On Halloween night O'Hara had an early scare, falling behind St. Pius X 10-0 in the first quarter, before rallying to treat their fans to a 41-23 victory, and the possession of the Crystal Cup. The Crystal Cup has been awarded to the winning team of the O'Hara-St. Pius X game by the Ancient Order of the Hiberians since 2001. This is the first year O'Hara has won it. O'Hara finished the regular season with an 8-2 record overall, 3-0 in district, and 4-1 in conference. The playoffs begin Wednesday night. O'Hara will host a first round game against the Smithville Warriors, who had a 7-3 regular season record.
O'Hara went into Friday's game with first place in the district already assured, and St. Pius X with no chance to make the playoffs. The Celtics started sluggish, with turnovers and penalties hurting us in the first quarter as St. Pius X jumped to an early 10-0 lead.
The defense got the tide turned by forcing their own turnovers. A fumble recovery by Larry Liggett, and an interception by Joey Tucker gave O'Hara great field position. Even after O'Hara wasted those opportunities, Louis Golden got the ball back again with a quarterback sack and forced fumble, which was recovered at the Warrior 1 yard line. A quarterback sneak by T. J. White got the Celtics on the board, and cut the lead to 10-7.
O'Hara scored on the next possession on a 14 yard run by Donnie Criswell, taking a 13-10 halftime lead. A late scoring threat by St. Pius X was ended by an Alex Rogers' interception, his first of three on the night.
Criswell opened the second half by returning the kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown, putting O'Hara up 20-10. James Tillman then heated up, breaking three long runs that helped O'Hara open up their lead. Tillman scored on two of those runs, from 42 and 49 yard out. The third long run was followed by White's second touchdown run of the game, an 11 yard option keep around the left end. St. Pius scored on two touchdowen passes in the second half to tight end Blake Brown to keep the game close, but interceptions by Rogers and Joe Melchior near the goal line kept them from getting any closer.
Tillman led the offense in rushing with 136 yards. Danny Hernandez had 3 pass receptions. Tillman, Criswell, and White each scored 2 touchdowns. The defense was led in tackles by Golden and Chuck Preston.
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