Oldham County 35 Seneca 0

[True blue (and gold)]

Final.

[ColonelMike]

Solid win for the Colonels who are learning their way under first-year coach Mike Fox.

 

Oldham came into the game as the favorite, on the road against winless Seneca, but the RedHawks challenged them early. Oldham took the opening possession and drove all the way to the Seneca three, where they turned it over on downs.

 

Seneca, largely behind the running of senior QB Tariq Howard - very shifty, very quick, and a HS escape artist - got the ball out to midfield before suffering their first of six turnovers on an INT. (on the night, Seneca threw three INTs, lost a fumble on a KOR, and gave the ball up twice on downs). The two teams traded punts as the first quarter ended in a scoreless tie.

 

From there, Oldham County took control of the game. The Colonels scored touchdowns on 5 of their next 8 possessions in a variety of ways. Preston Dykes put OC on the board first at the 9:28 mark of the 2Q with a two yard run up the middle to make it 7-0.

 

Seneca's best drive of the night started at their own 16 and consumed a lot of clock, but they turned the ball over on downs at the OC 28 with 3:48 left. Oldham had to punt, but Jacob Ratliff intercepted a Seneca pass to give Oldham the ball at midfield. That led to a sharply-engineered 51 yard drive led by Oldham County SR QB Erix Edwards, who hit on four-of-four passing, culminating with an 11 yard scoring strike to speedster Jaylen Moore over the middle with 19 seconds left in the half for a 14-0 Oldham advantage.

 

Seneca dodged a bullet at the end of the half as they fumbled the ball on the ensuing kickoff return and Oldham recovered at the Seneca 23 with 8 seconds to play in the half. A holding penalty on Seneca gave Oldham the opportunity to try a 32 yard field goal as the time expired, but Sean Ralls pushed his kick to the right. 14-0 Oldham at the half.

 

Field position haunted Seneca all night. The RedHawks' 11 possessions began on:

Seneca 3 possession ended with an INT

Seneca 20 punt

Seneca 16 downs at OC 28

Seneca 21 INT

Kickoff return ended in fumble at S 23

Seneca 25 INT

Seneca 1 Punt

Seneca 34 Punt

Seneca (didn't write down yard line but it was deep in Seneca territory) Downs

Seneca 21 Punt

Oldham 28 End of game

 

Seneca started the second half by turning over the ball - their third turnover in as many possessions. Preston Dykes intercepted the pass at the Seneca 25 and OC turned it into points as Edwards found Chase Samples from 8 yards out for the score and the 21-0 lead.

 

The ensuing kickoff was a low line drive that hit one of the RedHawks' front line players and bounced back into the advancing Oldham County players. Oldham recovered. Thought they didn't manufacture points, the Colonels got a big boost defensively when they downed the ensuing punt at the Seneca 1.

 

Up 21-0 with 1:29 left in the third, Oldham got the ball back on its own 29 and promptly drove 71 yards to paydirt. Edwards found Ratliff - the third OC receiver to catch a TD pass - from five yards out for the 28-0 lead, just 14 seconds into the fourth quarter.

 

Oldham's final score came with mostly reserves in the game. OC took over at their own 48 with just over 9 minutes to play, and sophomore running back Juan Tapia burst around the right end and outraced everyone 52 yards to the end zone for the final 35-0 score.

 

Both teams, under first-year coaches, are working to rebuild their programs. At this point, Oldham is a bit further along than Seneca, but Coach Preston Smith has some tools on the field and Seneca made this one a battle, despite the score. One challenge for the RedHawks is the passing game; Howard is a lethal runner, but struggled to throw the ball accurately this night. Tariq Davis, the starting running back, is a quick, powerful back who brings some size to every collision (about 220 pounds?). Up front, Seneca has size and quickness. Defensively, the RedHawks' are quick to the ball and close holes in a hurry, but their pass rush was not a real strength against OC; Edwards typically had enough time to look downfield. The biggest deciding factor of this game may well have been Oldham's ability to platoon; only two players started both ways, and the Colonels frequently substituted, keeping fresh legs on the field. In the second half, Oldham was clearly the "fresher" team.

 

For Oldham - unofficially - Lucas Jones had a big night rushing the ball, carrying 20 times for 107 yards. Juan Tapia, off the bench, had 3 carries for 44 yards.

 

Edwards was 13-21-0 passing, 128 yards and 3 TDs with no picks. Edwards has now thrown 6 TDs and 0 interceptions in his last two games (Collins and Seneca)

 

Seven different Colonels caught passes, and 3 caught TD passes. Jaylen Moore wound up leading the way with 3 catches for 47 yards and a score. Moore's track-caliber speed was too much for Seneca to handle in the open field, but he missed most of the second half with severe leg cramps in both legs on a very humid night.

 

Next for Oldham County: On the road next week to South Oldham for the big Oldham County vs. South Oldham matchup, which is also the district opener for both teams. Jamie Reed's Dragons have been on a tear since losing to CAL in Week 1, and they pretty much had their way with Boone County Friday night on the road, 51-0. At the midway mark of the season, this is shaping up as perhaps the biggest game of the district season for the two and could very well ultimately decide who claims the regular season district crown, which has resided in Crestwood for a long time.

 

CM