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.