, and Joey Tucker. The offense rolled up 288 yards rushing. Danny Hernandez was the leading reciever with 4 receptions.
O'Hara's record improves to 2-1, and we are now 2-0 in the West Central Conference. Next week O'Hara travels to Sedalia for a key conference game against the Smith-Cotton Tigers, who are 3-0 on the year with big wins over St. Pius X, Clinton, and Marshall. Sedalia features All State running back Solomon Watkins, who is one of the fastest players O'Hara has ever faced.
The first quarter was played in a driving rain storm. Warrensburg nearly ran the opening kickoff back, but kicker Bryce Scovill made the first of his two touchdown saving tackles. James Tillman caused a Warrensburg fumble on the their first play from scrimmage, and it was recovered by Chuck Preston. O'Hara methodically worked the ball down the field with a mix of runs and passes, even overcoming a loss of several yards due to a mishandled shot gun snap. Tillman culminated the drive with a 1 yard plunge.
Warrensburg pulled even later in the quarter after blocking a punt deep in O'Hara territory.
In the second quarter the rain let up, and O'Hara regained the lead on a 4 yard run by Tillman. The halftime score was 14-7.
The ball became too slick to throw effectively, so O'Hara primarily ran the ball in the second half. Tillman, Preston, T.J. White, and Raphael Spencer all contributed several nice runs to the ground attack. After a scoreless 3rd quarter the Celtics broke the game open with 17 4th quarter points. Tillman scored his 3rd touchdown of the game on a 32 sweep around the right end. Preston started the next drive by recovering a fumble that was caused by Alex Rogers, and capped it with a 1 yard run. After a quick Warrensburg score cut the O'Hara lead to 28-13, the Celtics responded with a scoring drive that featured a couple nice runs by Spencer. After the drive bogged down at the Warrensburg 12, Scovill booted his first field goal fo the year, a 29 yarder. He also remained perfect for the year by making all 4 of the extra points.
The defense was led in tackles by Louis Golden, Preston, and Joey Tucker. The offense rolled up 288 yards rushing. Danny Hernandez was the leading reciever with 4 receptions.
O'Hara's record improves to 2-1, and we are now 2-0 in the West Central Conference. Next week O'Hara travels to Sedalia for a key conference game against the Smith-Cotton Tigers, who are 3-0 on the year with big wins over St. Pius X, Clinton, and Marshall. Sedalia features All State running back Solomon Watkins, who is one of the fastest players O'Hara has ever faced.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Week 2 : Oak Grove 28 O'Hara 21
O'Hara lost a tough game to Oak Grove 28-21. The Celtics started well, scoring on our first two drives and taking a 14-0 lead on a pair of T. J. White touchdown passes. On the first score, Danny Hernandez took a short hitch pass and raced 54 yards up the left sideline for the score. The second score came as a result of a White scramble. Joe Pepple was able to slip behind the Oak Grove defensive back and haul in the 37 yard pass.
The momentum swung in the second quarter as Oak Grove scored three unanswered touchdowns to take a 21-14 halftime lead. The Panthers were able to move the ball with a combination of strong inside running, and bootleg passes. They also benefitted from a pair of very questionable calls by the officials. The first poor call gave them a 5th down, which they were able to convert into a first down. Facing a 4th and 7, the Oak Grove quarterback fumbled the snap and was downed by the Celtic defense. As the O'Hara offense was running onto the field the referee signalled 4th down again. He claimed there was an inadvertent whistle, but none of the officials knew who blew it and it was not heard on the game tape. Given the do-over, Oak Grove ran a draw for a first down, then went on to score. The second questionable call came on O'Hara's next offensive series. A complete pass to Hernandez was nullified by an illegal man down field call. The side judge claimed that Hernandez had illegally covered up the tight end by being on the line of scrimmage, thus making the tight end Pepple an illegal receiver. The game tape showed no penalty, as Hernandez was clearly off the line of scrimmage, and no lineman went down field. After the penalty, O'Hara faced a 3rd and long and threw an interception, giving Oak Grove good field position and leading to their second score.
The teams traded touchdowns in the 3rd quarter. O'Hara tied the game at 21-21 on a 17 yard run by James Tillman, then Oak Grove scored the game winning touchdown after O'Hara failed to convert on a 4th and 1 at mid field.
O'Hara had one good scoring opportunity in the 4th quarter as we moved inside the Oak Grove 30 yard line, but that was wiped out by back to back Oak Grove sacks. Oak Grove's defense kept the Celtics' running game bottled up all night, and put constant pressure on White.
White completed 10 of 15 passes in the game for 208 yard and two touchdowns. Pepple and Hernandez each had 4 receptions, and a touchdown. Pepple's catches made him O'Hara's all time leader in receptions with 44 for his career.
The defense was led in tackles by Louis Golden, Chuck Preston, and Tillman. Preston also forced and recovered an Oak Grove fumble.
O'Hara's record falls to 1-1, while Oak Grove stays undefeated at 2-0. O'Hara's next game is Friday, September 12th at O'Hara versus WCC opponent Warrensburg.
The momentum swung in the second quarter as Oak Grove scored three unanswered touchdowns to take a 21-14 halftime lead. The Panthers were able to move the ball with a combination of strong inside running, and bootleg passes. They also benefitted from a pair of very questionable calls by the officials. The first poor call gave them a 5th down, which they were able to convert into a first down. Facing a 4th and 7, the Oak Grove quarterback fumbled the snap and was downed by the Celtic defense. As the O'Hara offense was running onto the field the referee signalled 4th down again. He claimed there was an inadvertent whistle, but none of the officials knew who blew it and it was not heard on the game tape. Given the do-over, Oak Grove ran a draw for a first down, then went on to score. The second questionable call came on O'Hara's next offensive series. A complete pass to Hernandez was nullified by an illegal man down field call. The side judge claimed that Hernandez had illegally covered up the tight end by being on the line of scrimmage, thus making the tight end Pepple an illegal receiver. The game tape showed no penalty, as Hernandez was clearly off the line of scrimmage, and no lineman went down field. After the penalty, O'Hara faced a 3rd and long and threw an interception, giving Oak Grove good field position and leading to their second score.
The teams traded touchdowns in the 3rd quarter. O'Hara tied the game at 21-21 on a 17 yard run by James Tillman, then Oak Grove scored the game winning touchdown after O'Hara failed to convert on a 4th and 1 at mid field.
O'Hara had one good scoring opportunity in the 4th quarter as we moved inside the Oak Grove 30 yard line, but that was wiped out by back to back Oak Grove sacks. Oak Grove's defense kept the Celtics' running game bottled up all night, and put constant pressure on White.
White completed 10 of 15 passes in the game for 208 yard and two touchdowns. Pepple and Hernandez each had 4 receptions, and a touchdown. Pepple's catches made him O'Hara's all time leader in receptions with 44 for his career.
The defense was led in tackles by Louis Golden, Chuck Preston, and Tillman. Preston also forced and recovered an Oak Grove fumble.
O'Hara's record falls to 1-1, while Oak Grove stays undefeated at 2-0. O'Hara's next game is Friday, September 12th at O'Hara versus WCC opponent Warrensburg.
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