Final

Oldham came ready to play, but couldn't hold off the fire power of John's offense. Dingle hooked up with our TE Simmons on two long bombs and threw one more to receiver Jeremy Harness. Dingle also ran in two TD's. Defense held their own in this contest. I'm very proud of the Dawgs it was a nice victory. Congrats to Oldham County on a successful season. :dancingpa

Very exciting ballgame. Hat's off to JH for withstanding Oldham's initial surge, then settling in and holding Oldham off late. John Hardin proved their record was deserving and not the result of a relatively weak schedule. Nice job, Bulldogs!

 

Oldham came out smoking - perhaps tired of hearing about how much better JH was? - and intercepted Alex Dingle on the first series. The Colonels then went 83 yards on just 4 plays, with Tyler Oldham going 45 yards for the score. Oldham County, 7-0 at the 7:51 mark of the 1Q.

 

After a Bulldog punt, Oldham took over at their own 46 and moved to the JH 14, but on 4th and 2, the Colonels went for the field goal and missed just to the left. Would have only been 3 points, but might have been worth more had the Colonels gotten it; the Bulldogs were in shock at this point, but seemed rejuvenated after the miss.

 

It's never good to let a favorite stay close, and Oldham paid for this sin in the second period. After failing to get a first down in the first quarter, JH's offense woke up in the second, scoring TDs on three consecutive possessions. The first JH score almost didn't happen...the Bulldogs faced 3rd and 13 from their own 17, when Dingle dropped back to pass and was flushed by a fierce pass rush. But he kept his cool and found 6'5" Matt Simmons going down the right sideline for the completion. When two OC defenders collided going for the ball and fell to the side, Simmons had a free path to the EZ for an 83 yard TD.

 

OC went offsides on the PAT, and JH then went for 2, moving ahead 8-7.

 

Oldham punted and JH got the ball the next time at their own 47; Dingle ultimately went over from the 1 for the score. JH 15, Oldham 7.

 

Oldham again had to punt, and a freak punt that went out of bounds at the OC 17 gave JH unbelievable starting position. With 6:41 to play in the first half, Dingle hit Jeremy Harness from 12 on a slant over the middle. JH 22, Oldham 7.

 

John Hardin would later turn the ball over, when Dingle was hit by the Oldham rush and lost the ball at the JH 30. Oldham QB Chase Hamby threw for 24 yards to Tyler Oldham, and then Brett Leary blasted up the middle for 6 yards and the score. JH 22, Oldham 14.

 

Oldham dodged a bullet just before the half. Punting from their own EZ with less than 15 seconds to play, Dylan Simms' punt was blocked by JH and recovered by OC for a safety in the EZ. But a personal foul penalty on the kick gave OC a first down instead, and the half ended with John Hardin leading, 22-14.

 

After a scoreless third, JH got some breathing room when Dingle scored on a 2 yard run to make it 29-14 with 9:02 left. Oldham immediately responded behind the passing of Hamby and the running of Leary. The moved the ball 67 yards to the JH 13, but on fourth and two, Hamby was sacked to end the threat with a little over 4 minutes to play. Still, when JH found themselves facing 3rd and 17 from their own 13, Dingle went deep and found the big guy - Simmons - again. And again, Simmons delivered, racing 87 yards for the insurance score with 3:37 remaining in the game.

 

At 6'5", Simmons is quite the target. Kind of surprised he was only targeted twice...

 

Final: John Hardin 36, Oldham County 14

 

Unofficial stats:

First Downs

Oldham County 13

John Hardin 10

 

Turnovers Oldham 0, John Hardin 3 (two fumbles lost, one INT)

 

Penalties: Oldham 4 - 26, John Hardin 2-25

 

Rushing: Oldham 140, John Hardin 150

Leaders: Oldham County - Tyler Oldham 8-72, Brett Leary 13-50 1 TD

John Hardin - Landon Savory 12-56, Darrell Allston 8-36

 

Passing: Oldham Co (Chase Hamby) 12-17-0 126 yards

John Hardin (Alex Dingle) 7-11-1 2 TDs 233 yards

 

Receiving: Oldham County: Tyler Oldham 4 - 52, Antonio Brown 4 - 32

John Hardin: Matt Simmons 2 - 170, 2 TDs

 

Total Yards: Oldham: 266 John Hardin: 383

 

The Oldham rushing total was a bit of a surprise; JH had the state's stingiest run defense coming into the game, giving up just 29.9 yards per game on the ground - and limiting Doss to (-9) rushing yards last week.

 

Congrats to the Bulldogs on a hard-fought win, and the most victories in a single school season (13). The Bulldogs have now reached the semi-finals in back-to-back seasons. Coach Mark Brown, the veteran coach who is the only coach John Hardin has ever had, is now 76-30 at JH over 9 years - and 37-3 over the past three seasons. Only the school's first team (3-7) has had a losing record.

 

For Oldham County, congrats on another solid season. Matt Brown is still a young coach - only his second season at Oldham County - but the Colonel mentor is 17-8 over two years for a strong winning percentage of .680. The Colonels have only lost twice in the past two seasons to teams below 6A - and both losses came to 5A John Hardin in the playoffs. The Colonels won their district for the second straight season, and made the region final for the 5th time in 12 seasons.

Congrats to both teams on their seasons! Should be a whale of a game next week.

Congrats to JH on the win and to OC for a solid 2009 season!